A TEAM IN SEARCH OF A HERO
United can be brilliant, yet utterly naive. And that does not bode well for Solskjaer
AT TIMES, such as when Mason Greenwood sweeps a ball across the pitch, Bruno Fernandes swiv- els, controls and pushes it forward in one gloriously synchronised movement and Anthony Martial sprints on to score, you can close your eyes and dream that it is 2008 again at Old Trafford. That Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez are in their pomp and Cristiano Ronaldo is forever poised to steal the show.
The roar at the stadium remains the same — in fact much of the stadium remains unchanged and unimproved 13 years on — and the excitement pre-match in Manchester indicates a fan base reinfused with the hope of years gone by.
But mainly it is the presence of a 36-year-old forward. Even sat on the bench, as Ronaldo was here until the 57th minute, he personifies the feeling that United might be on the verge of something.
In moments, United are indeed exhilarating. Even without Ronaldo, there are enough attackers to stir the soul — Edinson Cavani and Martial deputising. In some ways, they are a team made in Sir Alex Ferguson’s image, always looking to get on the front foot.
Yet there is a nagging sense this might all be an illusion. One win in the last four home games, two of them defeats, does not bode well.
If United are a team of moments, some of those moments are pretty bad. Such as when Fernandes strikes a corner that does not beat the first man and within 20 seconds they have conceded a goal because Fred has been muscled away by Demarai Gray and Luke Shaw has gone charging across to the ball, losing his man entirely. The split seconds of brilliance will live long in the memory this season, yet the utter naivety they also display will, you suspect, ultimately undermine the end result.
United are a team in search of a hero to dig them out of a hole. Everton, by contrast, were a team with a plan, Abdoulaye Doucore breaking up midfield play, Gray, perhaps the best player on the pitch, linking attack, with Andros Townsend skipping past Shaw in an afternoon-long duel.
United had the better chances, yet they were few and far between. Meanwhile, Everton were accumulating a succession of opportunities on the basis that eventually it would come good.
You cannot underestimate United.
They are fearsome, especially if they can bring Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba off the bench as they did yesterday, throwing on £100million players until they force the arc of a game their way. Often it will work, even if here it did not.
Yet teams will always feel they have a chance against them, certainly a Rafa Benitez-coached team. The warning signs were there when Salomon Rondon, although eventually ruled offside, showed he could get across United’s defence after 12 minutes. There again when Michael Keane headed just over in the 17th minute from Townsend’s free-kick and in Anthony Gordon’s incisive run down the left and cross for Townsend, who could not quite sort his feet to finish after 31 minutes. Then in Gray’s smart turn and run inside to shoot — saved by David de Gea two minutes later.
For Benitez, still without Richarlison and Dominic CalvertLewin, it was a ‘brave performance’ and he particularly praised his front four of Gordon, Gray, Townsend and Rondon.
‘They work really hard,’ he said. ‘They have to help the team in defence. You can’t come here with our team to keep possession. The plan was to be good in defence, then counter-attack.’ Despite the presence of two solid midfielders in Scott McTominay and Fred, United look too open in those areas. Their chances were perhaps better, such as when Martial headed wide after nine minutes and Cavani was denied by Jordan Pickford.
Then came the goal in the 43rd minute — a thing of beauty as Greenwood and Fernandes combined to play in Martial. Although the Frenchman’s strike was aided by a deflection from Ben Godfrey, the build-up was worthy of a goal.
‘It was a very, very good goal, great play, but of course you’re sat here a bit deflated and disappointed now,’ said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer afterwards.
How can it be that a team comprised of such quality concedes a goal when they are awarded a corner, as United did after 69 minutes? Fernandes’ corner did not even beat the first man. As it rebounded away, Gray chased it down and muscled Fred off the ball.
In an instant, United were exposed. Gray dashed away and Doucoure provided excellent support, although United were not helped by Shaw inexplicably getting drawn to the ball to leave Townsend unmarked.
The final flourish was provided by the resurgent Townsend, finishing confidently past De Gea and then running to the corner flag to mimic a Ronaldo celebration.
‘We did have enough players behind the ball, we make a couple of bad decisions which cost us in those 10 seconds for that goal,’ said Solskjaer. ‘We worked well enough behind the ball but should have dealt with the danger better.’
It is a goal no title-challenging side should concede, yet it is a persistent flaw in United’s game. Everton exploited it and Newcastle,
despite losing 4-1 here, did so as well to score a similar goal.
United might have snatched a late victory, as they did against Villarreal and at West Ham. But Pogba curled a shot just over the bar after 81 minutes and when Ronaldo offered up the role of lastminute saviour to Sancho with a delightful back heel, he failed his audition, drilling the ball into Pickford. Right now, it just is not happening for Sancho.
Equally, though, United could have been recovering from a third defeat in four home games.
After 85 minutes, Tom Davies found himself clean through on goal. He was primed to shoot but chose to cross for Yerry Mina, who was clearly offside.
The goal was initially given, until VAR stepped in to save United. Without a grandstand finish from Ronaldo, a helping hand from Stockley Park was the best Solskjaer’s team could manage.
MAN UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lindelof, Shaw; McTominay, Fred (Pogba 70); Greenwood, Fernandes, Martial (Sancho 56); Cavani (Ronaldo 57).
Subs (not used): Bailly, Lingard, Henderson, Telles, Matic, Van de Beek. Booked: Greenwood.
EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Godfrey, Mina, Keane, Digne; Townsend, Doucoure, Allan, Gordon (Davies 71,); Gray (Dobbin 90); Rondon. Subs (not used): Begovic, Lonergan, Kenny, Holgate, Gbamin, Davies, Branthwaite, Whitaker.
Booked: Doucoure.
Referee: Mike Oliver.