- When I saw the formation United started the match with against Everton at Old Trafford, I thought that it is the best first team United has, at least on current form. Despite dropping two points, I am still of the same opinion after the match. United played really well against Ancelotti’s side. They looked balanced across the pitch and the front four of Cavani, Rashford, Greenwood and Fernandes should keep their place in every match unless Ole wants to rest players in less important matches. The running off the ball of the strikers was fantastic and the incessant pressing on the Everton defenders was great to see. Even when Pogba had to go off in the first half through injury and was replaced by Fred, United still remained on the front foot and their two-goal advantage at half-time was probably deserved. As a fan, I would like to see more of this formation in the coming matches, particularly the strikers, as they perfect the chemistry between them.
- Our defence is frequently at the wrong end of negative comments from armchair critics. Sometimes the criticism is justified and our defenders have had some lapses in different matches, through which we lost valuable points. Today, we got pegged back with a goal Everton scored with the last kick of the game, which is painful. Everton had three shots on target in the whole match and they scored all of them. Their second goal was excellent and the defence did not have much fault with that. With the other two, De Gea will not be happy with his performance when he looks at them again tomorrow. The first one was a soft parry by him which fell in the feet of Doucoure, while the one in injury time, he again should have done better with his positioning. I had said before the season started that this was a big season for De Gea at United. He needs to have a strong season or else Ole could start to look to replace him. I think that Henderson is still not ready to be United’s number one, so it’s a big decision for the manager in the goalkeeping position. When the keeper is not performing well, his defence will be shaky because of the concern in their keeper and the lack of trust in him, which will affect their performance.
- Few words on Scott McTominay. What a player he has developed into. With the ball, without the ball, pressing, winning tackles in the midfield, surging forward and his aerial threat is turning him into a complete player. Add to that the bonus of finding the net every two or three matches and if he continues to improve, it will be difficult for Ole to take him out of the team. What I noticed from Scott during the Everton match – surely as instructed by the manager – is that he dropped back to form a back three with Maguire and Lindelof every time United started building from the back. This system allowed the full backs to push further up the field in our build up, as they were comfortable that the defenders had their back. It is something which needs more work but it promises well.
Looking forward to receiving your thoughts on the Facebook page. GGMU!
Article contributed by Contributor Roderick. Comments are appreciated on our Facebook page.