Again Inconsistent United

Manchester United was back in action after the international break. The performance in our last league match before the international break was heartening and positive. We were hoping for more of the same today morning when we played against West Bromwich Albion. What we saw was in perfect tune with how the season has been; infuriatingly inconsistent.

We have not won a league game at home this season and on paper, this seemed to be a dead certainty for our first league win at home. But we contrived to make it hard for ourselves. The match was moved from the original 11 pm kickoff in Singapore to 4 am, I presume for TV purposes. It was a tough watch as I struggled to stay awake for this match. While putting myself through the rigour of waking up in the wee hours to watch my team play exemplifies the common commitment among fans in South East Asia for their favourite European clubs, at the end of the game, I felt I should have just slept this one out.

Disjointed

From the start of the match, our play looked disjointed. It lacked composure and quality. When we did provide a moment of quality, we squandered a good chance to give us the lead. Sam Johnstone, a graduate of United’s academy was called into action to save from Anthony Martial but I felt Martial should have done better with the chance. Johnstone made several saves but the best one was from Marcus Rashford’s shot from outside the box in the second half. Rashford himself was guilty of not doing better with his chance in the second half.

VAR To The Rescue

We got a scare in the first minute of the second half when the referee pointed to the spot for a tackle by Bruno Fernandes on Conor Gallagher. Thankfully, VAR came to the rescue as the video images showed the faintest of touches by Fernandes on the ball before making contact with the opponent. Luck was on our side today as Juan Mata’s attempted cross hit the arm of Darnell Furlong in the box. On second view, it looked harsh but you see it given due to the new handball rule. Bruno Fernandes missed his first attempt from the spot-kick but thankfully like in his previous miss against Paris Saint-Germain, he was allowed to retake it as the goalkeeper had stepped off the line. He scored from his second attempt for our only goal of the game.

Inconsistent United

The performance of the individual players in this game highlights once again the inconsistency of the team. We raise our game when there is pressure on us or in big matches but when we are favourites to win, we struggle to turn up. What I found surprising was that many fresh players that weren’t called up for international duty or didn’t play much while on international duty were selected but yet the performance levels were low. The longer the game went, the more I felt there was no need for a second defensive central midfielder in the system. Donny van de Beek should have started instead of Nemanja Matic. Juan Mata and Anthony Martial both couldn’t influence the game. I felt Edison Cavani should have started but alas.

In the end, a win is a win. Every win is worth three points whether it’s earned beautifully or in an ugly manner.  Ole Gunnar Solksjaer acknowledged that the team needs to play better and we hope we do. But my concern is on the character of the players. A Manchester United player cannot pick and choose matches to turn up and perform. There are no easy games for United as everyone wants to beat us so every match has to be treated as a final. It’s always the same characters that are inconsistent.