Toffees Add To United's Woes

I used to love matches played at primetime, Singapore/Malaysia time. I remember the commentary of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray and the sun-soaked pitches. United played well and won, United played ugly and won and there were some disappointing days where we lost. Nowadays, the experience is never good. My superstition practices have been disrupted too so the overall experience has not been good.

Anger & Frustration With The Starting Line-Up

I got angry and frustrated when I saw the starting line-up before the game and that meme of the angry old couple on the bench - the old man sulking in one corner holding out an umbrella for his wife in the other corner comes to mind. That meme exemplified what I felt like at that time. I wasn’t surprised that Fred and Scott McTominay were back in the starting line-up because they were Solksjaer’s first-choice central midfield pairing despite what the majority of United fans think of them. Cristiano Ronaldo not starting was fine with me because the player replacing him was not a poor player, Edinson Cavani. Why Anthony Martial? I am sure someone like Jesse Lingard would have merited a starting place after some positive cameo appearances. Why wasn’t Jadon Sancho starting? He is starting one game, not in the other. How is he to get into a groove like that? I thought probably Mason Greenwood could have been rested instead. But alas. We don’t call the shots and our opinions on who should start and who shouldn’t don’t count.

First Half

On the game itself, we didn’t start too poorly. We pressed high and there was some zip in our play. Martial missed a header from a great position and Cavani forced Jordan Pickford into a good save but the longer the match went on at 0-0, the more time it gave the wily tactician, Rafa Benitez to tweak his team tactically and they grew into the game. We faced several goal attempts but before the ball could get to David De Gea, our defenders were blocking the attempts and clearing their lines. Everton was posing a threat with speed and movement and we had trouble stopping them before they got into our box.

The Goals

We eventually took the lead with two minutes left of the first half with a well-worked move testament of what the players are capable of if everything clicks and works well for us. Anthony Martial showed as well what he is capable of with his finish. Before that, his performance would be best described as a meh performance. We made some pretty early changes in the second half, Sancho was brought on to replace the injured Martial while Ronaldo replaced Cavani which I felt was a bit premature because Cavani was devoid of quality service to feed on. Then came the equalizer. It was a poor corner, to begin with, and Everton counter-attacked. Fred looked favourite to win the ball but lost it. How many times have we seen that? It has nothing to do with his size because we have seen small-sized central midfielders like N’Golo Kante and Claude Makelele go into a tackle like that before and win the ball. Defensively, we were all over the shop and at the end of a swift counter, Everton equalized.

The Response & The Aftermath Of The Result

The response to the equalizer was poor and we nearly conceded a second. Thankfully, VAR came to the rescue with the offside flag. A poor and disappointing result that adds to the woes of recent performances and results. We have lost three times, won once and drawn once in our last 5 games. In the Premier League, we have dropped points to Southampton, Aston Villa and Everton and nearly did the same against West Ham United. The pattern is similar to last season and the season before. Increasingly, Solksjaer is getting exposed tactically and looks inadequate. While in previous seasons, one could argue that the squad didn’t have enough quality, this season, he cannot hide behind that as the club has reinforced significantly. The only thing missing is a proper defensive central midfielder but there is enough quality present in that department in this squad, just that the right selection has not been made. In a pre-season game between these two sides, United triumphed 4-0 with a central midfield pairing of Nemanja Matic and Donny van de Beek so that tells it all.

 Solksjaer MUST Make Things Right If He Wants To Remain In The Job

The truth is that it's still early days in the season but the frustration, anger and disappointment felt is an accumulation of seasons past under Solksjaer. It’s hard to imagine that the club will sack him over the international break or soon after if results continue going south. If they did, who would they replace him with? Fans want someone that can do better with the squad available and win trophies but who is available now to get the team to do that well with the squad at his disposal and play the way they want United to play? I am not saying we should tolerate Solksjaer’s inadequacies or hide from the fact that he isn’t good enough at the elite level but who should we replace him with? If Solksjaer is to survive the backlash and a possible sacking, he MUST use this international break to introspect and find a way to ensure the team plays well, defend better, win games and entertain the fans. A tough task but that is just how it is at the highest level.