Game Review
Man United get the win over Everton 3-0. This is a great result and a result that we will need if we want a chance of top 4. Although I would not be celebrating this victory too hard. Everton is 2nd last in the league with 4 points. That should be a comfortable win for United. Looking at the score line you would think it was a comfortable win but that is far from the truth. Look at the stats Everton had 2.6 expected goals. If Onana didn’t make some great saves and Everton didn’t miss some big chances, Man United could have dropped some points. If they play that way against Galatasaray, they will lose. Now I don’t want to just be pointing out bad things after a win so i’ll come with some positives. Mainoo made his debut and was amazing. I will look forward to seeing him play for United more often. Garnacho had one of the best goals I have ever seen, and the best I have seen live. I think now Garnacho has proved that the left wing role is his now. Another great performance from Onana too. I hated to see people giving him hate at the start of his United Career. Although I think that he has proved everyone wrong over the past couple games. It was also great to see Luke Shaw back, we really have missed him all season. Rashford got back on the score sheet with a goal. I know it was only a pen but hopefully this can get him back on track.
Erik Ten Hag
I know Erik Ten Hag technically wasn’t coaching today, but we will assume he was still making all the decisions. I thought that this was a great coached game. A lot better than we have seen in past games. I liked to see that Garnacho was starting again. I think he has proved that he should be starting every game now. My favourite tactic was to start Kobbie Mainoo. He has been a top prospect for United for a while. He got injured at the start so I wasn’t sure when he was going to start playing again. Then Ten Hag started him this game and it was a success. I did not like to see McTominay out there though. Nothing against McTominay but we signed Amrabat for a reason and Ten Hag hasn’t really given him many chances. I thought this game could be perfect for Amrabat but McTominay played alright. I thought that Varane should have started today as well. Everybody knows that Ten Hag and Varane aren’t on the best of terms right now. But this was the perfect game for Varane. An easy game against a team near the bottom of the league, and could start to help repair their relationship. At some point I have to question Ten Hag. I stood by him when he had a falling out with Ronaldo. I stood by him when he had a falling out with Sancho. Now one with Varane too? It seems like a lot but in Ten Hag we trust.
Player Ratings
Starting Lineup
Andre Onana 8.5/10
As I said before, a great game for Onana. Every single game he gets better and silences the critics. He made some great saves on Calvert-Lewin and denied him probably a brace. His distribution was amazing again and helped them with building out of the back. Overall great game and hope to see more games like this form him.
Diego Dalot 7/10 ( 1 assist)
I wanted to see Aaron Wan-Bissaka start today but Dalot proved me wrong. He had an assist on the amazing Garnacho goal. He made great overlapping runs for Rashford like he always does. What impressed me the most was he defensive play today. He was able to shut down passing lanes and make great tackles. Pretty solid game for him but I would like to see Wan-Bissaka start against Galatasaray.
Victor Lindelof 5/10
I don’t know how to feel about Lindelof. He had a great game going forward, and helped build out from the back a lot. But defensively he was less than great. He got muscled and lost headers to Calvert-Lewin a lot of times. He gave up great scoring chances to Everton too many times. I think Varane should have started. Lindelof was able to get away with his lacklustre defensive performance against Everton. But against Newcastle, Chelsea, or Man City, he could not get away with it. So overall good gong forward and not so good defensively.
Harry Maguire 6/10
Maguire is starting to get on my good side more and more each game. He is not great going forward but everybody already knew that. He just keeps becoming more and more reliable on defence. Maguire was able to shut Calvert-Lewin down when Lindelof couldn’t. Overall Solid defensively and alright going forward.
Luke Shaw 7/10
It was great to see Shaw back after being gone from injury. He wasn’t at his full self but we saw glimpses of it. Great overlapping runs and crosses. Great support on defence. That is what Man United missed at left back, a world class player that can do it all. Overall a good game for Shaw and hopefully he improves coming back from injury.
Kobbie Mainoo 9/10 ★
Kobbie Mainoo makes his debut today, and what a debut it was for him. An 18 year old kid just coming back from injury and playing like that is amazing. He looked like a 30 year old seasoned midfielder, he was calm and made the right plays. I gave him the man of the match because he really did everything right. He even made a goal line clearance. I hope he will start against Galatasaray and be able to keep these performances up.
Scott McTominay 6/10
A pretty average game for Scott McTominay today. I have said it before and I will say it again, Scott McTominay is not a DM. He should be playing further up the field. His passing and dribbling were average as expected along with is defence. He really didn’t get much going on offence either. He was almost invisible out there. I would like to see him step up and not start vs Galatasaray.
Alejandro Garnacho 9/10 (1 goal)
The best goal in the history of the prem? Easily the best goal I have ever seen scored live. He had a great game besides that too with some great runs and passes. As I said before I think that Garnacho has really cemented himself in the team now and hopefully will continue to improve. Overall great game for him and one of he best Man United goals of all time.
Bruno Fernandes 8/10 (1 assist)
Another great game from Bruno. Does this man ever have bad games? I never understood the Bruno agenda. He has been our best player over the past decade and is always great on the pitch. He basically had 2 assists, with Martial’s goal and the pass to give Martial the pen. Bruno showed great leadership by handing the pen off to Rashford and ending his goal drought. Overall amazing game and he will always be my captain.
Marcus Rashford 6/10 (1 goal”pen”)
Another bad game for Rashford. The only reason he didn’t get a 5 is because of his pen goal. Ten Hag needs to let him sit out a game because he can’t do it. He loses the ball so much and doesn’t do the right passes. I want prime Rashford back. Overall a poor game for him but hopefully this pen goal can bring him back.
Anthony Martial 7/10 (1 goal)
For some reason whenever he plays Everton he turns into a Ballon D’or winner. He got a goal and drew a penalty. I know we signed Hojlund and Martial looks on his way out but he is still a great player. His goal was a very nice chip shot and a glimpse of the old Martial. Overall solid game for him and he will probably start vs Galatasaray because Hojlund is still Injured.
Substitutes
Sofyan Amrabat 6/10
He came on in the 72nd for Kobbie Mainoo. The game was relatively calm after that and there wasn’t anything special for him to do. He didn’t do anything wrong he just did his job and that’s all you can ask for from a sub. So a pretty average performance form him.
Facundo Pellistri 7/10
This kid is going to be something special. He also came on in the 72nd minute for Garnacho. I think he should be seeing the pitch every single game. Whether he is coming off the bench or even starting, he should be there. His great dribbling and passing set up the Martial goal perfectly. Overall a great game for him and I would honestly play him over Rashford for Galatasaray.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7/10
I mean not a lot you can say about him. He came on in the 76th minute to replace Diego Dalot. He played some great defence and shut down Everton’s attacks. Wan-Bissaka didn’t do a lot offensively but he did his job defensively so he gets a 7.
Hannibal Mejbri 6/10
He came on in the 85th minute for Martial. He didn’t have many opportunities to do anything really. But he didn’t play badly so I can’t give him anything below a 6.
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