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Manchester United 1-1 Everton | Talking Points

Manchester United stuttered to another disappointing home draw as Everton moved three points clear of the relegation zone.

Duncan Ferguson’s impressive spell as caretaker manager continued as Manchester United failed to capitalise on Chelsea’s slip up on Saturday night.

The home side started the brightest and the opening thirty minutes saw Lingard and James missed good chances when firing wide, when free eight yards out. Marcus Rashford then forced a needlessly dramatic save from Jordan Pickford from a free-kick. From there Solskjaer’s team failed to dominate and as Tom Davies gained the upper hand in midfield the visitors took the lead.

On 36 minutes Leighton Baines, on as a substitute for Lucas Digne, floated a corner into the middle of the six-yard area where David de Gea was borderline fairly clattered into by Dominic Calvert Lewin, the Spanish goalkeeper flapped the ball behind him onto the unaware Lindelof, who could only watch in horror as the ball hit him and trickled over the line.

The second half saw Luke Shaw and Rashford come close again as the home side racked up possession and shots (66 per cent and 24 by full time) without looking totally convincing.

United finally found an equaliser with thirteen minutes remaining as Daniel James fed 18-year-old Mason Greenwood who moved the ball onto his left foot and drilled a shot through the sea of legs and into the bottom corner.

Neither side looked much like finding a winner but there was still time for Duncan Ferguson to brutally substitute Moise Kean who had only been subbed on 19 minutes earlier.

Both sides move onto League Cup quarter-final action and Everton will feel the happier with a point that provides a three-point buffer on the bottom three before two winnable home games against Arsenal and Burnley over Christmas.

Solskjaer’s side will rue a poor result to match the home draw with Aston Villa either side of the stunning win against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. The result leaves the Old Trafford club four points off the top four as patchy form against the lower sides threatens to derail their season.

Greenwood a superstar

The youngster moved onto 7 goals for the season including two crucial Premier League goals in draws against Sheffield United and now Everton.

The 18-year-old is easily the best finisher at the club and the way he dragged his left-footed finish back across himself with a swivel of the hips was reminiscent of a goal his manager scored to win an FA Cup 4th round tie against Liverpool.

Whilst Greenwood’s left foot finishes have the air of Robin van Persie his two-footed finishing ability is so reminiscent of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer it would be no surprise to see Greenwood managing the club in 2042 attempting to end a 29-year title drought.

Ferguson v Kean part 2

The last time Ferguson and Keane had an argument at Manchester United it was somewhat more explosive that this Sunday. Nevertheless, Moise Kean being subbed off on 89 minutes having being brought on after 70 minutes.

Duncan Ferguson said the move was tactical and not personal but Kean’s flabbergasted look and stroll down the tunnel without being acknowledged by his manager suggests otherwise.

Subbing a young striker who is struggling in a foreign country isn’t the greatest look for a caretaker manager but perhaps Ferguson deserves to be cut some slack?

Kean was brought on to help protect a lead and then a point but was struggling to carry out the instructions though not necessarily through a lack of effort, and if Ferguson thought the point was at risk what more could he do? Perhaps an overreaction but hopefully Kean can get a start in midweek and show his worth. In the meantime, there might be an uneasy alliance between old and new school.

Solskjaer’s plan B exposed again

The pattern of Manchester United’s results is now becoming laughably black and white. Counterattacking against the very best Solskjaer’s team look like title contenders.

Forced to beat a team in a low block happy to scrape a point Solskjaer looks clueless and a relegation candidate.

A point against Everton now means Manchester United have only 11 points from 12 games against the bottom 13 in the league but a staggering 14 points from 6 games against Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Such a disparity doesn’t speak well of his player’s attitude or Solskjaer’s tactical acumen when the counter-attack is off the table.

But in a league where the fourth spot seems to be up for grabs in a sea of mediocrity at least the Norwegian knows what he needs to improve to succeed.

Haaland unlikely to be the answer

Erling Haaland has been heavily linked with Manchester United in the January window. Despite 28 goals this season the likelihood that the young Norwegian would improve this current side.

With Rashford, Greenwood, Martial and James all in form this season another striker would improve the potential ceiling of the team without addressing the floor. The draw on Sunday was the eighth time they have had more than 55% of possession and their record in those games is W0 D5 L3.

With Paul Pogba still out with an ever mysterious injury the Manchester United midfield looks bereft of creativity and ball players and with Christian Eriksen possibly available or the likes of James Maddison or Jack Grealish surely in the scope of a Manchester United overture, surely Manchester United have better and more important places to spend their money in January?

But given the clubs track record in recent years don’t hold your breath waiting for them to do the sensible purchase – Ed Woodward has yet to see a shiny, unnecessary, superstar he didn’t like the look of.

Ancellotti to the rescue?

The Italian manager has been heavily linked to the vacant job at Goodison Park this weekend. Duncan Ferguson has ruled himself out with an endearing mix of self-awareness and self-deprecation but if Ancellotti is to stay on he will need to keep the Scottish legend on.

Despite 3 Champions League wins as a manager, the Italian has a relatively poor record in League campaigns, and with recent jobs at Bayern Munich and Napoli having taken the sheen off a great career.

Following Guardiola and Sarri, Ancellotti has been accused as too soft and lacking real intensity and attention to detail, preferring a man-management style. Ancellotti’s best success came as an ego whisperer to already established sides, his laid back style is unlikely to light a fire under an underachieving side with arguably only one player of any world-class potential – Richarlison.

Ancelotti would be be a big name and embolden the fan base but further trouble might be on the way as Everton lurch from managerial style to managerial style.

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