After a short break to recharge the batteries WSA is back! Bigger and better than ever! Well, the same as it was before anyway. Much like Manchester United who, in the first ten minutes of their game against West Ham, appeared to be bigger and better than ever but weren’t really.
Having scored a very well worked goal in the opening minutes, thanks to a fine pass from Rooney to Mkhitaryan and a back heel from the Armenian to Ibrahimovic who clipped the ball over the advancing goalkeeper, they then proceeded to go back into their shell.
So much so that they allowed West Ham to equalise with a soft goal which was entirely preventable, not least by De Gea who fumbled a weak shot straight to Ashley Fletcher, who sent it right back past him.
I keep reading about how unlucky this United team is but, on tonight’s first half evidence, they should spend their training sessions on how to pick the correct pass and how to finish.
Mkhitaryan was twice ignored when in a favourable position, first by Rooney who chose a more difficult pass to Ibrahimovic who, in turn, was surrounded by four West Ham defenders so the chance came to nothing. On the second occasion, Rooney himself decided to shoot straight into the first defender rather than pass the ball.
Both Rooney and Anthony Martial had a couple of half decent opportunities in the first half but they either passed back to Adrian in the West Ham goal or, in the case of one Martial effort, blazed the shot yards over the bar.
At this stage the United fans were probably thinking that nothing much had changed and half-time arrived with the scores level.
The second half saw United start as they did the first, by scoring in the opening minutes. This time Martial found his shooting boots and placed a nice shot into the top corner when found by Mkhitaryan who would be the man of the match.
This time though, for a change, United sought to press home their advantage rather than sit back and await the inevitable equaliser. They looked like a team who would score more goals and that is just what they did.
Firstly Martial grabbed his second of the night when left with a tap-in by Mkhitaryan (again!). Then, in the dying minutes, Herrera got to the by-line and squared it back for Ibrahimovic to score his second of the night.
This was far more impressive from United, particularly in the second half and, for me, it was down mainly to Henrikh Mkhitaryan who was instrumental in everything good United did.
Just a couple of side notes. Wayne Rooney played quite well and justified his selection for once. The commentator did suggest that a goal by him to break Bobby Charlton’s record would have put the icing on the cake for the fans. He obviously doesn’t know United fans very well. They couldn’t care less if Rooney scores or not, as long as United win. He is nowhere near the legend that Charlton was and a lot of supporters will be disappointed when he does eventually break the record.
The second was the introduction of Bastian Schweinsteiger after 86 minutes. It was probably to waste a bit of time but he was given a great reception by the fans and obviously enjoyed himself for the few remaining minutes. Many fans believe he has been treated unfairly by José Mourinho but, to be fair, he wasn’t originally part of the manager’s plans and was only subject to the same as any other player in the that position.
So United return to winning ways but for how long? In the recent past it has heralded a very short and false dawn before the tedious performances and results returned. Let’s hope that this time it is different!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 