WHY SAY ANYTHING?

Premier League manager’s are paid millions every season to ensure, in varying degrees, success or survival. The very top managers are paid to compete for the title.

José Mourinho would come under the heading of the very top managers, so here is my question:

If I, sat in my armchair watching the game, can say to my wife that if Fellaini comes on he will give away the free-kick from which Everton will equalise, how come Mourinho can’t work it out? It was rank bad management and, in fact, it was the manager who cost United the two points with that decision.

I was only wrong in that the free-kick he conceded was inside the penalty area rather than outside. Bringing him on was a disaster waiting to happen and we didn’t have to wait for long.

The team had survived very well for the vast majority of the game without the need for any changes being made, so why make them towards the end when it becomes more dangerous? Players come on and can’t get into the pace of the game which results in mistakes.

Sending Fellaini on to defend a one goal lead would appear, at first glance, to be a reasonable idea. Everton would play long balls into the box and he would be useful in repelling them.

Gary Neville said that Mourinho was “let down by his player, having sent him on for all the right reasons”. I beg to disagree. As I said earlier United were defending well and looked quite capable of hanging on to their lead. It was only after the substitutions were made that Everton became a threat.

The manager is paid the big money to make the big decisions and he got this one wrong. Yes, he sent him on for the right reasons, he just shouldn’t have sent him on at all. If I know that, surely he should!

So United dropped another two points from a winning situation. The worrying aspect is not so much that they concede late goals, although that has to be a concern. No, more worrying is that, in the main, they are only capable of scoring one goal which is what causes the problem in the first place.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not the answer to United’s goalscoring woes. Yes he is a useful striker to have around, particularly if he comes on with half an hour left when a goal is required. Marcus Rashford is still too young and needs to continue the learning process. Wayne Rooney is past his best, which was never brilliant, and cannot be relied upon to score the required goals and Anthony Martial seems to blow hot and cold.

What is needed is a proven striker at the peak of his career who will score thirty goals or more EVERY season. It is fairly obvious that Manchester United are failing to win games because they are failing to score the necessary goals. In some recent games, such as West Ham in the EFL Cup and Feyenoord in the Europa League, United went on to win easily AFTER scoring the second goal. If they don’t get that second goal then they have a problem because they always concede.

Manchester United supporters will always accept the team conceding goals as long as they score more at the other end. The thought process is a little like that of Brazil whereby as long as they score more than the opposition they will win the game.

At the moment United are struggling to score more than the opposition and this is reflected in their points total. If they continue in this vein they will finish outside of the top four again. This makes winning one of the other trophies very important for European qualification next season. It also makes the January transfer window very important when, if a top class striker becomes available, United MUST buy him.