MANCHESTER, England — Three points on Manchester United’s 1-0 Premier League win over Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday.
1. Martial delivers for ponderous Man United
Sir Bobby Charlton could smile in the end. On the day when he saw the South Stand being renamed in his honour, 60 years on from his debut, Manchester United had won against Everton.
The result might have been befitting of Charlton and the indomitable, solid spirit of United, but the slow-paced performance was not.
The home fans played their part in honouring the club’s celebrated history, holding up flags and a mosaic before kickoff, when Charlton stepped out. It encapsulated the best spirit of Manchester United as a club.
The players’ duty was to respond to that, but it did not take long for Everton to quieten the previously enthusiastic crowd as, midway through the first half, a lull in volume took place around the ground. There had been occasional promising moments, but United were failing to find rhythm and went into the break with the score frustratingly at 0-0, a familiar pattern under Louis van Gaal this season. This marked the 10th time in the league this season in which they were in a scoreless deadlock after the first half.
As the half-time whistle blew, there had been no shots on target from either team and Van Gaal looked glum as he trudged off.
Thankfully for United, Everton’s preseason aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League were decimated long ago, thanks to their porous defending, and that flaw gifted United the chance to break the tedious deadlock. Roberto Martinez’s men had shown some solidity and looked relatively comfortable until then, so it was a hard sight to take for them. Everton were too non-threatening going forward in the match, though, with Ross Barkley struggling more than he should have.
The result should not paper over the cracks for United, however, who again needed a fine save from David De Gea to preserve the 1-0 score, this time denying Phil Jagielka. Their already obvious issues were amplified in this contest. One of those, which is in need of urgent remedy, is the problem with finding a competent combination of holding midfielders to be effective in Van Gaal’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick were both ponderous in their respective roles. The Frenchman might be given time in the long term to rectify his disappointing start to life at United, but for Carrick, reaching the closing stages of his career, it is a different story. The long-serving midfielder was taken off soon after Anthony Martial had scored and replaced by Ander Herrera.
At least Van Gaal could take satisfaction from grinding out another win. Often this season, impressive results have often not been followed up. This time, though, United made a big result — triumph against Manchester City a fortnight ago — count. At this stage of the season, it’s all about results, but in the long run, that is not enough.
2. Lukaku, Stones demonstrate their class
Romelu Lukaku and John Stones have been spoken about as potential Manchester United transfer targets, and this was an afternoon in which they looked too good to be in this Everton side, although both players did show their weakness at times.
Lukaku was a focal point again for Everton, arguably too much as the away team often resorted to a direct approach toward him, rather than produce the patient passing that Martinez’s players were once lauded for. The Belgian had been kept quiet by Chris Smalling when United thrashed Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park, and the striker was again tested at Old Trafford, this time by impressive Daley Blind. Still, despite the difficulties, Lukaku still looked Everton’s main threat for long periods.
Blind deserves credit for the way he handled the in-form striker on several occasions, including a crucial block on a shot early in the second half.
Stones, meanwhile, was named in the starting lineup for this match after an injury concern suffered while on international duty with England, when he made a costly slip against the Netherlands. The fact that it was a slippery surface at Old Trafford did not help him.
Stones stood up to the test, for the most part, although Everton as a unit would have been disappointed with the way they allowed Martial to break the deadlock. The versatile defender had shown admirable confidence before then, often playing the ball out from the back in trademark fashion.
The game was a challenge for him, as he was up against Marcus Rashford, another promising potential England star of the future. There was a back-heel from Rashford that played in Martial during the first half, catching out Jagielka, but Stones made a first-class challenge to cut out the danger. It was a sign of how well he can read the game. United could do a lot worse than to recruit him.
3. Time running out for Rojo
Marcos Rojo has had a week to forget. There werepictures of his off-field activitiesreported by the media, so he should have felt an urge to make up for that unwanted attention. Facing Everton was an occasion in which he needed to show his responsibility in a United shirt. Instead, he ended up looking out of his depth, not for the first time this season, and was withdrawn at half-time.
He has started eight games in a row at left-back. On only three of those occasions has he finished, though. During this run, it is not just his fitness that has been in question; it is also his quality.
The time could well have come to give him a rest and replace him, and perhaps either Cameron Borthwick-Jackson or Matteo Darmian should be in consideration for Rojo’s position from the start. The tone for his performance against Everton was set very early on when he was left trailing by dangerous Gerard Deulofeu, and the United defender was lucky to see the Catalan lose control afterward.
There was more frustration for the Argentine when he had a shot blocked following a Schneiderlin pass, and things got worse when he produced a tame, half-hearted and sliced shot. Rojo kept getting forward but there was not enough to trouble the opposition and compensate for his vulnerability against Deulofeu, who gave him the runaround. Rojo was felled by a sliding challenge from Seamus Coleman in the penalty area shortly before half-time, and he was put out of his misery soon afterward, replaced by Tim Fosu-Mensah, with Darmian switching to left-back.
The rookie plus an out-of-position Darmian looks a safer combination than having Rojo in the team at the moment. As much as Van Gaal would want it to work out for the Argentinian, that is a worrying sign.

Soccernet