No need to ask, he's a smooth operator
Mason Greenwood made the difference as United won 3-1 without playing very well
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 3, Burnley 1
Mason Greenwood had a game of two halves. In the first, he didn’t just miss a good chance, he somehow missed the ball, sliding in after Marcus Rashford had put it on a plate for him. But good strikers know how to dismiss a miss from their minds, and Greenwood’s finish for the first goal, straight after half-time, was as sharp as the whole move. His second relied on a deflection, but he had earned that luck by working hard, and keeping calm, during the long lean spell that has now come to a resounding end with five goals in six games. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called him ‘smooth’ on Friday, and for the last 48 minutes he lived up to the description.
Sometimes Solskjaer says one thing and does another. He had told the press that there was a chance of catching City – ‘stranger things have happened’. And then he picked two defensive midfielders for a home game against Burnley. Strange things won’t happen if managers don’t make strong decisions. What’s the Norwegian for ‘fortune favours the bold’?
Where he has been admirably positive is with David de Gea and Dean Henderson, although that decision nearly backfired today. One of Henderson’s strengths, his willingness to come out of his area, suddenly turned into a weakness. He had a rush of blood to the head in the second minute, and got away with it because Chris Wood was fractionally offside. He had another when he clattered into Victor Lindelof, and got away with that one too. He even misjudged his outfit: the red cap he wore for the second half clashed with the orange trim on his strip. But it hardly matters who the goalie is when United wobble at set pieces as they did for the Burnley goal. Bring back Axel Tuanzebe!
Scott McTominay receives a lot of praise, and deserves it for his attitude. But have you looked at his stats lately? In the league this season, he’s managed one assist. He showed why today, sitting deep and playing wary little passes. He’s a lion in the tackle and a crab with the ball. Again and again he found himself in the Trent Alexander-Arnold position, out on the right, on the 45. Again and again he failed to cross – until the 83rd minute, when he finally whipped the ball in, too low, but at least it went for a corner. From that corner, indirectly, Greenwood scored the winner. Mostly, though, McTominay made a sharp contrast with Bruno Fernandes. Looking out of form again, and mislaying his shots and long balls, Fernandes still had a hand in all three goals, including the latest of United’s fine collection of no-touch assists.
Marcus Rashford keeps playing when he’s half-fit, whereas Edinson Cavani only played a half when he was fit. But both did well in their different ways. Rashford provided nearly all the enterprise in the first 80 minutes. Cavani found cracks in Burnley’s defence and supplied a crisp finish to a lovely piece of latticework for the third goal. He was teed up by Donny van de Beek’s first assist in the Premier League – or at least his first involving a touch. With van de Beek, United played ten minutes today and won 2-0; without him, they had played 83 minutes and laboured to 1-1. The way he’s performing now, he may even impress Solskjaer.
The European Super League is a terrible idea. Gary Neville thinks so. Roy Keane and Micah Richards think so. The Football Supporters’ Association thinks so. ‘If Burnley score again,’ said Neville at 1-1, ‘they’re in the Super League!’ That’s the way to handle this plan: laugh it out of town. The essence of it appears to be that England’s Big Six would always qualify for the Super League, even if they were as bad as Arsenal have been this year. And that’s just unsporting. If it’s true that United have signed up for it, some bigwig has made a bad mistake. I wonder if Ed Woodward knows this song?