Manchester United Football Club finally got a win under their belts.
Saturday’s victory was their first in five. Jose Mourinho has been
offered a reprieve – ironically by two players who haven’t been anywhere
near their best under him; Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial.
The game itself was a stressful situation. Going two down early is
never easy. However, the fightback was simply sensational. It was no
less than United deserved. The three points, heading into the
international break no-less, could well be a mood-changer. Things should
be heading back in the right direction after this huge morale boost.
Anyway, let’s get right onto the three things we learned.
Jose Mourinho still has the players’ support
The players still want to play for Mourinho. That much is evident.
They never lost their cool, nor did they give up. From minute one, the
whole team worked hard, put in the effort and eventually turned things
around. Alexis Sanchez came on with a positive attitude and changed the
game. The aforementioned Martial was sublime in the second-half. Even
Juan Mata was influential, the Spaniard must be in contention to start
next time out.
Paul Pogba does actually care
There have been questions raised about Pogba’s attitude. I think
rightfully so… He was easily our best player against Newcastle. He was
moved far deeper than probably he would have liked at times, but did he
moan? Nope. The Frenchman was brilliant in that position actually, as he
was able to see everything that was playing out in front of him –
giving him more time to pick the pass or make those marauding runs
forward.
Romelu Lukaku needs to sit out a game or two
I’m just not sure what is going on with big Rom at the moment. During
United’s poor run, he has been arguably the most inconsistent player.
Chances have come at a premium, sure, but he has had opportunities to
score – more often than not, he has been missing. You usually at least
get hard-work, energy and good hold-up play out of him. We haven’t even
had that. Why not give Sanchez a run in the team through the middle?
That’s where I believe he plays his best football.
