The Red Devils had 68% possession against Everton on Saturday but were largely wasteful in the attacking third.
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Manchester United’s embarrassing 1-0 defeat against relegation-threatened Everton has sent shockwaves across the Premier League. Everton came into the match on the back of a poor run of results. They were inching ever-closer to the bottom three relegation places. On the other hand, Manchester United were neither in fine form, thanks to their inconsistent run of results. Still, Ralf Rangnick’s side were expected to win the match at Goodison Park, thanks to the superior quality of their squad. But what turned out on the pitch was entirely different.
Rangnick’s side failed to make the most of the early pressure, while Everton snatched home the goal from arguably their first attack of the game, which also took a massive deflection. After that, the Merseyside Blues sat deep in their own half and did not allow much room for United to work within the final third. This meant United had to endure another disappointing night, which undoubtedly is a new low for the Red Devils. On the other hand, Frank Lampard’s side were delighted with the three crucial points that could help them massively in surviving the relegation battle.
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United were toothless for the most part of the game, barring the opening exchanges when they clearly kept Everton on the back foot. However, Rangnick was clearly frustrated that his team did not do enough during the early dominance. “I think we had a good start into the game,” said Rangnick after the match, as per his club’s website. “The first 25 minutes we were in full control of the game. Saying that, we didn’t, even in those 25 minutes, take enough or make enough advantage out of that dominating period in the game.
“Especially on our left side, I would have wished us to create more overlaps, underlaps, and exploit this open space more than we did. We had our moments; we could have scored in the first 25 minutes, but I still, even in that period of the game, I would have wished us to have been more penetrating, to have more players up in the box.”
Despite dominating the early period, Rangnick believes his players could have done more during that positive spell to create additional opportunities. He also felt that Everton were there for the taking on the back of their disappointing 3-2 defeat against Burnley in their last match.
“You could literally feel that they [Everton] were crumbling,” he added. “After that result against Burnley, quite logically, they were not full of confidence. But we didn’t take advantage out of that. With their first shot on goal, a deflected goal, it changed the game. It also changed – which was expected to happen – it changed the atmosphere in the stadium. And, yeah, the second half, they just defended with all their few players on the pitch, and we were not able to break that wall down in the second half.”
The Red Devils had 68% possession against Everton on Saturday but were largely wasteful in the attacking third. United kept the ball well in the middle third or in their own half, however, they lacked penetration in the final third. That was largely down to United’s failure to make the most of the possession.
It was not only about how poor the Red Devils were with the ball but equally how bad they were without it. One of the main reasons was the lack of coordination between the squad. United did not move the ball quickly to break down a stubborn Everton defence, neither there were enough willing runners to pull Lampard’s defenders out of shape.
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This has been a long-standing issue for the Red Devils. They have been relying more on individual quality rather than playing as a unit to create chances. In contrast to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, United players did not run much between the lines or behind the backline to receive passes.
They were playing it far too safe, making it comfortable for Everton to defend. United having only four shots on target despite having the bulk of ball possession speaks volumes of their poor performance. Although United’s chances of finishing in the top four appear to be over, they still have seven games left in the season. If they continue to play at this level, then Manchester United fans have to brace themselves for more disappointments.
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