Image source, Getty ImagesBySimon StoneManchester United reporter at the Hill Dickinson Stadium
- Published26 minutes ago
There are positives for Manchester United to take from their 2-2 draw at Everton.
Striker Benjamin Sesko scored his first goal of a season – the start to which has been delayed for longer than anticipated by a shin injury.
Kobbie Mainoo has impressed in the campaign as a whole so far and shows no sign of being affected by his unhappy World Cup experience. The same, in terms of his mental strength, could be said of goakeeper Senne Lammens.
Marcus Rashford has returned to the club with a sense of purpose.
But you cannot ignore the negatives.
After a European based pre-season that should have seen them hit the ground running, Michael Carrick’s side have dropped five points from their first three Premier League games.
They have conceded twice in all three. Their opponents are two promoted teams and an Everton outfit whose fans are distraught following a botched deadline day.
Now United must prepare for their Champions League return, against another banana skin-type opponent in Azerbaijan’s Sabah FK. After that it is Manchester City.
It is the kind of week they craved 12 months ago. But already, the pressure is on.
Positives and negatives for Carrick
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“It’s not that bad, you know,” was Carrick’s assessment of his side’s start to the season.
“We were that close to coming away with three points today. That’s football. There were little moments we can deal with a bit better, but we’ll be fine.”
Carrick got support in his assessment from his old friend Wayne Rooney, who analysed the Everton game for BBC Sport.
“I thought it was good away performance,” he said.
“Obviously, I’d be disappointed with the result, but I thought there was a lot more control in the performance.
“The midfield three were really good. They were two great strikes from Everton which got two goals, but I think there was encouragement from United’s point of view. They’ll be very frustrated they haven’t won the game, given the performance.”
Rooney was right about that.
“It feels like a defeat,” said Carrick.
“All the work that went into putting us in that position at different stages to then come away like that. We’re disappointed, bitterly disappointed.
“We can’t ignore the fact we have taken a point, but it feels that we should have had a lot more.”
Man Utd need to stop conceding
If he had wanted, Carrick could have played the ‘one of those things’ cards about the result at the Hill Dickinson stadium.
After all, the visitors controlled long periods, led twice.
The first equaliser was a brutal strike from Tyrique George. The second a blistering last-gasp effort from Ainsley Maitland-Niles introduced for his debut as a substitute.
It was the first time an Everton player had scored from outside the penalty area on their Premier League debut.
No-one was entirely at fault for either. Lammens might have done better at his near post for the first but George’s shot was going at some pace.
But Carrick accepts the optics are not great. He also knows the basic reality if a side concedes twice every time they play, they will not win many Premier League games.
“The mentality is there,” he argued.
“It’s two really good strikes from distance from their point of view. Sometimes they fly in the top corner, more often than not they probably don’t.
“But we obviously can’t ignore it. We need to concede fewer goals to give us a better chance of winning games. There’s things we need to get better at as a team.”
Rooney impressed with Shaw display
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Questions have been raised about United’s lack of recruitment during the latter days of the transfer window, with no striker signed to support Sesko.
It was interesting to note Joshua Zirkzee remained on the bench for a game he could have played in for Everton had United not ruled out the prospect of the Dutch forward joining on loan because they were unable to secure a replacement.
United also opted not to bring in Rayan Ait-Nouri from Manchester City because they did not want to sign a left-back permanently to put pressure on Luke Shaw.
Shaw was one of the visitors’ better performers against Everton. The England defender got forward with regularity and it was encouraging to see him provide the cross for Sesko’s late header.
“He was really good,” said Rooney.
“Defensively he was leading and he was good going forward as well. He looked more of a threat today in his connection with Marcus [Rashford].”
To that end, Carrick will hope the “something” Rashford felt that led to his second-half exit is not serious.
“Marcus and Luke were particularly dangerous down that side,” said Carrick.
“They’ve played together for quite some time now and have an understanding. We’re trying to build partnerships and combinations throughout the team.”
Shaw has been ever-present in United’s Premier League starting line-up since the start of last season.
Now though, Carrick must navigate through a tricky spell of four games in 11 days.
It is the busiest period he has had as United boss. Last term, neither of his two midweek games were followed by weekend matches.
How involved will Shaw be? If he does not play, who starts? Does Zirkzee really have a meaningful role?
Sesko, presumably, has put himself in line to start against Sabah? Or does Carrick prioritise the derby instead.
These are the unanswered questions that would always come in a campaign that could feature 60 games.
The tricky bit is navigating through, while delivering positive results.
“Not that bad” is a fair assessment after three games. But Carrick knows expectations around Manchester United are huge. We are nowhere near reaching it just yet, but there will come a point where “not that bad” will not be good enough.