Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Manchester United find themselves in the hunt for the final Champions League place. It’s fair to say their season is resting on this and perhaps Louis Van Gaal’s employment status also. The club has seen a element of resurgence as of late and they will look to continue that with the visit of Everton.
The reason they are in that hunt is due to the fact they pulled off a vital win in the Manchester Derby before the International Break. Man of the moment Marcus Rashford looked coolness personified as he slotted home past Joe Hart to give United the lead and ultimately the victory.
The game will probably be remembered more for Martin Demichelis’ awful 45 minute appearance but that said it was a very resolute United performance and one where United managed to keep Sergio Aguero at bay even if Chris Smalling was maybe a bit too close to him at times and was lucky not to have been sent off.
It certainly wasn’t luck for Louis Van Gaal, a well masterminded win keeps the pressure of him for another week. Although they had won 2 out of their last 3 matches again people were saying that this could have been the last game for Van Gaal and if his United side had fallen 7 points behind their cross city rivals that may have very well been the case but as it stands they are only 1 point further back and the momentum is very much with the red half of Manchester.
They will look to continue this wave of optimism with a win over a lowly Everton who have blown hot and cold all season. Hot in the Cups and cold in the League after an impressive win over Chelsea to secure a F.A. Cup Semi Final place it was hoped they can repeat that performance with the visit of Arsenal before the break.
It was always going to be a question of which Everton were going to turn up the Hot or the Cold one and it was more than apparent that it was the latter. Arsenal carved through their backline like a knife through hot butter as Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi both slotted home to give The Gunners a comfortable win at Goodison Park.
Goodison Park is seemingly more of a hindrance than a help to Everton this season with more points coming on the road for Roberto Martinez’s side this season. Maybe that could point to a result today at Old Trafford but with them sitting in the lower half of the table they are going to need to pick some wins to make sure Martinez is still in the Goodison hotseat next season.
With transfer funds being promised by Farhad Moshiri the question will be whether Martinez will be the man to spend them. The backlash is seemingly getting louder from the fans at Goodison and it seems as if it’s only the Cup run which is keeping the ex Swansea Manager in a job.
It may be the Cup papering over the cracks but Today the focus shifts to the league, can Everton get a run together to salvage their season or will United keep themselves in the hunt for 4th. I’m going to go for a United win and more misery for Martinez.
