A chaotic Manchester United performance is par for the course these days, but there is some quality in the team.
There is individual quality among all of Manchester United’s players. Manager Erik ten Hag has just been struggling to tie them together in a coherent, functioning plan all season.
The manager’s efforts have not been helped by defensive injuries, but that does not explain the often cavalier midfield approach, which has been consistent no matter who is in the starting line-up.
One player who has been thriving amid the chaos is teenager Kobbie Mainoo, who scored his first ever goal at Old Trafford in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
Kobbie Mainoo in BBC team of the week
This was a disjointed performance from Manchester United which saw the teamfail to attempt a single shot in the first half.
Thankfully United improved after the break, with Bruno Fernandes scoring a stunning long-range effort after a Liverpool mistake, before Kobbie Mainoo struck his third goal of an impressive breakout season.
Mainoo was selected in the BBC team of the week by pundit Garth Crooks, who had players to choose from across all 20 Premier League teams.
Crooks noted: “The good news for United is midfielder Mainoo is getting better with every game.”
He added that Liverpool should have been 3-0 up after 40 minutes, with their own wastefulness keeping United in the game.
In the end it was United who feel like they should have won, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka giving away a late penalty, with a lead blown in a third successive game.
Mainoo gives United reason to be positive
As Crooks sagely noted, Mainoo’s emergence and consistent improvement provides Manchester United fans with reason to be optimistic amid a desperately underwhelming season.
United wanted to kick on after the international break and apply pressure to Aston Villa and Tottenham for the Champions League spots.
But from the past three games, Manchester United have picked up only two points, when it so easily could have been nine.
United are now a distant 11 points behind Tottenham, having played the same number of games. We have a game in hand on Aston Villa, who are 11 points ahead.
It’s a big ask, and probably an impossible one to expect United to make this up. Even if either side dropped enough points, there’s little reason to expect consistency from Erik ten Hag’s men.
Instead, the season hangs on the FA Cup. At least reaching the final. Mainoo will play for the club at Wembley for the first time against Coventry City in a fortnight.