Sunday afternoon was proof that Manchester United still can not shake these incoherent, sluggish meetings against the midfield opposition for every 5-1 victory over Leeds United.
Southampton were the benefactors on this occasion, apart from a sensational Paul Pogba, there were very few red devils who impressed in a frustrating 1-1 draw on the south coast.
Not the result we were hoping for, but ????? from the away field was unreal.
Glad you’re back on the road with us, Red ❤️ # MUFC | #SOUMUN pic.twitter.com/UGX8gVrTQ0
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) 22 August 2021
A big factor behind Man Utd’s departure from the opening weekend was without a doubt Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s bizarre team choice and confusing changes in the game. There was still no place for Raphael Varane, Nemanja Matic started over Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial led the line, with Mason Greenwood pushed out.
The performance was as miserable as the team magazine sounds. The back line was wrong and everywhere Matic was hooked much later than he should have been, and Martial dropped an absolute stinker as the team’s point of contact.
The Frenchman looked lost, isolated and limited. He failed to influence the game in any way, and reappeared from the pace of a team that in itself was not close to succeeding. Cursed indeed. He was withdrawn after the hour mark and added extra question marks to the already large number of doubts whether he would fulfill his potential.
The fact that Monaco introduced a Ballon d’Or bonus in Martial’s sales is almost ridiculous six years later. Still, the 25-year-old withdrew from the match just a few minutes after another teammate had stood up as the real center forward.
Greenwood, clearly tired of being marginalized on the sidelines, stepped in during one of Man Utd’s raids down the left flank and demonstrated all the attacking instinct and nose that Martial lacks.
Lemmar / Michael Steele / Getty Images
While the former Monaco man hovered at the back post waiting for a chance to come, Greenwood made sure the ball would reach his own feet. The teenager wandered into space and then lived, demanded the ball and had a first shot torn that was enough to hit Alex McCarthy.
He was perhaps a little lucky that the ball spun into the net, but if you do not create those opportunities, you do not even get the chance to miss them. It was that gut talk that told Greenwood to take up space just to the left of the penalty spot, and that was exactly where Pogba was waiting for a teammate to come.
The 19-year-old has the ability required to find the net. Ex-football player will tell you that he is clearly gifted with a knowledge that may not even be taught. To score is in his blood, and he will continue to run into space until the ball falls in his way.
19 – Mason Greenwood has scored 19 Premier League goals, only three players have done more in the competition as a teenager (Michael Owen 40, Robbie Fowler 35, Wayne Rooney 30). Finisher. pic.twitter.com/39Y3hghyVk
– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 22, 2021
The statistics indicate that he is also a born goal scorer. Opta revealed that Greenwood’s equalizer against the Saints was his 19th Premier League goal as a teenager – an achievement that only three other players have succeeded.
Michael Owen. Robbie Fowler. Wayne Rooney. Mason Greenwood. Not bad company to be in, huh?
In addition, he has become the fourth teenager to score in the first two games of the Premier League season, and the first to do so since Alan Smith for Leeds in 2000. Another first and the first in 21 years. The statistics do not lie – this boy is special.
Credit where it depends, Solskjær has done an excellent job of bleeding Greenwood in Man Utd’s first team and not rushing him, and the Norwegian is now reaping the benefits of the seeds he has sewn.
Natural-born goal scorer / Ryan Pierse / Getty Images
But there is no point in doing the hard work and nurturing the teenager’s talents if you are not prepared to let him flourish in his natural position. Greenwood has all the prerequisites for a center-forward and an elite.
His pace, movement and intelligence all indicate that he is the man needed to lead Man Utd’s line. It’s time for Solskjær to put his faith forward and give him his chance – he deserves it.
