There are a number of areas that this Manchester United side need to work on over the coming weeks and for them, this international break is coming at the perfect moment. Hopefully, it will give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, who have managed just two wins over their previous eight games across all competitions, the chance to reassess things and come back stronger.
Manchester United fans would have hoped that the dramatic 2-1 win over Villarreal in midweek would have provided them the platform to bounce back. But the game against Everton was another setback for them in the title race, as the Red Devils could only manage a 1-1 draw.
This is not a bad result in a vacuum, considering Everton sit at fourth in the Premier League table. But it will just continue the club’s bad run of form.
It was Bruno Fernandes’ disappointing corner which ultimately ended up with Everton scoring at the other end of the pitch on the counter attack. The Portuguese playmaker accepted his mistake and pointed out other things that they should have done before Andros Townsend found the back of the net. As reported by Manchester United’s official website, he said:
"“Of course, it’s a really bad corner from me.“We didn’t close down well enough outside the box, we didn’t clear the ball, we made many mistakes starting with my corner. We should do better, we should learn because it’s not the first time it’s happened. We have to be better next time. We need to change something, something’s not working to concede so many counter-attacks.“That’s down to the players, not someone else. We have to make a foul, stop the game, I have to take a better corner. Many, many things have to be done better.”"
Manchester United need to improve in several areas all over the pitch
We have seen Manchester United struggle at both ends of the pitch throughout the course of this season.
They have not found the back of the net on a consistent enough basis in recent weeks despite the strong start that Cristiano Ronaldo has made to his second stint at Old Trafford. On the other hand, defence remains a worry. In fact, they have managed to keep just one clean-sheet through the course of this season. And that too was against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a game in which the opposition could have scored multiple times if they had taken their chances.
Thus, it is clear that there are multiple areas that Solskjaer’s team needs to improve in if they are to challenge for the Premier League this season.