On Saturday Manchester United demolished a floundering Newcastle United team four goals to one, in a game where we witnessed Cristiano Ronaldo don the Manchester United shirt for the first time in twelve years. Here’s five things we learnt from that game.
Ronaldo Still Has It
Despite what all logic and reasoning would dictate, a notable section of the football media publicly doubted whether Cristiano Ronaldo would remain a legitimate goalscoring threat upon his return to the Premier League.
The likes of Paul Merson declared that it would be a concerning sign if Cristiano didn’t score on his return, and a signifier of his inability to handle the Premier League at his current age.
Ronaldo doubled Merson’s prerequisite as he bagged two against Newcastle United, the first resulting from a fumbling of the ball by Freddie Woodman off a Mason Greenwood shot, which was tapped in by the Portuguese number seven. However, the key aspect to note of this goal is the fact that Ronaldo committed himself and was in the position to score an easy tap-in, anticipating a mistake/poor save, something the likes of Rashford and Martial need to adapt into their game.
The second goal came from a driving carry via Luke Shaw through the middle of the pitch, after which Shaw played a slightly poor through ball behind Cristiano Ronaldo, which he salvaged with swift footwork, shifting it onto his left foot before drilling the ball between the keepers’ legs to put Manchester United ahead again.
Safe to say it was a stellar performance for Ronaldo on his return.
The Paul Pogba We’ve Been Waiting to See?
Paul Pogba once again had a sublime performance for The Red Devils in the Premier League as he bagged two assists against The Magpies. This takes his league assist tally to 7 this season, meaning he is over a third of the way to matching the current Premier League assist record, after only playing four games.
Pogba has shown he is of this level multiple times throughout his Manchester United career, the main issue has simply been consistency, whether it be through injury or poor form.
Whilst it has only been for four games so far, Paul Pogba has looked confident, skilful, composed, and happy when playing. He truly has a plethora of options and players to work with, which has only elevated his game as now his teammates can utilise his passing ability and creativity, instead of simply letting it go to waste.
If Paul Pogba can stay fit and find a comfortable spot in the team, whether that is on the wing or in the centre of the park, we are looking at a very scary prospect for this season.
Don’t Forget Fernandes
For Manchester United’s third goal Bruno Fernandes fired a thunderbolt of an effort into the top left corner, making sure that despite his heroics of the last season and a half, he has forged his place as arguably the most important player in the team alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
He didn’t have the most standout of games outside of the goal, however, Bruno Fernandes displayed why it is crucial to have multiple players who are capable of something special, who are dangerous and can impact a game at any moment.
Sancho and Greenwood Couldn’t Get Going
A lot of fans noted the lack of impact and potential misuse of Sancho and Greenwood in this game, particularly Sancho. It was apparent, particularly in the first half that Manchester United lacked width when attacking, with Mason Greenwood being a striker playing on the wing, and Sancho lining up on the left-hand side, where it is natural for him to act much more as an inside forward rather than a winger.
Though Greenwood did ultimately help create Manchester United’s opener in a sense, and he typically is known for playing either on the right or as a nine, it may have been worth switching the two ‘wingers’ around, as to allow Sancho the space, angles, and ability to get to the by-line, hold his width and create on his right foot. This would’ve also meant that Greenwood could still have performed as an inside forward as he is double-footed, just on the left rather than the right.
However, this isn’t solely the fault of the players. No matter which way you put it, playing against a team that plays five defenders at the back and has the midfielders sat deep as well is difficult, especially for wingers. This isn’t to say it isn’t a legitimate tactic, it is a perfectly legitimate tactic, and it works as we have seen plenty of times against Manchester United and other teams. It should be said though that this was always going to be a tough game for the wide players to get involved with (notably Shaw drove from inside for his assist) and isn’t a true representation of what these players have to offer in a Manchester United shirt.
Lots to Be Excited About
With the plethora of talent available in the team now, and our previous penchant for exploiting big teams who like to leave space in behind, Manchester United are undoubtedly a threat to any big team and can beat anyone on the day. However, what this Newcastle win shows is that we now have the abundance of quality, chance creation and finishing to put away the teams we should be beating, something we’ve struggled with in the past. This could see us truly push up the league and maintain pressure on the top of the table, if not retain our current spot there for the rest of the season. There is a lot to be excited about.