The recent news about Anthony Martial rejecting the contract extension with Manchester United has taken over the defeat against Juventus, as the top story. His current form for United has seen him score three goals in his last three games for United. He has been one of the few players that have impressed with United this season.
With Pogba and Lukaku being inconsistent, Martial seems to have stepped up to the task to being the difference maker for the team. Against Juventus, Manchester United were simply outclassed even though they had improved in the second half considerably well and threatened Juventus with continued pressure and almost pulled a goal back with Paul Pogba’s shot being deflected away after it had hit the post. Mourinho acknowledged the gulf between them and Juventus and said,
“To go to Juventus level, Barcelona level, Real Madrid level, How can you reach this level?, Manchester City level?, How can you reach this level?”
and said the only way to do it was to sign the best.
The background rumors about a possible takeover by Prince Mohammed bin Salman have also been floating around with neither party coming out and talking about it openly, which could also become a distraction for the players.
Given the current situation, Manchester United have a few players who are currently injured, with the likes of Dalot, Sanchez, Mctominay, Rojo, sidelined for the Everton game, and Lingard being a doubt. When asked about why Alexis is struggling, Mourinho had his say in the pre-match conference,
“He’s struggling with his condition and injuries, and he needs to be sharp to regain his form”.
Romelu Lukaku has come under some continued criticism and might have to put in a good performance to keep himself in the team sheet for Manchester United.
It's a chilly one at the Aon Training Complex… #MUFC pic.twitter.com/6E8R6pEtNw
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2018
David De Gea has also not gotten over his world cup hangover, and is still struggling for form this season with both club and country. He’s only kept one clean sheet with Manchester United this season, which came against a Burnley side that were struggling for form themselves. And his recent contract rumors wouldn’t help neither him or the club, with the negotiations to be stalling at the moment, disappointing many of the Manchester United faithful.
But his performance against Chelsea was reasonably good, and was unlucky with both the goals he conceded, one being a free header from Rudiger, who was let free by Pogba after being distracted by Luiz, while the corner was being taken, the other a simple tap in which came after a very good save from Rudiger from close range, with Barkley scoring from the rebound.
Manchester United has enjoyed a relatively indecent first half in the last three games and have compensated for that by improving considerably greatly in the second half to turn things around in their favour.
Given the confidence the team has, Mourinho might actually want to go and take on Everton from the beginning and put the pressure on the them and try to possibly destroy them, to ease the pressure off of himself and his players, with Manchester United currently boasting a not so pleasing record of one win in seven.
💭 Got #MUNEVE on our minds. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/VR6q8KACr1
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2018
Pogba, Lindelof, Shaw, Martial, Young, Lukaku seem to be retaining their place for this weekend’s game against Everton, after a fairly decent display against Juventus. Marco Silva’s Everton have been impressive this season, with his Everton side conceding only once in their last three league outings. England shot stopper Jordan Pickford, Richarlison, Bernard have been impressing with their performances and will look forward to the Manchester United game.
Marco Silva’s approach may not change as to how he’ll approach the game, because he’d find this the perfect opportunity to go to Old Trafford and take Manchester United on. This could be an exciting yet tricky fixture for both the clubs, as both need to push up the table to get closer to the European qualifications places.
🎥 | Battling with big Yerry, stretching the defence and that touch at the end… 👌
It's all 👀 on @Richarlison97 in training! #EFC
— Everton (@Everton) October 27, 2018
With Manchester United notably suffering an early season crisis, this would be an ideal fixture for them to build a strong run of performances on, to go into the month of November on a high with possibly two of the biggest fixtures of the season set to come within a matter of 4 days.
