Goalfest shows United still have a way to go

Unloved Bruno is Devils’ biggest asset, defence their weak link.

Is it over? Are United back? Or are they still clinging on, fingertips away from conceding a fifth goal at home to Bournemouth despite their best performance under Ruben Amorim?

It was a game that neutrals didn’t want to end, a Fergie time classic and strong contender for game of the season.

But with the halfway mark approaching, we are no nearer to knowing whether the comeback is officially underway or just a few doodles on the manager’s I-pad.

We may know more after Sunday when Amorim takes his Jekyll and Hyde squad to nine wins in a row, Aston Villa.

If they’d watched Monday’s game, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins would be licking their lips.

After that, there’s a chance to build real momentum with Newcastle and Wolves at home and Leeds and Burnley away.

Or will it be recovery time after Unai Emery’s boys have finished with them?

Either way, the litmus test of their season comes with the visit of Manchester City at lunchtime on January 17.

That could be very tasty.

There are just as many questions as answers with United. As ever, their fans may sigh.

In 98 minutes on Monday, there were times when it was back to the old days of the song, “Vindaloo, we’ll score more than you.”

For a while, it was “Attack, Attack, Attack”, but conceding four is not a recipe for a sustained recovery.

And it took three great saves in the last three minutes to avoid a defeat that would have been very hard to stomach.

Bournemouth have been sliding down the table and haven’t won for seven games.

Losing and conceding five to the Cherries would have been a sackable offence for a United manager not long ago.

They are not mugs under Andoni Iraola but only the heroics of Senne Lammens avoided that.

Bought as one for the future, the young Belgian keeper has stepped up and been one of the successes of the transfer window.

They sit in a respectable sixth place but have been demoted to “Monday night club” status and have failed to win at home for three games in a row.

Nope, they’ve not taken advantage of the so-called “full weeks” on the training ground caused by their absence from European competition.

Speaking on Sky, Graeme Souness called them “average” apart from Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha, who have been the most conspicuous upgrades.

With Benjamin Sesko, the pair arrived for a combined £214 million that was mysteriously discovered down the back of Jim Ratcliffe’s sofa.

But the gangling Slovenian Sesko has so far looked superfluous and he was the most expensive of the trio.

He may get his chance after Mbuemo departs to play for Cameroon in the African Nations Cup.

Souness may have thought he didn’t have to mention the man who’s been carrying the team almost since he joined from Sporting Lisbon for £67m five years ago.

Bruno Fernandes’ near-perfect free-kick was the best goal of the eight, and one of the best of the season so far.

With five goals and seven assists in 16 EPL appearances, he is the second-highest scorer to Mbuemo, despite having dropped back to a deeper role.

The Bournemouth game was a microcosm of United’s season of inconsistency.

Brilliant to begin with, hanging on at the end, with patches in between that alternated between sublime and ridiculous.

Is this down to the manager? You have to ask. United’s problem is still its defence.

A back three of Diogo Dalot, Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw are barely championship standard, and Bournemouth carved through it, especially when going for a fifth.

Amorim has been there 13 months now, more than enough time to sort it. But on this evidence, he’s no nearer a solution.

Was the summer bounty spent at the wrong end of the pitch? Shouldn’t the £74m for Sesko have been spent on a decent centre-back?

These are fair questions. Marc Guehi would have cost half that.

Top teams are almost always built from the back, as Bill Shankly, Brian Clough, Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, and Jose Mourinho showed.

Only Pep Guardiola has done it differently, but then his great Barcelona side did have Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique in attendance.

One of United’s biggest mistakes was letting Scott McTominay go before the start of last season.

No one imagined he would reach the heights he has at Napoli – Serie A Player of the Year, Ballon d’Or nominee, and behind only Maradona in murals.

But we did know that he was a loud voice in the dressing room as well as a dynamic presence on the field.

He’d been at the club since he was five and was just the type a manager loves.

He may not have been the silkiest operator, but he made up with 100% effort and a never-say-die spirit. It’s why they love him in Italy.

We can only assume it was pressure from above, but then how do you explain the spendthrift ways?

Yes, his £25m fee went straight into the books, but United then spent almost 10 times that!

Ed Woodward has long gone, but that scattergun he used to waste United’s wealth is still at the club, it seems.

But others have left, too, some on loan including Marcus Rashford who has impressed both Hansi Flick and Thomas Tuchel.

And then there’s Kobbie Mainoo, a rare talent who barely gets a look-in.

And even Fernandes, himself, this week revealed the club was prepared to let him go to Saudi Arabia.

He told Portuguese TV: “From the club’s side, I felt a bit like, ‘If you leave, it’s not so bad for us’.”

“It hurts me a bit,” he added. I was valued… although lately I feel like I’m on thin ice.”

Of all people, he should feel as if he’s walking on reinforced concrete.

But everyone has a price under the Ratcliffe regime.

Of the two leading Portuguese men-of-war, it’s hard not to feel Amorim is lucky to be there, while United are lucky to have Fernandes.

Improving? Yes, but full recovery still seems distant. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.