Lewis Baker: Youth success, loan policies, and a career yet to properly start

“Watmore do you want, Watmore do you want!"

"Oooh that's unreal!”

The year is 2016 and the England under-21's are having an evening training session in France. While the senior team was in turmoil with Gareth Southgate having just replaced the disgraced Sam Allardyce, the group he had just left were loving life. As you would, really. Being an England U21 is a pretty sweet deal. 

You’re so good at football that you’re with the best of your age group in the country, with the exception of three or four truly elite players who skip the age group entirely. You get to represent England, but with none of the pressures of the senior team. Instead, you’re largely hanging about with your mates, visiting different countries with the coaches still telling you the emphasis is on improvement rather than results. You’ve probably played a good chunk of senior football, but even if you haven’t, you’ve definitely signed a pro contract for a lot of money. Scouts, video games and journalists alike are predicting a big future. Moreover, knowing who the new manager of the seniors is, you’re tantalisingly close to the England team.

It’s no surprise then, that on the England Youtube channel, the players who seem to be having the most fun in their training videos are the U21’s (at least until Southgate changed the culture completely). The video that the above quotes come from (‘Lewis Baker's unbelievable rabona crossbar challenge - Eng U21 Shooting Session’) is no different. It’s one of my favourite football videos on the internet, simply because the amount the players are enjoying themselves and loving being footballers is infectious. If you’ll indulge me, here is an incomplete list of some great moments in the video. 

James Ward-Prowse applauds an empty ground in France on his way to the pitch, saying “what a vibe” into the camera. Nathan Redmond literally dances his way onto the field. The keepers, including Angus Gunn, mess about with a handling drill, and get to flick the ear of the goalkeeping coach. Harry Winks tells the camera “I don’t miss” after scoring his two penalties. Tammy Abraham is delighted the cameraman has caught him doing a trick. At the end Redmond collapses after a beautiful bit of ball juggling saying with a smile to Nat Chalobah “I’m too tired bro, let’s call it a day”. The enthusiasm and hunger to get better is obvious, but one figure in particular is the hype man for everyone.

The shooting drill starts and Lewis Baker shouts out the line I wrote at the start, after Duncan Watmore unleashes a left footed volley that flies past the keeper. The second line arrives after a Ward-Prowse trivela. “Unbelievable” he says as he hugs his skipper. Of course Baker isn’t just bigging up his teammates. He hits the crossbar with a right footed rabona, and then scores two left footed penalties, joining in with the ‘awwww’ sound everyone makes when the keeper gets his hand to the second one. Jack Grealish gets a big build up from the coach for his penalty “Here he comes, the boy Grealish. Friend of the people, housewives favourite”. He misses, and therefore has to collect all of the balls; Chelsea’s Baker is the first among many to playfully celebrate his misfortune.

Now scrawling through YouTube comments in search of any insight whatsoever is probably a waste of time, but in this exact case I think it’s instructive. For a start, the positivity is almost alarming, as the comments are full of praise for the players’ relaxed and happy attitude to training, along with the bond that is clearly present among the group. But Baker commands attention. “Lewis Baker is England's most technically gifted player, he's that good with both feet”. A reply to that comment echoed my thoughts at the time, that you’re still figuring out what his strong foot is. Many pleaded with Chelsea to give him a chance. 

A lot of the players in the video went on to play for the England senior team and rack up countless appearances in the Premier League. Baker is not one of them, and given that he will be 27 next month, the smart money is on him not even coming close to reaching the potential that he was seen to have had. His superb technique, powerful ball striking with either foot, and a cultured style had earned him rave reviews long before he made his debut for Chelsea at 18 as a late sub for Oscar in an FA Cup tie at Derby. So what went wrong?

It’s too simplistic a question to ask if you’re trying to work out why a star of youth football didn’t quite make it to the top. Firstly, the under 21's are quite a curious beast in general. They might have plenty of enjoyment as outlined above, but I think for the top players it can be a bit of a waste of time. An example of this was the 2015 euros when Harry Kane, fresh off his first 20 goal season in the league, was playing in a team whose first choice midfield was Chalobah and Jake Forster-Caskey, who were playing for clubs - Reading and Brighton respectively - who had finished in the bottom half of the Championship that season. I can’t imagine Kane got much out of the experience when his team didn’t get out of the group and explains why the prodigies can skip this step entirely.

Baker was often impressive for the England youth sides

Of course player development isn't linear and someone like James Milner, proud owner of a record 46 U21 caps, would be the counter argument. All those games for the premier youth team definitely played their part in his long career at the top level. But in general I think it’s fair to say that Baker’s impressive record for the side (8 goals from midfield in 17 appearances) was not a guarantee he would turn into a Chelsea player. Go through any England U21 tournament squad and you get a real mix in terms of what level their career ended up at. 

Baker’s finest moment in an England shirt came at the 2016 Toulon Tournament which England won. He scored the first goal in the final vs France, clinching the golden boot. To continue the point about youth internationals being only so valuable for predicting the future, it might be relevant to point out not a single player of the France squad has made their senior debut at the time of writing. 

The 2017 U21 Euros was to be Baker’s final tournament at age group level and a strong England side was expected to do well. Off the back of an individually successful season with Vitesse the midfielder was in the regular England starting XI. Although he didn’t pull up any trees in the group stages, in the semi final 2-2 draw with Germany he played all 120 minutes and scored his penalty in the shootout which England went onto lose. He had put in a fine performance for the biggest game, but had just fallen short. Disappointing, but satisfactory overall. It definitely didn't look like the performance of someone who would struggle to get into a championship team the season after. 

So what of his domestic career? At club level, Baker progressed quickly through the Chelsea ranks and even by the standard of players they were churning out on a regular basis at Cobham, he stood out. As early as 2012, at just 16, he scored in the final against Blackburn to help win the FA youth cup. A year later, as Chelsea narrowly lost to Norwich in the same competition, he was captain of a side that featured Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. As he grew, he was adding muscle to his technical style, allowing for numerous runs into the box to complement his on the ball quality that was rare for an English player. A year further on in July 2014, no less as harsh a critic of young players as Jose Mourinho was enamoured enough by his talent to say this:

“My conscience tells me that if, for example, [Lewis] Baker, [Izzy] Brown, and [Dominic] Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself…They are part of a process the club started without me. In this moment, we have players who will be Chelsea players. And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure.”

“This group of players – Baker, Brown, Solanke and [Jeremie] Boga – these four are not all going to be in my squad, because I cannot have 30 in my squad, but these four are going to work with us all season and these four are going to be Chelsea players.”

Mourinho wouldn’t have said this about Baker - or the others -if his talent wasn’t obvious. The Portuguese gaffer was a year and a half into his 2nd tenure at the club before he allowed Baker to go on loan to get some mens football under his belt. That was a January loan to Sheffield Wednesday, until the end of the 2014-15 season. The next time he returned to Chelsea to spend any serious length of time was in the 2021-22 season.

Not the career summary Baker was expecting when he was younger

Here we arrive at the crux of the issue with Baker, and Chelsea in general. He is primarily seen as one of many players swallowed up by the Chelsea loan machine. Indeed, he has been on no less than eight (yes, EIGHT) loans from his boyhood club. Maybe it was just bad timing - he straddled the very end of Chelsea’s refusal to use their extensive youth team graduates. Abraham, for instance, was a crucial two years younger; Mason Mount and Reece James younger still, benefiting to the full extent of both the 2019 transfer ban and the appointment of Frank Lampard. Conversely, Baker himself was part of the generation that was promised more opportunities in the wake of the lack of a breakthrough for players older than him, such as the highly rated Josh McEachran.

Two names Mourinho named checked in the aforementioned quote were Izzy Brown And Dominic Solanke. They in different ways point to structural issues at Chelsea at the time that hampered youth stars. Brown had a similar experience to Baker, finally leaving Stamford Bridge for Preston in 2021 after seven loans of dubious quality, including 13 Premier League games for Brighton. Solanke was an even bigger talent than Baker, breaking scoring records in the youth teams and being a star in various England age group sides. Mourinho doesn’t have to ‘blame himself’ as Solanke does own 1 cap, but that came after he left Chelsea. He ran his contract down after complaining that he would never get a chance, and who could blame him?

But striker Solanke can barely be compared to Baker - for a start he is two and a half years younger. He also was considered good enough to get on the pitch 27 times for Klopp’s Liverpool in the 2017-18 season although they almost exclusively were cameos, causing frustration. A £19m move to Bournemouth has, after a difficult start, proven to be a smart move. He is currently one of the deadliest strikers in the championship, and will probably have another crack at the top flight next year. 

It’s easy to blame Chelsea. But while he was out on loan, was Baker demanding through performances to be given a chance, in the way Mount, Fikayo Tomori, James and Abraham did at Derby, Wigan and Aston Villa respectively? 

That Sheffield Wednesday loan was terminated early, Chelsea thinking a drop to League one and Mk Dons would be more suitable. The midfielder impressed, helping the franchise get promoted, with Karl Robinson full of praise. The next loan was to Chelsea’s feeder club, Vitesse, along with Brown and Solanke. It was a solid, if unspectacular season, as the club finished 9th in the Eredivisie. Baker played in 31 of the 34 league games, scoring 5 goals. 

He stayed at Vitesse for a further year, and 16-17 - the season in which the Youtube video falls - Baker really showed his quality. He seemed happy in Holland and Vitesse had a brilliant year, finishing 5th and winning the Dutch Cup, the clubs first major honour in their history, and the loanee was a massive part of it. He played in central midfield yet ended up with 15 goals in 39 games in all competitions, in no small part thanks to his brilliant dead ball skills. His free kicks, corners and penalties were a reliable source of goals and assists for Vitesse through his two years there, and now seemed primed and ready for a step in quality from the Dutch league.

We’ll never know if this was 2019 instead of 2017 if Baker would’ve been given a chance at Chelsea off the back of this loan. But Antonio Conte, frustrated at not getting his main transfer targets, was probably not the perfect manager for Baker, who at this point was already 22. Danny Drinkwater signing for £30m was evidence enough for how Chelsea saw Baker’s medium term prospects. If we take a step back here, one great season for Ajax or PSV does not make you good enough for Chelsea, let alone one for Vitesse. At his age to build on the momentum he’d gained in Holland, as hard as it would be emotionally, Baker probably needed to make the brave decision and leave the club he loved for his career. 

Baker's time at Vitesse showed off his ability to score from midfield

Instead he signed a new five year deal at Stamford Bridge. 

I get why. It’s hard to let go of a dream, moreover one that so many people would’ve told you you were good enough to fight for. Additionally, the wages a contract with Chelsea would bring would almost certainly be a lot more he could pick up elsewhere. That’s what kept Lucas Piazon and Marco van Ginkel signing extensions half a decade after the penny dropped they would never have any chance at the Blues (Some would say players like Piazon have wasted their whole career. But would you give up those wages?).

But this was in 2017. There was already plenty of cynicism around Chelsea's army of loan players. It was yet another year they won the FA Youth Cup but the chances of this newer batch of youngsters making it to the first team seemed as slim as ever. In this very summer Loftus-Cheek - who had accelerated past Baker years ago - demanded a move to Palace after playing only a token part in the title win. Baker’s age mates Chalobah and Nathan Ake, long seen as future first teamers, finally got fed up and left permanently, for Watford and Bournemouth respectively. Did Baker not look around and want to do the same? Possibly the 2017 U21 Euros had an impact in his decision, where he had retained the faith of the England hierarchy, suggesting a career at the very top was still in his sights.

At the very least he seemed to have picked a good loan. He found himself spending 17-18 at Middlesbrough, just relegated from the Premier League and looking for a swift return. It was similar to the loans that Mount, Tomori and Abraham were to go on 12 months later, an ambitious championship club who would give you the platform to show yourself as one of the best players in the division, to prove to your parent club you were at the very least a top flight player. Those three smashed it and Chelsea could no longer ignore them. Baker, er, didn’t. 

Despite never being injured (according to Transfermarkt) he only played 14 games in all competitions. Tony Pulis, who replaced Garry Monk midway through the season, simply didn’t trust him. Many would point to Pulis’ infamous brushing aside of Arsenal loanee Serge Gnabry as evidence that he would inevitably not be great for Baker. But while this was clearly an error, his West Brom side were doing well at the time and so Gnabry had a job getting into a solid Premier League XI. On the other hand Baker was competing with championship players, and in any case, his running power and set piece prowess would seem to suit a Pulis side down to the ground. It was becoming clear by now that the player that Mourinho had talked about in such grand terms, that Chelsea and England had such high hopes for, was miles apart from the player he actually was. Sitting on the bench all year was a ridiculous situation for a young player who needed to build on his goal laden 16-17. At the time many thought it was Pulis who had it wrong. The next few years of Baker’s stuttering career said otherwise. 

The ‘Boro disaster put his stock at an all time low, but there was no hope of a fresh start. The contract he had signed signalled to the world Chelsea’s intention: loan him out, hope he does well, then sell him for a half decent fee. The next team to try and unlock his ability was Leeds, however the kudos of being Marcelo Bielsa’s first signing didn’t reinvigorate him. He spent his time on the bench, only starting twice in the league as Leeds, going for promotion, had quickly deduced he wasn’t at the required level. They sent him back in January and he was on his way to Reading, who were at the other end of the table. There at least, he was good enough to be a key player, playing every single minute of the last 14 league games of the season, showing he was fit enough to deal with the Saturday-Tuesday grind of the second tier, if nothing else.

Googling Baker in 2014-2016 would land you on umpteen ‘Top 15 young players to watch this decade’ listicles. By now, it was more of a ‘whatever happened to Lewis Baker?’ 19/20 came and went with just 8 Bundesliga appearances for Fortuna Dusseldorf, and the midfielders’ nomadic existence was complete when he got a frankly overdue offer to play in Turkey with Trabzonspor. You wondered what the point was for any of the parties involved, but there he linked up with his old youth coach Eddie Newton, and knuckled down to play 34 league games, remaining a key option even after his old mentor was sacked. He even rolled back the years a tad when he scored a couple of trademark free kicks as he and the club ended the season strong. 

It was by a mile his best season since he left Holland. But it still wasn’t amazing. Trabzonspor, interestingly, are this season cruising to the title with the Istanbul big three miles behind, suggesting the side that Baker regularly got into was not full of bad players. But they fact they were not that interested in getting him permanently told the story, and he was one of 33 players to come back to Chelsea in June 2021. His name stood out like a sore thumb. The time when he was considered full of potential, like Conor Gallagher, Marc Guehi or Tomori had long gone. Neither was he an experienced European campaigner like Davide Zappacosta, Ross Barkley, Victor Moses or Michy Batshuayi. The real story for many was shock that he was still technically a Chelsea player. 

And so we arrive at the current campaign, back in Chelsea’s youth teams, scoring goals in U23 matches at the age of 26, taking unfulfilled talent to extremes. There was a sweet moment when the lad who first joined the club when he was nine got on the pitch to represent Chelsea for a second time, in a 5-1 romp against Chesterfield on January 8th. In the 59th minute, he replaced his old pal Christensen, to cheers from the faithful. Finally, after that, he left to join Stoke, permanently.  I cannot for the life of me figure out why he didn’t make the move in the summer, but there are signs he’s keen to make up for lost time.

It’s been impressive so far, admittedly for a team who don’t have a lot to play for this season. He has scored 6 goals in 11 games for Stoke already, which is more goals than he got for all his clubs in the last four seasons. He looks energised, showing the stamina to score a stunning equaliser in the 95th minute against Barnsley on the 8th March, only a few days before this incredibly long essay was written.

"For myself it's been a breath of fresh air coming here, I'm really enjoying myself."

The hope is he can knuckle down, use the ability that is still there, and carve out a decent career. A parallel with Baker is Ravel Morrison, another youth star, who has a similar crazy stat related to lost years; he recently scored his first goals in England for eight years. That stat, though, is full of asterisks of Morrison’s own making. There’s never been any worry about Baker’s professionalism or attitude, which speaks to a clearer truth - he simply wasn’t anywhere near as good as his initial success suggested. In any case, The cream does always rise to the top. If he was THAT good, surely he'd have made it.

 

So what went wrong? Well, predicting the potential of players is always a bit of a lottery, but fans, and in turn the media, never really learn. Ralf Rangnick had to field a question on whether England had ‘missed out’ on young Manchester United player Zidane Iqbal opting for Iraq at international level, despite the fact he has literally seconds of senior football under his belt. 

Thinking on an abstract level, it could be argued the Vitesse experience, as much as he enjoyed it, wasn’t conducive for his development. The lower standard of football, and the safety net of being surrounded by fellow Chelsea kids might’ve meant questions weren’t asked on and off the pitch that a move abroad should bring. The players who actually made it into the first team (James, Tomori, Abraham, Loftus-Cheek, Mount) suggest English loans are far better at improving your game - Abraham had three. Only Mount went to Vitesse and went on to play a significant number of games for Chelsea. Perhaps that was unique to him. Not only was he super talented, but he wasn’t physically developed then, and therefore was better placed to take more from his time in Holland in terms of technique. The 2015 Lewis Baker however, fresh from his MK Dons cameo, was ready for the physically intense championship season.

You can see Chelsea’s logic in the project though. You’re less likely to get kicked in the Dutch league with its relative lack of veterans. There’s also the idea that the Dutch way teaches something tactical to young players that other systems don’t, I assumed it would help your footballing education, but maybe if you’re there for a year or two it is doubtful it has an impact. Thinking practically, going abroad broadens horizons and players who aren’t going to make it at Champions League level could have a better chance of making a career in Europe that way as an alternative to spending their time in the English lower leagues. It worked for Vitesse as well, Baker and Mount were excellent for them, although both clubs have now quietly pretty much binned the project. 

In the end, Chelsea have now figured out that the Baker model is not the way to treat a young player, and instead are far more willing to ship them out - with a generous buy back clause. As mentioned, he was too old for the Lampard era complete with a transfer ban. But did he suffer from the loan policy, or was he complicit? Yours truly was saying in November 2018 that he should’ve left permanently two years before that. Where was the personal responsibility and realisation that it wasn’t going to happen? Michael Keane left Manchester United in 2014 when the club wanted him to stay, and within a few years he was in the England squad. That categorically would not have happened at United.

In this era of player power, younger players have to show conviction and be willing to leave their safety net. Callum Hudson-Odoi was a Chelsea youngster who was much more assertive, openly flirting with Bayern to ensure game time. While Baker did not have that level of bargaining power, there must’ve been numerous clubs who would’ve been willing to sign him in a way that Tariq Lamptey and Toni Livramento have left Chelsea as teenagers, believing that their quality will eventually bring them back up. Intriguingly for someone who seemed so confident, Baker may have lacked the self-belief to thrive outside the Chelsea bubble. 

It’s time to end this mammoth piece of writing, I’ll always keep an eye out for him and i’m interested in following his progress at Stoke. 27 in April, the predictions of a lengthy Chelsea and England fell way short, but there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the best players in the championship next year. The player that caught my eye all those years ago may have diminished, but the start at Stoke is thrilling. The young two-footed midfielder with a technique to die for and a penchant for wonder goals won’t be England captain. But he can still thrill fans at a lower level for years to come - after all the young man in that YouTube video loved showing off what he could do with a smile. The shadow of Chelsea is gone, and football always offers one more chance.  

Man Utd 1-3 Crystal Palace

Manchester United 1-3 Crystal Palace (Van de Beek 80) (Townsend 7, Zaha 74 (pen), 85)

So here we go, 2020/2021. The start of the season is usually a time for hope, yet the prospect of empty stadiums for the foreseeable future has limited my excitement. If no one is there to watch it, did it really happen? Behind closed doors football is better than nothing though, and sure enough I was soon devouring the latest transfer news like everyone else. In any case, my eagerness for the football to return, or lack thereof, probably related more with my current displeasure with how Manchester United are run.

United started a week late after our involvement in Europe, and in that time the picture of the season ahead became clearer. Aubameyang and Grealish signed new deals with their clubs. Out of nowhere, Liverpool and Tottenham made transfer splashes with world superstars Thiago and Gareth Bale respectively; Diogo Jota and Sergio Regulion were mere footnotes. 

In this context it was more crucial than ever for United to make a good start, and so came the team news, with David De Gea preferred as expected to Dean Henderson. Paul Pogba, fresh from a positive Covid-19 test, partnered Scott McTominay in a double pivot, with Nemanja Matic not fit enough to make the squad. The right flank raised eyebrows, as a Fosu-Mensah and James combo was not the strongest available to the manager. Palace lined up in an attacking 4-4-2. A makeshift back four featured promising 21 year-old left-back Tyrick Mitchell (the beneficiary of Van Aanholt's injury in the last meeting between the sides) and a midfielder, Cheikhou Kouyate, in the centre. 

It was interesting to note pre-match that Mata, Pereira and Lingard, three players seen as exemplifying United's lack of quality options last season, were left out of the squad all together. While I've been critical of all three, you cannot with a straight face say that Ighalo is more worthy of a place in the 18 than them, and that's not even getting to the picking of Fosu-Mensah, a player whose loans at Palace and Fulham were mediocre at best. Nevertheless, the team must be given a chance, time to shut up and watch Ole's lot perform and stop my pessimism, right?

United weren't the team to watch in the first 20 minutes though. The visitors from South London fielded four players who can run at people in their 4-4-2, and pressed high. Straight away they targeted United's weak right hand side of James, McTominay and Fosu-Mensah. Only 5 minutes had gone before De Gea, unsettled by the press, passed straight to a Palace player who couldn't collect it properly. Pogba committed a couple of needless fouls to put us under pressure. It was a sign of things to come. 

The opening goal was astoundingly simple. Jeffrey Schlupp with a simple 3rd man run forward had caught out Fosu-Mensah who had been sucked in by the player coming short. Lindelof came across to cover far too slowly, and the ball came across the box to Andros Townsend who finished with Luke Shaw failing to track his run. Lindelof and Shaw, showing his new buzz cut, were at fault, guessing how the play was going to develop and not reading the danger. 

It was a horrible start but even worse was that United didn't respond, instead Palace carried on dominating. The home side were so sloppy, getting dispossessed regularly. Pogba in particular looked all at sea in the opening stages. Shaw was beaten easily but Townsend's daisy cutter went wide. On the 15 minute mark, Bruno Fernandes' horrible touch saw him robbed by Schlupp, and Wilfried Zaha led the first of what turned out to be many counters Palace had on the day. This one led to nothing, but in no time a poor back header by Lindelof required De Gea to sprint out of his goal to stop Zaha from having a shot. Palace looked hungry and full of running, United shocked by their aggression, embodied by Joel Ward, warrior-like in his desire to get blocks in.  

Gradually after 20 minutes or so the Red Devils got a foothold, getting moves going. After nice interplay, Rashford setup Pogba for a shot from the edge of the box, and Guaita made a good stop down to his right. Then McTominay curled wide from the inside left position after a sharp Bruno pass. But chances kept coming for Palace due to unforced errors. McTominay and Fosu-Mensah had a mix-up, however after a slick counter Townsend went for glory with a wild shot when Zaha was better positioned. 

Towards the end of the half United had almost nullified the Palace threat, and went in search of a goal. Palace, however, are marvellously coached by Roy Hodgson. While he named a positive team, the defensive fundamentals that are synonymous with his teams were clear as day. The shuffling across, the ability to cut out passing angles and organisation in general may not sound complex, but it requires painstaking attention to detail on the training ground to perfect. Remember it was a defence including a midfielder in Kouyate at centre-back. It is doubtful our manager makes a similar impression on his much better and valuable squad given the evidence of the tactical mess of the 2nd half. 

United were showing adequate movement for once, but the care in the pass was lacking. Even Anthony Martial's technique let him down, a dreadful touch ruining an attack and resulting in a free-kick for Palace, pressure released. The complacency after a quiet period for Palace kicked in, and it should have been 2-0 at half-time. Zaha led another break but Bruno, who always runs hard for the team, delayed him, leading to the ex-United winger moving it onto Jordan Ayew. The Ghanaian beat McTominay easily but De Gea made a top class save. From the resulting corner, after United half cleared the electric Zaha hit a tame effort wide, and the whistle blew. Phew.

James had seen more of the ball than Rashford and Martial. He had never beat his marker, always coming inside into traffic, the confidence gained from playing well for Wales nowhere to be seen. Mind, he wasn't helped by Fosu-Mensah who had never run beyond him; what does Ole see in him to pick him over Dalot? Palace might be disciplined, but without Matic holding the fort they knew we were vulnerable from counter attacks and thus pushed the front four forward. McTominay had shown some good stuff with his height and strength helping us keep the ball, but overall it was a tame performance from the Scot in the middle.

The manager made a sub at half-time, new no.11 Greenwood replacing James, but the second half started exactly the same as the first - Palace looking dangerous, United lax. McTominay lost out and Palace once again streaked away, Ayew shooting straight at De Gea. Pogba and Maguire sent simple balls straight to opposition. Our captain picked up a booking after Zaha, who had been coached by Solskjaer on loan at Cardiff, had beat him. It was relentless, Lindelof was looking so poor when he was exposed. 

United did improve, Pogba pinging some long passes as they changed strategy. On the hour came the big miss. Maguire switched to Fosu-Mensah, Rashford's run on the right gave him time to measure a cross onto Greenwood's head, but the boy wonder put it wide. His head ain't as clinical as his left. At the other end the ever impressive Zaha scored after the umpteenth break, but it was given correctly offside. Ole responded to this escape by bringing on Donny Van de Beek for his debut hooking Pogba. You couldn't argue with the sub, he was just too wasteful. 

Lindelof volleyed over from a very difficult chance after McTominay flicked on a corner, but Palace were still the team that looked more of a threat, attacking with pace against a back four clueless when they dropped back, the game would've been dead already if they had better forwards. McTominay wasn't able to give the defence any protection throughout the 2nd half. Once more they poured forward but Ayew didn't get proper contact on his shot. Or so I thought - VAR intervened to give a pen from this incident, for handball against Lindelof. Are. You. Kidding. Me. It was so quick, the Swede so close, but it's pointless moaning too much about VAR, something I was totally against from the beginning, as people like myself and Hodgson (who, to his credit, said it wasn't a pen after the match) seem to have lost the battle. 

Justice was done as De Gea stopped Ayew's relaxed pen, but the nerds stepped in again as our keeper was a few inches off the line, and Zaha sent the retake high into the net with a far better spot-kick. Palace completely deserved the 2-0 lead, but honestly, since when can you change the taker? De Gea's sarcastic applause summed it up. 

Van de Beek marked his debut with a goal, as for once Palace were at sixes and sevens at the back and the Dutchman calmly finished first time. On came Ighalo to pile on the pressure, but the hope didn't even last five minutes. Zaha, fired up after a little argument with Maguire following a heavy tackle, shrugged off the painfully weak Lindelof to arrow a shot into the corner, clinching the win and marking a virtuoso display. You couldn't argue with the result, United had been well beaten. Well done Palace, well done Zaha, well fucking done Man United. At no point did they look like they were going to even get a draw. They were lucky in fact that sub Eze was a bit selfish at the very end - the bench seems the right place for the talented young forward for now while he adjusts to the top flight. Countless blocked shots after running out of ideas mean nothing, and the final whistle came to our mercy, the players avoiding the inevitable boos that would've been ringing out in a full Old Trafford. That's two in a row for Palace at the biggest club stadium in England, the first time they've ever managed that.

The postmortem wasn't pretty. The much vaunted front 3 were held at bay easily. Greenwood made no impact at all. Martial started well enough, holding the ball up, a skill that doesn't always come easy to him. In the 2nd half though, he disappeared, and it was like playing with ten men. As for lockdown hero Rashford. he simply must offer more. He was on the periphery in every sense, and the first time he took on a defender was in the dying minutes on the right. The rest barely deserved comment. Ighalo, with all due respect, was never going to score. At least Van de Beek was impressive given the situation he arrived in, playing one touch, the Ajax style. 

We'll be better with everyone - especially Matic who was a huge miss - back and Ole mentioned the lack of break to the players. But due to his lack of rotation, we have many squad members who should be fresh - you can't say players like Bailly, Mata, Lingard, and Fred can't do a job against bloody Palace at home. A Palace side that hadn't scored more than twice in the whole of last season (The last time they did score 3 was against Cardiff in May 2019). It is galling that a side that has been put together for so much money struggles against a side who were without Dann, Van Aanholt, Tomkins and Cahill at the back. Hodgson worked with what he had to maximise the performance, and it was terrific. 

The young left back Mitchell was excellent, so quickly out to James, and then Greenwood, when they got the ball. Palace's holding pair were so good at closing the space, and McCarthy supported the four outlets at times too. Schlupp was a great pick in left midfield by Hodgson as up against our weak side he could attack 1 v 1, but was solid defensively as well. Townsend rolled back the years, driving with the ball from deep, working tirelessly to support his team and always reliable in the press. Ayew was asking questions of the defenders, if he was clinical, it could've been a rout. 

Nonetheless, it was all about Zaha. In the first half his maturity was on show, as he won fouls up the pitch, held it up and made the correct decisions in and out of possession. His tremendous stamina allowed him chances to run at defenders and always give Palace an outball, and his selfless attitude created chances for his teammates. He fully deserved the two goals against his former club which never gave him a proper chance and the ongoing professionalism he shows despite clearly wanting to leave is testament to both himself and Hodgson.

Signings are needed to challenge for the title, not to not lose 3-1 to Palace at home. Sancho would be lovely but his arrival would not change the fact that Ole is out of his depth. He never really gets the criticism either. United were in the end outplayed by a side featuring one player who gets into our team and yet again the press reacted to the loss by saying we don't have good enough players. It's mind-boggling. 

It's important not to be too reactionary after just one game; Palace were ready and match-fit, whereas United have essentially back-to-back seasons to deal with. Zaha was decisive in a way not many will match this season. This was a crazy game week in general, 44 goals scored (beating the goals record for a 20 team Premier League) and dodgy penalties awarded frequently. But my word, United have to improve fast. Transfers will be demanded by many, although a bit of coaching wouldn't go amiss. 

United (4-2-3-1) De Gea 7; Fosu-Mensah 4.5 (Ighalo 81, 5), Lindelof 3.5, Maguire 5.5, Shaw 4.5; McTominay 4, Pogba 5 (Van de Beek 67, 6.5); James 5 (Greenwood 46, 5), Fernandes 5.5, Rashford 4; Martial 4.

Palace (4-4-2) Guaita 7; Ward 7.5, Kouyate 7, Sakho 7.5, Mitchell 8; Townsend 8.5, McCarthy 7.5 (Milivojevic 88), McArthur 7, Schlupp 8 (Eze 75, 5.5); Ayew 7.5 (Batshuayi 81), Zaha 9.5.

2018 FA Cup Final - Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea

Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea (Hazard 22 pen)

 

United slipped meekly to defeat in the Cup Final, going out while barely landing a punch on an unspectacular Chelsea team on a spirit-sapping day at Wembley. It was grim, and a bit boring. So much attacking talent, so little threat and bite. A frustrating season ending in a quite fitting way. Too slow, too scared, and second best. Shit.

What’s there to say when we lose like that? It wasn’t a 4-0 romp, we had been defeated only by a penalty from Eden Hazard, and the possession and shots statistics were in our favour. But don’t let the numbers fool you into thinking United were at all impressive out there. It was robotic, stunted, and downright dull. They looked out of ideas too early and energetic too late, a sad end to the season given the optimism with which it had begun. 

United were the favourites going into the last domestic fixture of the season, having finished 3 places above Chelsea in the table. I was very nervous at the start, but then I always am in occasions such as these. Post-Ferugson, it’s no longer a given that United will always be making finals and consistently playing at Wembley, so there is no way I’m turning my nose up at any cup, especially when we’re in the final. Having been at Wembley myself last month to see us dispatch an in-form Spurs, I was quietly confident we could do the same to Chelsea.

The good news for United was that Martial and Lukaku hadn’t been ruled out as had been feared, and were available. The bad news was that neither started – although Martial probably would not have anyway, even if he was 100% fit. Fellaini missed out as well. It was a blow for United to be missing their main goalscorer, as much for his hold up play and bullying of centre-halves as anything else. With Chelsea, a physical game was expected, so to line up instead with Rashford was a bit of weakness.

Not that I thought so before kick-off. While Lukaku starting on the bench was not perfect, I was excited to see young Rash run at Chelsea’s backline. I remembered how he had led the line brilliantly against Chelsea in our 2-0 home win in April 2017, springing Conte’s offside trap regularly. On paper, a front three of Jesse Lingard, Rashford and Alexis Sanchez looked dynamic, pacey and fluid. So apart from Lukaku it was the same team that beat Spurs in the semi – which meant Eric Bailly, who most think is our best defender, was left on the bench. Smalling and Jones had credit in the bank, sure, but the treatment of Bailly by Mourinho in recent weeks has been utterly baffling.

Chelsea went defensive, going with only two forward thinking players really, with Fabregas used mainly to retain possession. Bakayoko has been one of the worst signings across Europe for the 17/18 season, but Antonio Conte placed faith in the Frenchman to make sure his team didn’t get outnumbered In the middle of the park, resisting the temptation to pick Pedro or Willian. Having scored in the semi over Southampton, January purchase Olivier Giroud was preferred over record signing Alvaro Morata.

Chelsea started the better, with Hazard finding space on the left flank on the counter after United had given the ball away carelessly, and shooting at goal with his left foot after running at Jones. De Gea made a smart stop, and United cleared, but that was pretty much that for the opening exchanges. It was a typical final start to be honest, with both sides wanting to ease themselves into the game, and very little in the way of shots on goal. The cagey start didn’t stop both sides gifting the other possession constantly with sloppy errant passes. For the Cup final, it was a game desperately low on quality. It needed a goal really.

It soon got one. Chelsea won the ball back in their half and Fabregas had time to set Hazard away with a long pass; his first touch was exemplary and suddenly Phil Jones was on the back foot. The England world cup defender just about kept pace with Hazard but was unable to get goalside, and decided to go for a last-ditch tackle. I couldn’t really blame him, but the execution was clumsy and it was penalty and a yellow card. From the spot there’s few who are calmer than Hazard and the Belgian duly rolled the ball into the net, sending De Gea the other way.

United initially reacted like I’d want. Herrera pushed up from his ersatz right-back position (to nullify Hazard, and make it easier for him to be man-marked, which had already proven flawed when Chelsea’s star man moved to the right to create the goal) and United created a chance for Pogba from 25 yards, who shot wide. It was the first effort from United to test Chelsea’s defence and keeper.

 


There was very little width for United. Chelsea were extraordinarily compact

Why were United so lacking in attacking vigour? Well, for starters Rashford was having a stinker. The ball was bouncing off him, he was picking the wrong passes, and he was getting outmuscled. Worst of all he wasn’t making the runs in behind that could’ve been so dangerous; instead he came deep, or ran the channels. This often led to the absurd situation where United had the ball in a crossing position but the only man in the box was Sanchez, a man never likely to win a battle in the air with 3 centre-backs. That’s if we had anyone in the box at all, sometimes they had no one to mark and United were simply trying pot-shots from long range.

It didn’t help that Lingard was having a poor start as well, as he wasn’t either wide or forward enough to impact the game like he should. With Sanchez drifting infield as well, width was like gold dust for United. Ashley Young was enterprising enough, happy to take defenders on, but is always hamstrung by his general lack of quality – a problem for Chelsea also, regarding Victor Moses. We were ponderous, too, recycling the ball 30 yards from goal, always taking too many touches, waiting for someone to try a mazy run or an ambitious through ball which seldom happened.

The first half ended just as United’s best moment had come, as someone did indeed perform a mazy run. Pogba motored with the ball through the centre and played a one-two with Sanchez before laying it off to Rashford, who only contrived to scuff his attempted shot straight at a Chelsea defender.

At half-time the overriding feeling was that this was an awful match. There had only been two real chances – the penalty, and the other aforementioned Hazard shot. As good as the Belgian and Fabregas had been, it wasn’t enough to escape the reality that it was an utterly dreadful game, the opposite of what you would want in the showpiece of English football. It had also gone against the theme of recent Cup finals, which have generally been entertaining; look no further than United’s incident-packed triumph over Crystal Palace in 2016 for proof.

Mourinho had obviously got into them at half-time as United started the second half with great intensity, determined to get back on terms. From minute 45-65, United had a great spell, pinning Chelsea back and looking like they were going to score eventually. Of course, Chelsea could afford to sit deep having gone in front so early, and it suited the personnel they had out there. Their attacks in the second half were exclusively counters, with long passes looking for the incisive movement of Hazard.

Valencia, who had been unbelievably ineffective in the first half despite having heaps of the ball, finally made a forward run inside Marcos Alonso picked out by Herrera, also making his first risky pass. We were in behind, but instead of Valencia going for goal or picking out Sanchez he pulled it back straight to Fabregas. Stupid prick. Sanchez instantly won it back with a tigerish sliding tackle and the ball broke for Rashford 20 yards out, who forced a save from Courtois with his powerful but a bit too central strike. The crowd were up for it now and Kante and Rudiger both made vital interceptions just as United were breaking through.

United won a lot of set-pieces in this period, with Chelsea under pressure and looking to break the rhythm of United with fouls. Unfortunately most of them were taken by Rashford, who booted it straight at the first man most of the time. It was mind-numbing to see him on those duties when he was having such a poor day at sending them in, not even considering that as a forward over 6 feet, you would probably want him in the box anyway. Mind you, he did pull out one top delivery from the right when his free-kick was converted by Sanchez on the follow up, although he was offside. Still, United were pushing, with Young starting to play very high up the pitch. Matic had a 30 yarder parried by the rock-solid Courtois.

But United gradually fizzled out, the zip fading from our passing, the lack of pace in our play telling. It was the Blues that had the next big chance with Kante skipping through the tackles to set up Alonso who was denied by De Gea, before Moses hit the ball at Young’s arm in the area. Really, it was too close for the ref to give another penalty.

Out of nowhere came an opportunity for Rashford after a training ground move, with Pogba finding Lingard in his favourite pocket. He let the ball run before slipping in his best mate one-on-one. It was by no means the easiest of chances with a massive keeper coming out and Rashford having to stretch a bit, but it had to go in. Lukaku, I suspect, would’ve found the net with it. Instead, Courtois saved and Mourinho responded by hooking Rashford and Lingard. Taking off Jesse was a tad puzzling in my opinion, just as the number 14 was getting into the game.

So Lukaku and Martial (left out of the French World Cup squad in midweek, prompting more rumours of his exit) were on. I was screaming for Mata as well for Herrera, who seemed to not be aware we were losing, given the fact he wasn’t moving forward with the ball and was still playing the safest passes he could. There are times when Herrera just isn’t needed and today was one of them. His main job was to stop Hazard, who had put us behind - although the Spaniard couldn’t be blamed for the goal which wasn’t in his area. But then, what was he on for now? If Mata had been given more time, he could’ve found a key pass to unlock the door. Instead Herrera finished the game, one of his least memorable in a red shirt. He wasn’t being helped by his captain Valencia though, who was constantly turning back into midfield when he had the chance to get to the by-line.

By now Conte had instructed his team to give up on attacking, and you couldn’t blame them. The only threat was Phil Jones getting injured after a robust challenge by Giroud required him to put on a head bandage, the only thing the dreamy Frenchman did all game. It was all United, but it was all in front of the defence. We weren’t isolating their players or giving them different things to think about. We became increasingly route one, but Cahill and Rudiger were having a comfortable time of it.

The biggest chance fell to Paul Pogba, who screwed a free header wide from a Martial corner. That was the moment really, the only time the Chelsea team switched off. The £89m man had the freedom of Wembley, he had to do better, to at least get it on target. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Chelsea controlled the last 10 minutes, wasting time expertly with their subs taking decades to complete. Martial after a decent run had a little opening, but he found row J. Late sub Mata, of all people, conceded two corners in the dying minutes as the Chelsea supporters loudly cheered every single throw in and corner won, delighting in their players forcing United back, further and further away from a goal that would take it to extra time.



Chelsea celebrate with the famous old trophy

 

The whistle went and Conte was jubilant. For all that this season has been a failure for the Blues (not enough has been said about the reigning champions spending north of £200m,  finishing 5^th and 23 points worse than last season) their manager deserved this moment I think, given the turmoil he’s been faced with off the field. It was his first domestic cup as a manager. Even at their worst, Chelsea seem to be able to churn out trophies, exemplified by Cahill lifting the cup after a difficult season for him personally. Although United in mitigation could say De Gea had nothing to do, Chelsea could respond by saying they never really looked in trouble.

Like it or not, it’s likely if Fellaini had been available for the last 20 minutes we could’ve nicked an equaliser. Chelsea were very comfortable in the air against United, as a half-fit Lukaku couldn’t impose himself as usual against their big defenders. If the big man had been there, Chelsea would’ve been forced to mark him, perhaps even assigning two on him, in turn creating space for others. In the 93^rd minute Matic tamely headed over; if that had been Fellaini it could’ve been different. Though the very idea that United missed Fellaini out there suggests how shocking they were.

While Valencia is hardly the biggest problem at United, in football today the full-backs are so important, and indeed no one got the ball more for United in threatening positions than him and Young. I really don’t want to watch a lot more of him receiving the ball, doing that little leg shuffle, then passing backwards. The captain for the day was really pathetic, seemingly unable to dribble anymore, offering nothing. Young was giving it his all, offering his teammates an option, but as I’ve already said, he just isn’t that good, willing but unable to change the game.

Sanchez has played 18 times for United since he arrived, and has scored a grand total of 3 goals, one of which was a penalty rebound. It is not reactionary to say he has been downright crap for us given his handsome wages. The man has an awesome record at Wembley – I saw it for myself in the semi-final, when he was excellent – but he did fuck all in the final, like in a lot of games he has played so far for us. Spurs and City away apart, he has not been the player we all expected him to be, or saw at Arsenal. In the summer, he will have his first extended break from football since 2013. Let’s hope he comes back refreshed, because more of this will be hard to accept from such a talented player.

It’s not just Sanchez. Pogba as well was disappointing. He was decent, don’t get me wrong, helping us progress forward and running hard all afternoon. But where was an imposing display from our best player in what turned out to be the biggest game of the season? Where was the Lingard from the winter? But most all, where was the master of finals, the serial winner that is Jose Mourinho? He had his own tactics based on organisation and concentration used against him by a man who he had a spat with earlier on in the campaign. I hope it hurt him, as ending the season trophyless should hurt all of them, even though there are clear signs of progress from last season.

For us not to score against a team playing like *that* is slightly embarrassing. It’s one thing playing on the counter but there were essentially only two attacking players in their line-up. They were sharp in the first half, decisive in the penalty incident, and to be fair, retained their focus and concentration against the almost constant United possession in the 2^nd half. They did deserve their eighth FA Cup, even if for the neutral it was like watching paint dry.

It’s been a good season, generally, but it has definitely been tarnished by this schoolboy performance. Thankfully the world cup arrives to stop us from licking our wounds all summer.

United (4-3-3) De Gea 6.5; Valencia 5.5, Smalling 6, Jones 5 (Mata 87), Young 6; Herrera 4.5, Matic 5.5, Pogba 6; Lingard 5 (Martial 73, 4), Rashford 3.5 (Lukaku 73, 5), Sanchez 5.

Chelsea (5-3-2) Courtois 7.5; Moses 6, Azpilicueta 6, Cahill 7, Rudiger 7, Alonso 5.5; Fabregas 6.5, Kante 7, Bakayoko 5; Giroud 4.5 (Morata 89), Hazard 7 (Willian 90+1).

Manchester United 1-0 Watford Last day of season/Carrick's farewell

Manchester United 1-0 Watford (Rashford 34)

This was game so full of action that it was stone dead last out of 10 games on Match of the Day even with the bonus element of it being the last game of Michael Carrick’s professional career. To be fair though, it was a dull affair. It could hardly compare to John Motson’s last commentary, Arsene Wenger bringing down the curtain on his dynasty, Man City clinching 100 (One hundred!) points with a Jesus goal in stoppage time, Chelsea blowing their top 4 hopes with a 3-0 reverse at Newcastle, Salah scoring his record-breaking 32^nd of the season, Swansea going down and last but definitely not least (in fact it was 1^st on the show) a 5-4 humdinger between Spurs and Leicester with Kane and Vardy both bagging braces to start the hope and hype trains for the World Cup.

Phew. Well what about us then? Well, a year after his testimonial that I attended, Carrick had a watered down version, with both teams not exactly firing on all cylinders. One of Fergie’s best signings and one of the most consistent players I have been fortunate to watch over the years deserved his farewell, and he had the whole shebang – kids as mascots, a guard of honour, speech after the game. Now I love Carrick, but, like I said, he’d already had his testimonial and seeing as he is going to join the coaching staff it’s not exactly a goodbye…. but anyway this is carping. He was a wonderful player, one of my favourites, and the crowd sang his name throughout.

We took the lead with a goal fitting the occasion, only because it was the vision of Carrick that created it. The Geordie Xavi found Mata’s run with a pinpoint lofted pass behind the defence, the sort of pass United fans have loved watching since 2006. The ball got what it deserved with a superb first touch, meaning Mata had plenty of time to square for Rashford to pass the ball into the net. This prompted some to wonder if Carrick should’ve played some more this season. Having watched him in the second half, let’s just be happy we saw some top passes in his last game!

United’s defence wasn’t the most solid even though Watford were barely trying. Bailly was very relaxed, and Rojo was erratic in the extreme. The Argentine made up for it though, with some quality last-ditch tackles and blocks, even though he was saved by the linesman’s flag after gifting the ball to Andre Gray after seemingly having a brain-fart. Romero, playing his 1^st league game this season, made a quality save from Richarlison’s header from point-blank range, reminding us that we have one of the best no.2’s in the world, as well as newly-golden-gloved De Gea.

The fan and players' player of the season with his 1st Golden Glove award pre-match

Limited game time among a lot of the players recently, and the eleven named rarely playing together led to a flat game. Martial left the ground before kick-off with an ‘injury’ setting the rumour mill ablaze. Sanchez looked a bit tired, but Rashford was anything but, pretty much the only one working hard, desperate to show Mourinho something. Unfortunately on the ball, there was not much quality from the lad. The game ebbed out meekly, and it will be remembered for Carrick’s farewell and nothing else. The skipper was subbed to a final standing ovation, and looked very happy on the bench at his reception. Then the crowd found their voice, signing ‘Ferguson’s red army’ and ‘every single one of us’ in tribute to the boss who is in hospital after his brain haemorrhage. Carrick said some nice words about him post-match as well.

It’s possible it’s the end for Darmian, and Blind too. The Dutchman recycled the ball, and that’s it. No risks on only his 7^th league appearance of the season, hardly a convincing argument for keeping him. As for Cup final places, if Lukaku and now Martial don’t make it, out of nowhere Mata could start after being the best player on the park – admittedly from not much competition. That’s what the focus is on, beating Chelsea to cap the season off. Carrick almost certainly won’t be involved in that one, but the day belonged to him, and quite right too. It was a pleasure, lad.

United (4-3-3) Romero 7; Darmian 6, Bailly 5.5, Rojo 6, Young 6.5 (Shaw 60, 6); McTominay 6.5, Carrick 6 (Pogba 85), Blind 6 (Herrera 77, 5.5); Mata 7, Rashford 6, Sanchez 5.5.

West Ham 0-0 Manchester United Thursday 10th May

West Ham 0-0 Manchester United

I didn’t watch this game, and after scouring the web for a highlights package that lasted longer than 6 minutes, it seems like I had a lucky escape, with the only real positive being this will be the last time we ever wear this horrendous quasi-greyish strip. Almost nothing happened in this encounter other than an entertaining scrap near the end between Paul Pogba and the personification of West Ham, Mark Noble. Think about it. A high opinion of yourself despite evidence to the contrary, really angry for no apparent reason, desperately mediocre, a feeling of being wronged etc etc.

Nonetheless, I don’t really having anything against Noble, a willing trier who has to deal with all sorts of shite being the captain of his boyhood team, including having to deck one of his own fans earlier in the season in West Ham’s nadir, a home defeat by Burnley. Since then David Moyes, who was barely acknowledged by the United fans, has steadied the ship and brought them to safety, helped out by Marco Arnautovic deciding that he is arsed after all. With him, Lanzini, Carroll, Chicharito, Antonio, Reid and the experience of Zabaleta and latterly Evra, how the hell were they in trouble for so long? It’s true they have struggled with a big chunk of the squad spending the majority of the campaign on the treatment table. But even with consistent absences West Ham have weapons that other teams in similar predicaments this season just didn’t have.

United played a back 5. A real, Italian style one, not a back 3. With McTominay and Herrera also there protecting De Gea’s 18^th clean sheet (the one he needed for a maiden Golden Glove), it was clear it wouldn’t be like watching 1970’s Brazil. Mourinho left Martial and Rashford, two who could do something watchable, on the bench - a clear message that they’ve blown their Cup final chances. Still, Adrian had to make some impressive saves to keep it goalless, as the 8 changes from Brighton didn’t have the anticipated effect of a better performance. Lingard buzzed around in a sort of shadow-striker role, demonstrating his intelligence and adaptability, and was our best goal threat. Shaw did well on the left flank with plenty of runs forward, and that was it really. We clinched 2^nd and no one got injured. Bring on the Cup final so we avoid watching this dead-rubber dross please.

United (5-3-1-1) De Gea 7; Valencia 6.5 (Bailly 90+4), Lindelof 6, Smalling 6, Jones 6, Shaw 7; Herrera 6, McTominay 5, Pogba 5.5; Lingard 7.5 (Rashford 74, 5.5); Sanchez 5.5 (Young 90+2).