Man United 4 Bournemouth 4
Game of the season? There’s been some crackers so far in the Premier League this season but this may just have been the game of the season so far. To be honest as a United fan I can’t remember the last time I was up and down so much watching a game but if you were a neutral watching the match I’m sure you were thoroughly entertained throughout unlike me who was nearly hiding behind the couch every time Bournemouth came forward especially in added time were Bournemouth really should have scored the winner and would have if it wasn’t for Lammens in the United goal.
Much much better from United going forward. Whilst the defence was an absolute disaster throughout the 90 minutes, I can’t help but feel like some of the football from United especially in that first half should have left them probably 3 nil up. The combinations between Mount, Cunha and Mbeumo with Amad tearing apart Truffert at left-back should have led to more goals in that first half and you can’t help but feel like if Mbeumo was on form he could have had a hat-trick tonight. The attacking play was so much better from United compared to the last home games against Everton and West-Ham and it’ll be interesting to see how the attack changes with Mbeumo and Amad heading to AFCON after this match.
How bad was United’s defence? Whilst United’s defence has been relatively poor throughout this season, I didn’t think they had a match like this in them. I do think it’s important to preface that United were without Maguire and De Ligt who undoubtedly would have been starting if they fit but the back 3 of Shaw, Yoro and Heaven really struggled for the entire match really. Even though Bournemouth didn’t really have a sustained period in the match were they were creating chance after chance they looked dangerous every time they broke forward and made United pay some really sloppy defending in the match. You’d hope for United’s sake that one of Maguire or De Ligt is back for Villa on Sunday as United are crying out for a leader in that central centre-back spot. If one of them isn’t back I wonder if Amorim might put Martinez in that spot as Ayden Heaven really struggled out there tonight along with Yoro and Shaw who were just as poor.
What more does Mainoo have to do to start? It’s easy to forget just how talented Kobbie Mainoo is when he isn’t playing matches but I thought he was excellent in the 30 minutes he played tonight, he brings a calmness on the ball that nobody else in the United squad has it makes you wonder why Amorim sometimes chooses to sub on Ugarte over Mainoo when United are winning when all Ugarte brings to the pitch is chaos and lost possession. I would imagine that Mainoo will go out on loan in January and possibly play himself into contention for a spot at the World Cup but I just can’t understand why Amorim doesn’t use him more. With Casemiro suspended for the game against Villa I wouldn't be surprised to see Ugarte in the starting 11 with Mainoo yet again only on the bench.
What’s the goal for Bournemouth this season? Every time I’ve watched Bournemouth this season I’ve been pretty impressed with how they’ve played, almost grabbing a point against Liverpool on the opening day, dominating Spurs away from home, Chelsea at home were they should have won and now nearly beating United at Old Trafford. To be honest I don’t think Bournemouth were that good tonight, they took their chances brilliantly but the game should have been over at half-time. Bournemouth have some top top players like Semenyo, Alex Scott, Kroupi etc but losing nearly their whole defence in the summer was bound to hurt them this year. Iraola is a top manager and no doubt will bring Bournemouth up the table but I wonder what he’s aiming for in the league this year? They’re only 5 points off the European spots but I don’t see them finishing there this season, maybe an FA cup run is on the horizon for Bournemouth this year, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.