Manchester United got back to winning ways when they brushed past relegation contenders Swansea City on Sunday.
The Red Devils put up a spirited performance at the Liberty Stadium and took the attack to Swansea from the opening whistle. Zlatan Ibrahimovic snapped his dry spell in front of goal, while Paul Pogba added another. United captain Wayne Rooney returned to the lineup and was equally impressive.
Here are the Hard Tackle’s talking points from the game:
Bob Bradley’s struggles
After letting go of former manager Francesco Guidolin, American Bob Bradley was appointed by the Swansea owners to turn the fortunes around for the Welsh outfit. Expectations were extremely high for the first Premier League manager to be born in the United States of America.
However, with almost a month in charge at the Liberty Stadium, Bradley is struggling to get his message through to the players. In Sunday’s game against United, instead of capitalising on the lack of pace in the opposition and pressing higher up the field, Bradley’s men decided to sit back and defend. This eventually allowed the United players more time on the ball, and saw the likes of Rooney, Fellaini and Pogba have a walk in the park without any real threat of being closed down.
Pogba, Ibrahimovic AND Rooney tick
The inclusion of Wayne Rooney raised a number of eyebrows among the Manchester United faithful, despite his exploits in mid-week against Fenerbahce.
What was equally baffling was that the Red Devils skipper was started as a left winger. Rooney’s lack of pace has been severely criticised this season, so it looked like an odd choice to go for him on the wings.
The 31-year-old was quick to shut his critics as he looked impressive from the opening whistle. He registered two assists and put in his best performance in a long time for the Manchester outfit.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba too, returned to form and put up a decent showing and lived up to their billing.
The Swede grabbed an impressive brace while his French counterpart put his impeccable volleying skills on display as he fired home from distance to double the lead for United. Mourinho will be hoping that this trio continues to put up performances like these
Darmian a constant threat down the left
Matteo Darmian has been treated as somewhat of an outcast by Mourinho despite featuring heavily in Louis van Gaal’s system last season. The Italian was, however, given a run out on Sunday after Luke Shaw pulled out of the squad, and did a decent job in replacing the English full-back.
Darmian was quick, agile, composed and rarely showed signs of any nerves. He looked energised and hungry from the opening whistle and kept up his intensity until the end. The Italian kept surging forward and was decent with his crosses on the day.
A sixth consecutive win for United with Carrick in the starting lineup
Michael Carrick has been a faithful servant for Manchester United and put in another seamless performance for them against Swansea. The Englishman looked calm as ever on the ball and his distribution was second to none.
Also, his presence in the lineup gave the likes of Fellaini and Pogba the freedom to express themselves as Carrick kept things tidy in midfield. He is arguably United’s best holding midfielder, but due to his age, it’s virtually impossible to have him in the side every week.
