It is fascinating to witness how Manchester United have navigated into the heart of the title race, without ever quite yet suggesting they are a decent team.
They are of course.
But even in Saturday's comprehensive, routinely comfortable victory over an Everton side who didn’t turn up until half time, there are lingering questions about how good they actually are.
For all their control, for all the near facile nature of their first half dominance, they still ultimately had David De Gea to thank for the three points, and still exited Goodison Park with doubts floating just below the surface of still muddied waters.
Those doubts continue to extend towards the captain and talisman Wayne Rooney, who scored a good goal here to confirm victory, but not quite silence the suggestion he has not yet returned to his supernatural levels of three years ago.
It bothers the England star not one jot - “I hear the talk, but I’ve always had it, and I’m a strong mind personally, so it’s certainly not going to affect me now at this stage of my career.”
Yet the debate around Rooney perhaps encapsulates the wider questions about whether United can be considered as genuine contenders this season.
And for that, it is fascinating to hear the thoughts of manager Louis van Gaal.
The Dutchman is nothing if not brutally direct, his honesty refreshing in the vipers' nest of Premier League football.
0 comments: