Gary Neville has conceded that former club Man Utd didn’t produce a particularly good performance against Everton, but sees a pattern forming.
Jose Mourinho’s side took an early lead through a stunning Antonio Valencia goal, before a late flurry of efforts helped seal a 4-0 victory over the Toffees.
It followed a similar pattern that has been established to start the Premier League campaign, as United are to their credit showing a ruthless edge to their play late in games to finish teams off.
Neville didn’t think it was a great display on Sunday despite the scoreline, but sees what is developing at Man Utd under Mourinho this season.
“It wasn’t a good performance,” he told Sky Sports. “There’s a bit of a pattern building though, in terms of getting in front, being patient, waiting and sometimes even retreating with a couple defensive substitutions.
“Then the other team gets desperate, and United score goals late in the game, as it’s happened two or three times this season. I think Jose is renowned for being a patient coach, his team look like they have the maturity to handle it.
“United haven’t played what I’d call the best teams in the league yet. So they will be a little concerned about that, but there is a pattern building of a team that is finishing teams off, like they didn’t do last season.”
Tougher tests will certainly come, but taking their chances and killing games off was a real problem last season and so there has certainly been an improvement in that regard.
It remains to be seen whether or not Man Utd can sustain that throughout the season, but they’ve got the quality and depth to do so and to continue to compete on various fronts. It will be interesting to see how they step up against their direct rivals though, the first of which will be Liverpool on October 14.