Mason Greenwood plays with a maturity and intelligence beyond his 20 years, and that is why it is an enduring mystery why he is not at present involved with England. When Nemanja Matic picked up possession just outside Manchester United’s box after eight minutes, Greenwood began his stealthy move into the Young Boys area. He was light on his feet, always on the move, stopping and changing direction, always looking to open up a yard of space to attack.
The control that United’s interim manager, Ralf Rangnick, talks about constantly was there in Greenwood’s performance, if not in United’s, which was increasingly ragged. That authority, and the demand for swifter transition, was at least there in the build-up to Greenwood’s goal. Matic drove the ball down the inside-left channel towards Jesse Lingard, and Anthony Elanga took the move on, releasing the overlapping Luke Shaw.
In the box, Greenwood was making his move, drifting towards the near post, cleverly targeting space between two defenders, Fabian Lustenberger and Jordan Lefort. Lustenberger is an experienced player, a Switzerland international, and he tracked Greenwood closely.
The Englishman was moving towards the near post before checking back, losing Lustenberger. Lefort hurried across, but Greenwood had engineered his chance. As Shaw’s cutback arrowed towards him, Greenwood leapt up, meeting the ball with a left-footed scissor kick that flew irresistibly between Guillaume Faivre and the goalkeeper’s right-hand upright.
Here were the two most impressive sides of Greenwood’s game: the movement and the technique. Greenwood’s fifth goal of the season in his 16th appearance was his first in six games. He has not played for England this season, and confusion still surrounds his exclusion by the national team since Iceland away in September 2020. His absence is not related to that breach of the team bubble while on England duty in Reykjavik. Phil Foden was also guilty that evening and has regularly represented England since.
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Gareth Southgate, the England head coach, spoke to Greenwood, his family and his manager at the time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, this season, and they decided it would be more beneficial for the forward’s long-term development to focus simply on his club football. Yet a player of Greenwood’s two-footed talent, nervelessness and unerring eye for goal has to be in Southgate’s plans for the World Cup next year. He is the most clinical finisher available to Southgate.
For United, assuming Rangnick continues with his 4-2-2-2 formation, Greenwood offers an obvious complement to Cristiano Ronaldo in attack, especially with his running and willingness to press. Rangnick was full of praise, saluting Greenwood’s versatility, his ability to play up front on his own or in a pair. He described him as “a 9½”, and also capable of coming in from the wing. Rangnick spoke highly of Greenwood’s “tactical level” but said he needed to work on his “physical” side.
He showed his hard-working and creative side against Young Boys, pressing Mohamed Ali Camara on the left flank, turning over possession, driving into the box, and cutting the ball back to Juan Mata. The Spaniard connected with his left foot and the ball took a deflection, but Faivre managed to divert it over. Greenwood’s heatmap was extensive, and he also dropped deep to link with Donny van de Beek.
Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 formation had a slight twist as Mata, nominally alongside Van de Beek in front of the back four, frequently pushed up. Van de Beek’s name was sung loudly by the United fans, as usual, but he was culpable for Young Boys’ equaliser three minutes from the break.
When Aaron Wan-Bissaka won possession on the edge of United’s area, Matic played the ball out towards Van de Beek. The Dutchman was far too casual in his response, stabbing the ball towards Wan-Bissaka, who had no chance of reaching it. Fabian Rieder swooped, nicked the ball, took a step to his right and curled his shot over the diving Dean Henderson.
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It was a reminder to Rangnick of the enduring flaws in this side. Just as he was celebrating United’s first home clean sheet of the season, against Crystal Palace on Sunday, he was shown the work still required to keep control.
The game became slightly ragged after the break but was notable for some arrivals from the bench. Rangnick first removed Shaw for Teden Mengi, who immediately impressed with some blocks, including a diving one to stop a fierce shot from Wilfried Kanga.
Shola Shoretire replaced Amad Diallo, but after all the talk of young boys came the sight of the 35-year-old Tom Heaton coming on for his United debut, receiving a huge cheer from the fans and a big embrace from the departing Henderson.
Heaton began at United’s academy in 2002 and stepped up to the first-team squad in 2005, but never got to make his senior debut. He went on loan before making his name at Burnley, and earning three England caps. Heaton’s move to Aston Villa was frustratingly disrupted by injury and he was released in the summer. Snapped up on a free by United, Heaton finally made his bow, 19 years after first arriving as a hopeful, talented schoolboy.
Then it was back to the young boys. The rained teemed down, but nothing could dampen the spirits of Rangnick’s final two substitutes, the 18-year-old Zidane Iqbal, a Manchester-born midfielder of Pakistani-Iraqi heritage, and Charlie Savage, also 18.
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It was an emotional moment for Savage’s father, Robbie, who was on BT Sport co-commentary duty. He knows the sacrifices Charlie has put in, recovering from injury, working hard to make it at this level. He certainly has his father’s running style, body slightly forward, as if ready to dive in to win the ball.
Savage Sr also came up through the United youth ranks, but never managed to get a game for the first team. On the day he was released by the club, he crashed his car while travelling home. So this was a special moment for the whole Savage family, and the United fans loved it: “Savage scores, we’re on the pitch,” they chanted.
