Everton Stun United

It has been asked on numerous occasions over the past few months - just what would Manchester United do if Wayne Rooney was injured and therefore unable to take his customary place in the starting XI? We pretty much got our answer on Saturday, and it made for grim viewing for United fans. Yes, I realise he wasn't injured and did in fact play, but he might as well not have been on the pitch for all the impact he had on the game. Quiet and out of sorts, the fact remains that this performance had been coming from him. Superhuman feats are just that for a reason - you cannot expect them week in week out. Like every other player he will have his off days, and that is when he needs those around him to step up and shoulder the burden for a change. Only the oft maligned Berbatov came even remotely close to doing so on Saturday. So United lost, with a whimper.

This is actually another knock on effect that United have suffered in the wake of Ronaldo's exit. Whereas previously if Ronaldo was having an off day, then there was always Rooney (or whisper it Carlos Tevez) to come up with the decisive moment that would swing a game in United's favour. Alas, it now appears that this is for Rooney and Rooney alone to conjure.

Take nothing away from Everton. United started well but Everton roared back and after the first twenty minutes they dominated. In the end they won comfortably, with wonderful performances from their midfield five. The signing of Donovan is proving something of a masterstroke from David Moyes - not many could have anticipated the stunning impact that he has had. This display and their recent form demonstrates just how seriously the injuries they suffered in the first half of the season hampered their form. One wonders where they would lie in the table had the injuries not been as widespread.

The Everton line was led, as ever, by the superb Louis Saha. It must be one of Ferguson's biggest regrets that Saha was never able to maintain his fitness for a sustained period of time at United. It is obvious how highly Ferguson rated him - moving on the prolific van Nistelrooy to make room for the Frenchman. This move coincided with United's return to a more customary style of attacking, penetrative football, that was often lacking in the days of the Dutchman. It also resulted in a return to Championship winning ways for United.

Unfortunately, injuries curtailed Saha's Old Trafford career and United ended up losing a man who may well have eased the burden that Rooney now bears.