Who hammered Manchester United on Sunday?

I ask the above question because of the media, mainly Sky Sports, barely even mentioning Everton after the Toffees trounced Manchester United 4-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon. The likes of Graeme Souness, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville all just banged on about United’s poor display.

I must have missed the recap of the four Everton goals too, as it seemed that Manchester United defeated themselves. This is a ridiculous assessment from a typical biased panel of ex-footballers, who only seem to be interested in the so-called ‘big six’.

It is not the first time that Everton’s recent good performances have been due to the other team being poor either. If Liverpool or Manchester City would have produced a display like Everton’s on Sunday, it would have been a ‘fantastic display’. However, not if its Everton. The press just carries on like the Toffees were not on the field.

I didn’t watch the coverage of Crystal Palace’s excellent 3-2 win at Arsenal on Sunday. However, I wonder if the coverage on whatever foreign channels it was on was so heavily focussed on Arsenal’s poor display?

Here is my own ridiculously biased view on the game:

Everton were outstanding from start to finish and were quite simply better than Manchester United in every department. Marco Silva’s team pressed, harried and generally ran the woeful visitors into the ground.

This performance was not of the old ‘dogs of war’ vintage. It was Everton producing attractive football and beating a team who are more high-profile. It was a similar display to against Arsenal and the second half against Chelsea in recent home games.

Is it so hard to accept that Everton are actually playing attractive football and winning games? It seems it is for some, who do not want to accept another team can play attractive football outside the top six.

For me, watching Everton trounce the Red Devils was brilliant. Just as the Chelsea and Arsenal games, it was a reward to Evertonian’s for a massively inconsistent campaign under Marco Silva.

Everton look to have promise

The win over United was not a one-off. It looks like the Everton players have finally got their heads around what Silva wants from them. The Toffees recent displays against top six teams suggest that with a touch of consistency they could be a force next season.

While there have been major ups and downs in Silva’s debut campaign as Toffees, there are now signs that the Merseysider’s are showing progression. A couple of new signings in the summer and a touch more consistency next season, then people will be forced to take notice.

However, as always fans of the Toffees will have to temper their optimism. The club has been through so many false dawns in recent history. On their day the team have now shown that they can compete with the teams immediately above them in the table. That is a step in the right direction at least.

Manchester United are not good enough for the top four

As is the custom when talking about a football match (well for most anyway), I will talk about Everton’s opponents on Sunday, Manchester United. In truth, the Red Devils form has gone down the pan in recent weeks.

The defeat at Goodison Park means they have now suffered six defeats in eight outings in all competitions. The record certainly does not bode well for the Red Devils challenge for the top four this season.

United are now odds of 5/1 sixth favourites to make the Champions League spots this season. If Sunday’s woeful display is anything to go by, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team is already on the beach.

As for Everton, they will want to finish the season in a positive manner, in order to give them the best chance of breaking into the top six next season. Then maybe they may get a mention from the media after such an impressive display.

Where Everton good or were Manchester United woeful on Sunday afternoon?