Some belated player ratings from Manchester United’s FA Cup win over West Ham United yesterday, now that I’ve sobered up from that shitshow.

Starters

Dean Henderson: 6/10

Made the one save he had to make but really didn’t have much to do.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 6/10

Did his job, got forward well. Several times where he was wide open and United just didn’t want to pass him the ball, which was weird.

Victor Lindelöf: 6/10

Cleaned up some trouble a few times but didn’t have much to do.

Harry Maguire: 6/10

Carried the ball forward well. Good response to a poor game on Saturday but let’s not pretend that he was tested all that often.

Alex Telles: 6/10

Looked more like Luke Shaw than any of his previous outings which is probably why he made it 90 minutes before inevitably being taken off with United needing a goal. Shows how he’s learning and adapting to this United system and what it asks of him.

Fred: 7/10

Playing next to Matić he had to be a more expansive passer which isn’t his game. Attempted a whopping 139 passes which goes to show you he was Reds focal point of the night, which is probably not what you want as he’s not exactly a creative player. Still, he was the only one on the pitch trying to switch the ball from side to side to get West Ham moving.

Nemanja Matić: 5/10

He brought his usual calmness and composure to midfield helping United keep possession and prevent West Ham from mounting any serious attack. The problem was there was too much calmness which prevented United from building any sort of much needed tempo.

Mason Greenwood: 6/10

Continued to look much brighter in the buildup/creation phase of play but ultimately failed to get involved much.

Donny van de Beek: 5/10

Failed to make any sort of impact. Not totally his fault as Matić/Fred don’t have the passing ability to pick out the runs he was making, but he still felt completely irrelevant.

Marcus Rashford: 7/10

Came into the game much more once he moved over to the right side and provided the game winning assist from there.

Anthony Martial: 6/10

This game was a microcosm of Martial’s season. He did so many things well except putting the ball in the net — which is what strikers are ultimately judged on.

Substitutes

Bruno Fernandes: 7/10

Much more direct than Van de Beek and made United look a lot more threatening.

Scott McTominay: 8/10

Brought much needed energy to United’s midfield and in turn increased the tempo which — not surprisingly — resulted in United looking a lot better. Had a beautiful finish on a half volley to send United to the next round. He’s been in red hot form since the calendar changed to 2021.

Edinson Cavani: 7/10

Made United a lot more direct.

Luke Shaw: 7/10

Got forward well. Great buildup play as United started looking far more dangerous in extra time.

Brandon Williams: 6/10

Introduced mostly to ensure Wan-Bissaka didn’t have to play more than 90 minutes, and he held down the fort with it.

Manager

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: 6/10

Has to find the balance between trying to get players rest and winning a game. Perhaps a little too conservative in waiting too long to make changes, as West Ham never looked a threat. The result was having to play an extra 30 minutes. Ultimately it wasn’t pretty but it didn’t have to be. It’s Cup football — just get to the next round. Job done there.