It’s the consistency – or lack of it – that kills managers and players.
They can take the setbacks and even the perceived injustices as long as they are the same for both sides week to week, game to game.
At the Vitality Stadium on Friday night, Manchester United suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune twice in the space of 11 minutes.
Was it a penalty when Adrien Truffert shoved Amad Diallo to the ground in the Bournemouth box? It would have been a soft one, but we have all seen them given.
To make matters worse, the home team broke straight downfield to equalise at 1-1 through Ryan Christie. A VAR check by Craig Pawson confirmed referee Stuart Attwell’s decision and the goal stood.
But having handed Truffert a reprieve by not awarding United a second penalty of the night, Attwell then left himself wide open by pointing to the spot when Harry Maguire hauled down Evanilson for a remarkably similar offence.
The only difference was that Evanilson’s clever first touch from Junior Kroupi’s pass meant that he was through on goal, unlike Diallo who posed less of a threat as he drifted across the box.
Manchester United’s Amad felt he should have been awarded a second-half penalty
It also meant that it was a clear and obvious goalscoring opportunity, so United faced the double whammy of a penalty and straight red card for Maguire.
Kroupi, who scored a late equaliser in a 4-4 draw between the clubs at Old Trafford in December, converted to earn his side another point.
It wasn’t the best of nights for Maguire following his recall to the England squad on Friday morning after Christie had poked Bournemouth’s first goal through his legs.
But was Maguire’s challenge on Evanilson in itself any worse than Truffert’s on Diallo? They both put hands on their opponent, causing him to go down.
United’s argument was that you couldn’t separate the two, and it was hard to disagree. Either they were both penalties, or they both weren’t. Inconsistency between games is hard enough to stomach, but when it happens minutes apart the sense of injustice is acute.
Michael Carrick isn’t the most emotional of individuals, but even he struggled to keep his feelings in check as he discussed the issue afterwards.
‘It’s pretty much identical for me,’ said Carrick. ‘A two-hand grab and so either way he (Attwell ) has got one wrong. To give one and not give the other, I just can’t get my head around it. It’s crazy. Because of that, they go down the other end, they score and then it’s chaos after that.
‘Listen, maybe he’s passed Harry and he’s in on goal and that’s the right decision and he’s given that. I can understand that decision. But, surely whatever they think, if one’s been given there’s enough people to decide that it’s the same as the first. That’s what VAR was for. Clean it up and (have) consistency. It’s two different decisions, so a bit baffling really.’
Having converted his 42nd penalty from 48 attempts for United after Matheus Cunha was fouled by Alex Jimenez around the hour mark, Fernandes felt he should have had the opportunity to score No.43 when Truffert floored Diallo.
‘I think the other (Evanilson) situation is a penalty but I also think the one on Amad is a penalty and that could have changed the game,’ said the United captain.
‘I know it’s difficult for the referee to give two penalties to the same team in one game, but I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t get involved in that situation. Not getting a penalty and then we get a penalty against where it’s the same situation as Amad. One is one, one is not.’
As if the infernal waits for VAR decisions hasn’t sucked enough joy out of the game and wasted enough of our time, no-one can be sure of the rules anymore. Holding at corners? Deliberate handball? Toenail offsides? The same people who have been brought in to make the game better are ruining it before our eyes.
Scott outshines Mainoo
If it was a night to forget for Harry Maguire, then what about Kobbie Mainoo who was also called up to the England squad for the first time under Thomas Tuchel on Friday?
In recalling Mainoo after 18 months in the international wilderness, Tuchel decided to leave out Bournemouth’s Alex Scott among others.
Credit to Scott, he rose to the challenge at the Vitality Stadium with a man-of-the-match performance almost crowned with a sensational goal after his curling effort hit the underside of the bar in the 76th minute and almost went in at the second attempt off the back of Senne Lammens.
It was the right call by Tuchel to pick Mainoo for the games against Uruguay and Japan. He has been frozen out for United and England for too long, and should go to the World Cup.
But if Scott was looking to prove a point, this was exactly the right way to go about it.
Strife of Bryan
It felt like a Benjamin Sesko problem. United’s £73.7million striker may have scored eight goals in his last 11 games, but he seems to have more impact coming off the bench.
Yet, in the last two matches, Michael Carrick has started Bryan Mbeumo through the middle and the Cameroonian has been just as ineffective as Sesko.
Make no mistake, Mbeumo has been one of United’s best players this season, whether it’s in his preferred role on the right flank or, on occasions, in a more central position.
Bryan Mbeumo is struggling for goals and form having failed to score in his last six games
But Mbeumo was the first to be substituted against Aston Villa on Sunday before his replacement Sesko came on to crown United’s 3-1 win, and it was the first change Carrick made at the Vitality Stadium after another strangely subdued display by Mbeumo.
Using him through the middle means Amad Diallo can play on the right but, at the moment, it feels as though neither Mbeumo or Sesko are giving United the threat they need at centre-forward when they start games.
Wide boy Cunha
While United wrestle with a dilemma at centre-forward, the issue on the left side of their attack feels like less of a problem after the 2-2 draw on the South Coast.
Matheus Cunha was bought for £62.5m in the summer to fill one of the No.10 roles in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system. The change under Michael Carrick to 4-2-3-1 requires players more suited to a wider role – rather awkward for a club that has just offloaded Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Jadon Sancho.
Questions have been asked about whether Cunha can operate on the flanks or tends to drift inside. Against Bournemouth, he went some way to answering that by giving Alex Jimenez a chasing, not least in the 59th minute when he controlled a long ball from Senne Lammens and broke into the Bournemouth box, forcing Jimenez to pull him back by the shirt and concede a penalty.
Cunha also set up an early chance for Diallo. Had the Ivorian converted that, or Fernandes managed to find a way past goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic at close-range from Diogo Dalot’s cross, the penalty controversy might not have mattered.
Cunha was United’s best player, five days after scoring in the win over Villa. With the club still assessing left-wing options for the summer, he is starting to show that they don’t need to bother.
