By Jim White
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has a list of personal endorsements longer than Bastian Schweinsteiger's shorts. But his response to the events at Everton suggest he may be after a commercial tie-in with Specsavers.
Marcos Rojo's attempt to slice Idrissa Gueye in half with an air-bound, two-footed challenge made even former Manchester United captain Gary Neville wince. But the reaction from Mourinho? "I didn't see it," he said.
Well, what of Marouane Fellaini's clumsy barge into the same Everton player that gifted the home side a late equaliser from the penalty spot. "I didn't see it."
It certainly did not require the addition of spectacles for anyone at Goodison to see where United's problem lay. While in cup competitions they are flying, scoring at will and playing with pace, passion and power, in the Premier League they appear to be on a crusade to revive the football pools, the team guaranteed to pluck parity from the very jaws of victory.
Key moment: Jose Mourinho brings on Marouane Fellani, who would shortly give away the penalty that tied the game.Credit: Clive Brunskill
In the explanation as to why it is happening time and again, the United manager is reduced to bemoaning his luck. Asked what he had to do to start converting one point into three, he said "make sure [Ander] Herrera does not hit the post. If he scores, 2-0 and we have three points". But actually, it was more prosaic than that.
It cannot be argued that there were sufficient touches to suggest that it is only a matter of time before vibrant cup form is replicated in the League.
It was perhaps Phil Jones who gave most cause for visiting satisfaction. Commanding in the air, intelligent in his reading of danger, his superb sliding tackle on Enner Valencia midway through the second half sealed a performance which suggested he may at last be close to living up to his once-substantial potential.
Which is not something that could be said about Fellaini, the most obvious explanation for victory disappearing from the visitors' grasp.
The point of bringing him on to the pitch with 10 minutes to go was to secure three points. Instead, before he had touched the ball, the walking elbow had gifted Everton a penalty.
Bemoaning fortune has been Mourinho's default position, but here it was his substitution that did it. To deploy a player like him into a situation as delicately poised as this was surely inviting disaster.
Maybe instead of waiting for an endorsement to come his way Mourinho should visit his local opticians. When it comes to Fellaini, he needs something to clear his view.
The Telegraph, London