More Manchester United careers are over but some are about to start

Eric Bailly was visible in Manchester United training last week and then invisible at Goodison Park. Ralf Rangnick did not list Eric Bailly in his injury bulletin on Friday yet there were two goalkeepers on the United bench against Everton.

Bailly signed a new contract last April and has not played since the win against Burnley in December, his seventh club appearance of the campaign. He has appeared more times for Côte d'Ivoire.

Whether or not Bailly returned from international duty with an injury or illness (that would be the seventh time in under six years at United), he cannot be at the club next season. It was bad enough United rewarded Bailly with a renewal, an unconvincing three-year deal for a 27-year-old who has played fewer games than Bruno Fernandes. Fernandes joined United three years and seven months later than Bailly did.

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Jesse Lingard might wish he had taken the rest of the season off, never mind the Middlesbrough FA Cup tie. Unfathomably underused by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he is now ending matches unused by Rangnick. Juan Mata, 34 this month, starter of four games in the last year and possibly worthier of a green card than Rishi Sunak, has had more playing time than Lingard of late.

The worst Everton team in 20 years overcame United through commitment in what was possibly the worst standard of a fixture in the Premier League all season as both teams dragged each other down to their level. It was apposite Everton won through a deflected goal from the Scouser Anthony Gordon, a talent who epitomises the ethos Evertonians demand.

The United substitutes' pre-match keep-ball drill might as well have been played on a sandpit. Many players have