In what was one of the most disappointing, gut-wrenching collapses I’ve ever had to witness, Manchester United lost 4-2 to Leicester on Saturday. Here are five things that we learnt.
Maguire shouldn’t have started
Most of us, myself included, were not expecting Harry Maguire to be making the starting XI over the weekend. Having only had one training session since being back from injury there was always going to be questions over whether he could handle the full 90, against a dangerous side like Leicester. After his first touch went wildly out of play, we were all joking that it was a mistake to start him and that he wasn’t ready yet. But, it turns out we were right to be worried.
Maguire looked shaky all game. You can make the case that he has some blame in all four of Leicester’s goals. Ihenacho dispossessed him for the Tielemans goal. He arguably should have cleared the ball away from the corner that lead to the Soyuncu goal. For the Vardy goal he gets lost between marking two players and leaves Vardy free in the box. And on the fourth goal he is just static and ball watching as the cross comes into the box.
Now, I’m not saying that if Eric Bailly had started that he wouldn’t have made mistakes. We all know that Bailly is more than capable of having a shaky performance. But maybe a few of those mistakes leading to goals aren’t made and maybe we can hold on to the draw. That isn’t good enough either, in all honesty. But it has to be better than how this feels.
Ole Under Serious Pressure
It’s the most obvious statement to make that the manager of Manchester United is under pressure. Because ultimately, there is always pressure at this club and that’s the way it should be. But, it genuinely feels like Ole is one or two more bad results away from losing his job. And the really sad thing is that large proportions of the fanbase want that to happen. I will always back the manager of Manchester United and want them to succeed. But there gets a point where it becomes more and more difficult to do that. If Ole is to make it through this period, and to the next international break at least, it feels like he needs a miracle.
We Need More Than Just Moments
This season we have had some good results, some great results even. The games against Leeds, Newcastle and maybe Villarreal spring to mind. But I don’t think we’ve really had one great performance. We’ve had moments, spells, and glimpses of what looks like good football and then it falls apart. I don’t know if this is on the manager, the coaching staff, the players or a mixture of all of them. But something has to change. Especially when you look at our rivals. Teams like Liverpool and Man City just look that level above us. And it doesn’t feel like there is a way of competing with that at the moment.
Keep the Basics
No matter what level of football you’re playing, conceding off the kick-off just 30 seconds after equalising is embarrassing. That goal cannot be put down to management, or coaching, or tactics or whatever you want to call it. Responsibility of conceding like that is just down to the players. It’s on the individual players on the pitch at that time to just keep composure. Maintain the basics. Don’t let yourself get distracted and keep your head switched on. And after that goal, what was left of the match was shambolic really.
Ronaldo Tactical Issue
There is no denying that when Cristiano Ronaldo becomes available, you go and get him. But, I don’t think we’ve quite figured out the right way to play with him in the team. This is particularly evident when United are out of possession. More specifically, our pressing situation is all over the place. Bruno presses like a second striker, seemingly to make up for Ronaldo’s lack of pressing. And that’s great for putting pressure on teams playing out from the back and all the good that comes with that. But when we do that, particularly against Leicester, the two behind Bruno don’t push up with him. And as a result there is this massive gap in the midfield.
When playing against a team like Leicester with top quality players in midfield. They were never more than three or four passes away from Maddison sliding one through for Vardy or Ihenacho to be through on goal. If it wasn’t for David de Gea making some more unreal saves the scoreline probably could have been even worse. None of this is good enough. Something has to change. United have to start putting out better, more unified performances. And, sadly, the more time goes on I’m less and less confident that Ole can turn this around. And if things don’t turn around, there is going to be this taint on his legacy here at Manchester United. That is something that I really don’t want to see.