Manchester United’s season sank to a desperate new low yesterday as we were hammered 3-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Matters weren’t helped by a Bruno Fernandes straight red just before half time, but to blame the defeat on that would be a huge reach. If it hadn’t been for Onana and some poor Spurs finishing it could have conceivably been 4-0 at half time. The XG for the 90 minutes was around 5-1 in favour of Tottenham.
Whilst it’s unlikely Ten Hag will lose his job on the back of a single result, the pressure is higher than it’s ever been, with large sections of the fanbase (which doesn’t include me), calling for him to lose his job now.
system, what system?
This was as bad a performance as I have seen for a long time by a United team. Unlike the Brighton and Palace games, we weren’t unlucky, and the score might have even flattered us.
United’s injury crisis is easing, and significantly, we had our theoretical best midfield available: Bruno, Ugarte, Mainoo. The performance really can’t be blamed on a lack of personnel.
There were issues all over the pitch. The defence switched off for all 3 goals, we still can’t take our chances and our attempted press was abysmal. Ralf Ragnick said something to the effect of:
“A little bit of pressing? C’mon, what’s a little bit of pressing? A little bit of pressing is like a little bit of pregnant.“
Meaning, it can’t happen – you are either pressing or you aren’t. United’s half-arsed, uncoordinated press was beaten so often and so easily by Spurs. If that is the style ten Hag wants to play, this needs be rectified immediately, or United need to scrap that idea and opt for a mid-block type setup.
In terms of the first half; Spurs scored within 3 minutes when the excellent Van de Ven powered past almost our entire midfield, and set up a tap-in for Brennan Johnson; Dalot having – inexplicably – completely left him free at the back post.
There isn’t too much point in analyisng the performance in great depth. We were just poor everywhere.
We tried to press high, it didn’t work at all, the passing was terrible, and again, the combination between Zirkzee and our midfield and wingers produced almost nothing of note apart from an early Zirkzee chance that was easily saved.
Rashford and Garnacho were generally ineffective against Porro and Udogie, the exception being late in the half when Garnacho did hit the post after a good Rashford cross. Going into half-time at 1-1 would have massively flattered United though.
Bruno Fernandes received a soft red card on 42′, and the game was effectively over as a contest.
An inevitable second half
United were 2 down a couple of minutes after half-time; Kulesevski stealing in unmarked at the front post after Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez errors. Spurs continued to pile on the pressure and it was only some Andre Onana heroics that kept the scoreline down to 2-0.
This actually led to United’s best period of the game; 10-15 minutes or so when we showed some fight, the crowd found its voice and we had a series of corners and half-chances, but never really looked like getting back into it.
Any faint flicker of hope was snuffed out on 77′ after a poorly defended corner led to a tap-in for Dominic Solanke. Cue a mass exodus from Old Trafford, and Spurs cruised to the final whistle.
Player Ratings & MOTM
Onana – 6 & MOTM. Made several 1-on-1 saves to keep the score down; really the only player that comes away from this game with any credit.
Dalot – 3. A real shocker; gave the ball away countless times and the so-called defending for the first goal was farcical – seemed to be apologising before the ball was in the back of the net!
De Ligt – 5. The best of a bad bunch; made some decent blocks and clearances but his deflection let Kulesevski in for the second goal.
Martinez – 3. Too aggressive at times and gave the ball away often. At fault for the second goal and picked up his standard yellow card
Mazraoui – 5. Better than Dalot on the other side and made some important tackles, but still struggled with Udogie and Werner. Nowhere near Van de Ven for the first goal.
Mainoo – 5. Struggled against Spurs’ press and found it hard to play through the midfield, but probably the ‘best’ midfield performance of the day, which isn’t saying much. Picked up an injury and subbed too.
Ugarte – 5. Showed fight and commitment but struggled against James Maddison. Booked and subbed.
Fernandes – 3. Poor all round like in the last few weeks – we suggested he be given a break in favour of Hojlund starting this game, and that is what should have happened. Given a straight red for a challenge that should have been a yellow.
Garnacho – 5. Did at least track back and hit the post with a volley, but struggled to make headway against the more robust Van de Ven and Udogie. Gets pushed around far too easily.
Rashford – 4. Gave the ball away for the opener and didn’t have any impact going forward apart from setting up Garnacho’s shot, which hit the post.
Zirkzee – 5. Had a decent effort saved at 1-0 but was generally isloated and failed to get anything going with the wingers. Switched for Casemiro at half-time.
Subs:
Mount (on for Mainoo on 45′) – 4. Brought on after the red card to shore things up. Added energy but largely ineffective and went off later with a head injury.
Casemiro (on for Zirkzee on 46′) – 5. Had a shot shortly after half-time but couldn’t stem the tide or influence the game.
Hojlund (on for Rashford on 73′) – 4.
Diallo (on for Mount on 85′) – 4.
Looking ahead
United face two really difficult away games in the next 7 days: Porto and then Aston Villa.
A similar performance on Thursday in the Europa League would ratchet the pressure up even further on Erik Ten Hag. Put simply, it has to change, right now. Another 2 defeats heading into the international break could see United looking for a new manager.