Manchester United is in a crisis even taking into account the fact that it has not been a top club performance-wise during the majority of the last decade. A 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in a recent Premier League match, should be bad enough for a manager to lose his job.
And, one has to keep in mind that it was the second successive 3-0 defeat United had suffered at their once-feared home ground. Losing matches against big teams has quite become the norm for the Red Devils of late. It has to be remembered that they suffered a staggering 14 defeats in Premier League last season.
Hardly Any Player Performed Well
Manchester United actually left the pitch with 10 men after Bruno Fernandes’ sending off in the first half. However, what stood out was an abject performance as a team from United, with almost every individual performing well below the expectations.
This was considering the desperate aggression shown by the home team during the last 20-25 minutes of the match by throwing numbers upfront. Still, they failed to score during that period as well, as Tottenham managed to do so and extend the margin.
Manchester United continued to play sporadic long balls to Marcus Rashford on the left flank in the first half, which seemed to be their only way of creating moves. In the second half, as Alejandro Garnacho moved to the left with Rashford switching to the centre-forward’s position, the flow of passes kept going to the former.
It is very difficult to beat any top team in a competitive league like the Premier League with that kind of one-dimensional strategy. It is no wonder that the Red Devils have scored only five goals in its six Premier League matches so far.
To make matters further worse, their attacking ineptness was coupled with having a soft underbelly. The way a centre-back like Micky van de Ven ran through the entire defence before playing the pass that led to Tottenham’s opening goal, was astounding and showed Manchester United’s defence in a very poor light.
Moreover, the contrast Manchester United’s lackluster performance made with Totttenham’s free-flowing and fluid style was even more disappointing for their spectators. The likes of Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson and Dominik Solanke were far, far superior with their quality and application than their United counterparts. Had Timo Werner not been profligate, the Spurs could have managed to put further misery and ignominy on Manchester United.
Manchester United Has More Tough Matches Soon
Amid speculation about Erik ten Hag’s future with the club, Manchester United will face Unai Emery’s Aston Villa next in the league. Villa is a very difficult proposition at its home ground and might prove to be a really tough fixture for the Red Devils. It really looks like United will find it very difficult to improve upon their eighth-place finish in the league last season.
At the moment, very few teams will have any inhibitions while visiting Old Trafford. The only silver lining for the club seems to be André Onana, who keeps delivering in almost every match.