This week in the English Premier League was something very unique. Liverpool conceded 7 goals, Manchester – 6. Everton once again proved they are in perfect shape under Carlo Ancelotti and James Rodriguez is an amazing footballer.
The match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur was perceived as central to this English weekend, but few would have imagined that the game would be so loud. More precisely, its result. This is the complete demolition of Manchester United, which only highlights all those problems of the team, which have been talked about a lot in recent weeks. First of all, we are talking about inactivity in the transfer market. Man United is not the team that should resolve the team’s issues in the last 24 hours before the transfer window closes.
This is a sign of complete mismanagement of the team’s officials as well as the fact that United are motivated to improve their offense, but have notable weaknesses in the defense. Already all the experts related to Manchester United and quite far from the club, hinting that it is necessary to strengthen the defense. Apparently, such a humiliating match should have happened to make this need obvious. That’s just the time to fix it. Of course, in some ways the match turned out to be unusual and not revealing, but very visual.
Solskjaer’s fault
When Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as a permanent coach after knocking out PSG from the Champions League a lot of people were convinced he was a suitable coach for the team. But as time goes we see that he is still far from being the best and differs a lot from his mentor Alex Ferguson. While his appointment was met with huge approval in Norway and soon enough Norwegian betting sites, which are known among the locals as norske bettingsider, announced a wide variety of Manchester-based odds because of the Norwegian coach. And we can also remember that Solskjaer was playing for Manchester United. He was a real gem for them.
Right now the situation is different and Solskjaer has still a lot to learn. First of all, he does not rely too much on Donny Van de Beek and instead chooses Matic, which is no longer a player we knew in the past. Such decisions affect the gameplay a lot. Also, the inability to change the plan of a game is another big weakness for the Norwegian coach.
United’s terrible defense and Maguire’s failure
Manchester United quickly went ahead thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ goal from the penalty spot, awarded in the first attack of the hosts. This is another moment where it is difficult for the team to score without penalties. But as quickly as Man United went ahead Tottenham equalized just as quickly. And it was the first alarm signal in the direction of the United defense, which staged a circus in front of their goal, where Maguire and company could not just take the ball away, and in the end, under pressure gave the moment to Spurs, and Ndombele equalized. Tottenham’s second goal came a few minutes later and also marked the failure of the defense. The same Maguire was the one to blame and Harry Kane quickly played a free-kick, using a hole in the center of the opponent’s defense. Son Heung-min successfully converted a chance into a goal.
And then the fans and representatives of Manchester United can raise their voices timidly. Referee Anthony Taylor’s next decision, which played a significant role in the match, raises questions. At the end of half an hour of the game, the referee sent Martial off for a push with Lamela. And it was pretty much a standard moment in the penalty area which ended up very badly for Manchester.
We should say that Erik Lamela also showed off his acting skills. It was not a serious moment, but then Lamela, a few seconds of reflection, decided to grab his face as it was something very serious. And the referee reacted in a way that Lamela himself probably didn’t expect – just sent Martial off. However, Lamela himself received a yellow card for provocation. But that is against the background of the fact that the opponent remained in the minority for almost half a half.
By the way, Tottenham immediately realized the numerical advantage. In fact, the game was made at that moment. But even before the break Son made a double, at the same time playing with the United defense. Aurier pushed the ball between the defender’s legs, and the Korean sent the ball between De Gea’s legs and past another United defender, who was ridiculously rushed into touch from a sharp angle.
Historic anti-record
The result also became historic to some extent, because United conceded four goals in the first half since May 1990, when they lost 0-4 to Nottingham in the break. The current defense allows setting such anti-records. And no matter how you write everything down to the game in the minority. After all, all these scoring combinations of Tottenham took place with complete failure and connivance of Manchester’s defense, which turned out to be loose, inattentive, infantile, and slow. The presence and absence of Martial here did not play any role. In addition, the first two goals with the same gross errors were conceded in full.
The second half in such conditions turned into an empty formality, besides the players of Manchester United again mostly felt sorry for themselves, stopped fighting, ran, and showed character. And such infantilism covered the whole team. For some reason at half-time, Solskjaer decided to revitalize the center of midfield, releasing McTominay and Fred in place of Matic and Fernandes. It’s like they were the key culprits. And not the same Pogba, for example, when it comes to the center of midfield. Paul, however, had his say at the very end when he fouled on a penalty from which Kane scored a double and scored Tottenham’s sixth goal. And the fifth happened at the very beginning of the second half, and Aurier distinguished himself, who was criticized a lot, but against United, the defender played just divinely.
What is now for Manchester United?
United are in terrible shape and if we remember the past match against Brighton Solskjaer’s side were very lucky to win the game. Brighton Hove Albion were way better but unfortunately, they conceded a goal at the very end of the match. It will be very hard for Manchester to fight for titles because the team is not simply organized and lacks good offensive and defensive capabilities.
