‘Atleast we did not bottled the league’: Erik Ten Hag sends strong message to Arsenal fans for critizing His tactics yesterday
Manchester United looked bereft of confidence as soon as Tottenham Hotspur took the lead against the Red Devils and they never recovered.
Erik ten Hag’s side, who have looked surprisingly unfit and lacking in the physical aspect of the game, struggled to deal with the intensity of Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Ten Hag made mistakes throughout the game in North London and that’s an understatement.
The concern from United fans will be that the mistakes made during the defeat were similar to mistakes made against Wolverhampton Wanderers, this time, however, United were punished.
1. The midfield imbalance
The big takeaway so far this season has been the midfield three. Like it or not, the experiment is not working.
Mason Mount, who was bought from Chelsea for £55 million, is struggling big time. The midfielder was more reserved in terms of his positioning and it seemed to work a treat during the first half.
However during the second half of the game, United reverted back to the Wolves game, and he struggled.
The midfield trio looked shattered, they were huffing and puffing early on in the second half, and their fitness didn’t look great.
During points in the second half, the midfield was being bypassed easily. Gary Neville, who was on Sky commentary, suggested Scott McTominay may well have been suited to the conditions of the game.
2. Sancho snubbed
Jadon Sancho, who made a big impact from the bench against Wolves, was once again on the bench despite the impact he made on Monday night.
The £73 million Englishman came off the bench and looked bright and took more care of the ball than his replacement Alejandro Garnacho had.
Sancho had been trialed as a false 9 but was bizarrely brought on and deployed as a left-winger, which is a bit puzzling.
3. Rashford’s striker experiment needs to end
Marcus Rashford was once again stuck up-front with Garnacho and Antony either side of him and to say it didn’t work is a vast understatement.
The Englishman, who was superb last season at left-wing, has been moved to the number 9 position in the absence of Rasmus Hojlund.
Rashford’s lack of holdup play, simply due to him being a winger, makes him invisible at times.
When Raphael Varane or Andre Onana launched the ball towards the 25-year-old, the ball did not stick therefore leading to Spurs sustaining attacks.
With Hojlund not too far from full-match fitness, Rashford will surely be moved back to his preferred position off the left, soon.
