The post-war rock bottom everyone always said was their 5-0 loss to Crystal Palace in 1972, but now they might have a challenger. His 4–0 defeat against Brentford on Saturday was groundbreakingly bad.
It was inevitable that we conceded more goals in 25 minutes against Brentford than we have conceded in the last 84 years, but it wasn’t just the scoreline. United were callous, lacking confidence and conviction and lacking a functioning game plan. And you must be afraid it will get worse when United take on Liverpool next week.
It was that defeat at Palace that prompted the dismissal of both manager Frank O’Farrell and capricious superstar George Best (though he has since returned to the club), and the appointment of the honed Tommy Dougherty. did. Even four years after his European Cup win, the task was still recognized as enormous. Doherty’s first full season ended in relegation, but he was kept and allowed to continue rebuilding.
But 10 Hug is two games away from his reign and he is the only United manager to have lost his first two games since John Chapman in 1921. Hug’s position is certainly not yet under threat. Hmm. After all, who else could manage a team so dysfunctional? Who would?
The Glazer family has a lot of criticism and lack of investment. This is also true when it comes to infrastructure and backroom staff. Old Trafford is antiquated and crumbling, the rail infrastructure has changed little in 15 years and the Academy is struggling. If United have a scouting and recruiting department, it’s largely ignored. Each summer’s target is someone the 10 Hugs have known since their Eredivisie days, or someone who is not only talented but also whimsical and famous.
IMAGO/PA images
But the money was spent on the team. That’s what happens when your string of managers leaves: the persistent Scott, the aging Dutch purist, the pragmatic nihilist, the bubbly former player, who pioneered pressing in Germany but no coaching. A scholar I don’t really like.
And in it Brentford stood as the perfect rebuke: Brentford’s team cost less than an eighth of United’s, but was spent wisely and according to plan. Brentford Press; That team is good at pressing. Perhaps Ten Hag wants to press, but Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t and Marcus Rashford doesn’t seem to. Brentford recorded three times the pressure of United in Saturday’s final third.
Ten Hag may or may not be the right person for the job. He has little experience outside the Netherlands and looked helpless last week. But what should he do? He was probably brought in to try to impose an Ajax-style system on United. Ajax pass from behind, but United cannot do it because David De Gea is not used to the ball under his feet, which is why he is out of Spain’s calculations. Like City and Liverpool, United tend to panic when pressed hard as they cannot break the press with a long pass from the keeper.
Lisandro Martinez is 5’9 inches tall. Perhaps such a short centre-back would be acceptable in a team that has the confidence to dominate the game. What was the plan for signing Christian Eriksen?So far he won’t play as his false nine or as a deep midfield. But where was he expected to fit? As a backup to Bruno Fernandes, perhaps, in that case, why did they both start both games? Probably a simple case of numbers. Five senior his players left and only two were brought in.
Ralph Rangnick spoke last season about the scale of the problem facing United, suggesting that he may need to add as many as 10 new signings. But the basic point is true. First, you need a plan that will be adhered to for a reasonable period of time, and second, you need a major reorganization of your team to facilitate it.
Is it Ten Hag who enacts it? At the moment, it’s very difficult to tell, and given that United can’t sign anyone, it’s probably irrelevant.
More football coverage:
.