Tuanzebe: We need to have penetration in the final third
UNITED must work out how to ‘penetrate in the final third’ ahead of their clash against Liverpool in the Premier League, according to Axel Tuanzebe.
United slipped to their third league defeat of the season against Newcastle on Sunday and up next for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side is a home clash against league leaders Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are unbeaten in the league this season while United have only won twice and have failed to score more than one goal in a game since the opening day of the season, when they beat Chelsea 4-0.
Tuanzebe, who was United’s best performer at St James’ Park, said United need to work on converting their chances during the international break.
“You can see we shut them out for a long period of time,” Tuanzebe told MUTV. “The only way they were able to score was a counter when we weren’t really there. The goal, it is what it is: a 20-yard shot, it wasn’t like they played through us or anything like that.
“We go back to the drawing board, the international break [is] now time for us to regroup. We believe in what we’re doing, in time it will come.
“Next game we look forward to is Liverpool. [We] definitely want to get a result in that game.
“Obviously, we’re waiting for players to come back [from injury] and that will be a positive to strengthen the squad again.
“[It] gives us time to reflect and build on our game because again we’re having a lot of possession but we need to have that final kind of penetration in the final third [to] give us chances to win games.” FOR United fans of a certain age, it’s probably difficult to remember an upcoming fixture against Liverpool seem so daunting.
For the past 25 years or more, it has been one to relish – and one that United would often win, even after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
It’s no exaggeration to now suggest, however, that the 3-0 reverse under David Moyes could be beaten in terms of chastening home defeats by the Anfield club. Even with a twoweek international break for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to ‘get the heads right’ as he put it – it could be embarrassing. The list of the problems United need to solve in the next two weeks is long, but Solskjaer isn’t one to shy away.
Here are the issues that need to be urgently addressed:
GET INJURED PLAYERS BACK NOT necessarily one for Solskjaer, but there’s no doubt United’s medical team are in for a vital two weeks.
Not even the Norwegian could muster injuries as a credible excuse for the abject display at Newcastle, but he’ll surely accept his team’s chances of shocking Jurgen Klopp’s men will be greater with Paul Pogba, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Victor Lindelof and Jesse Lingard back from injuries. Three or four of them should return, at least.
But perhaps Solskjaer and his coaches can investigate why so many players are picking up muscle injuries so early in the season.
ALLOW PLAYERS TO REST ALONG similar lines, it’s clear that the workload on some United players is too heavy and, if possible, they must be allowed to rest. Marcus Rashford in particular looks to be fighting his own fitness as much as anything else at the moment and thus his performance level has dipped dramatically.
United know that Rashford can play better. And they’ll know too that Scott McTominay is carrying the United midfield and that Daniel James and Andreas Pereira shouldn’t be playing as many minutes as they have done this term. United can only hope that Rashford isn’t worked too hard by England boss Gareth Southgate and that he returns to Carrington rejuvenated and re-energised.
DEVELOP A NEW PLAN
SOLSKJAER admitted in his interview after the Newcastle defeat that he and his coaching staff have been keen to stick to the same system and not make too many changes.
Well, after eight games that ship has finally sailed. When Newcastle’s midfield is running rings around you, you know it’s the death knell for your 4-2-3-1 system. McTominay and Fred were totally swamped.
The simple fact is United aren’t helping themselves, because their threadbare midfield is being exposed by any side who are disciplined enough to keep their shape off the ball and then counter when the inevitable misplaced pass arrives.
Solskjaer must revert to the 4-3-3 system that served him so well upon his initial appointment as manager, though he’ll need Pogba and Martial back to do it properly. TRUST THE YOUNGSTERS
IN the Sky studio at St James’ Park after another dismal display, Gary Neville reiterated a salient point about how Sir Alex introduced the