DISASTROUS DE GEA
A few weeks ago David de Gea spoke with confidence about how he can play out from the back, even suggesting he was insulted by the idea he couldn’t and pledged to stay at Manchester United for life if he could.
His contract is up at the end of this season and considering he’s the bestpaid goalkeeper in the world at the moment, it would be madness for United to even consider opening talks.
De Gea had a good season last term when his strengths as a shotstopper were to the fore. But the blunder he made for Brentford’s first was about as it gets and, despite his own protestations, he clearly can’t pass out from the back.
His pass into Christian
Eriksen that led to Brentford’s second was ill-advised and suggested a hint of panic. He’s got plenty to prove already, with Dean Henderson waiting in the wings if he impresses at Nottingham Forest.
Erik ten Hag could yet act earlier than that. A goalkeeper is still on the transfer wishlist this summer and on this evidence, the United boss might want more funds to find someone who can offer another threat to his No. 1.
TEN HAG’S TACTICAL MISTAKE
Ten Hag has made it perfectly clear how he wants to play as United manager, but this still felt an unnecessarily and cavalier way to set the team up.
There will be no rush to castigate United’s new manager, despite back-toback defeats in his first two, clearly winnable games, but his selection and set-up were certainly concerning.
It’s hard to ever remember an occasion when Eriksen has played as a holding midfielder in a 4-3-3 system, or just as a holding midfielder. For all his quality on the ball, which Ten Hag touched on pre-match, he has never been a midfielder you would consider defensive.
You couldn’t pin all of this on Eriksen but it set the team up to face pressure. When Brentford were in possession Eriksen wasn’t used to dealing with players around him and having to shield a defence.
On one occasion he played a risky pass out and lost possession, forcing Harry Maguire to commit a foul and earn a yellow card. The Bees enjoyed spells of territory and possession around the United box and a lot of that was because of the absence of a defensive midfielder to block off passing lanes.
Eriksen can’t be blamed, given this is a position he has never played in. Instead, Ten Hag must share some of the culpability. Individual errors were costly, but United didn’t help themselves. This was a team picked to enjoy 75% possession and complete dominance against some Eredivisie cannon fodder. Ten Hag is no longer managing in that situation and the sooner he understands that, the quicker he can try and turn this tanker around.
DEFENSIVE SHAMBLES
This was the seventh time in the last 32 Premier League games that United had shipped four or more goals. That is the kind of defensive record you would associate with a team that’s going down, it is that bad.
United’s defensive mess hasn’t improved yet under Ten Hag and they’ve conceded a raft of soft goals to two mid-table teams to start the season.
The stats make grim reading for United. This was the seventh defeat in 10 league games dating back to last season and a seventh successive away defeat in the Premier League. The rot should have stopped with the appointment of a new manager, but United’s issues have simply carried over into the new season and they’ve started this campaign in the same dreadful mess they ended the last one.