It’s zero out of Ten as United lose their fight
WAKE-UP CALL FOR DUTCH BOSS
NEW Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag only has three things to do when he takes over this summer.
Fix United’s defence, midfield and attack. Other than that, the Dutchman must really be looking forward to his fresh challenge after watching this.
Ten Hag, the Ajax coach, below, is a man known for his obsession to detail, his methodical approach to coaching – even down to the length of the grass on the training pitch.
He will not need to drill down into the detail too much at Old Trafford. The problems will be staring at him from day one.
Ten Hag’s Ajax are in pole position to bag their third Eredivisie title – and the encouraging thing for United fans is that they have conceded only 17 goals from 32 league games, which is a far cry from the 56 United have shipped this season. So this side of things might get better. The problem is there are plenty of other things that need working on.
This witless, spineless surrender, the latest in a thoroughly dismal campaign, was probably the nadir, as the fans sang, “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”. Bruno Fernandes agreed.
It is going to take more than one, two or three transfer windows to repair this sorry excuse of a squad. Elite coaches can make a difference quickly – Antonio Conte did at Chelsea and is doing so at Tottenham; Thomas Tuchel also did it at Chelsea, while Jurgen Klopp took longer at Liverpool. But unless Ten Hag is a miracle worker, this looks like a long, old job – even if money is spent.
Brighton were so much better than United that it was startling to realise how bad Ralf Rangnick’s side actually are.They were behind after just 14 minutes, when the ball was not cleared and Moises Caicedo drilled home a low shot.
DannyWelbeck should have made it two after a horrible error by Raphael Varane but shot over. Marc Cucurella rattled in the second just after half-time and United fell apart, as Pascal Gross waltzed past two non-existent tackles to notch the third, before Leandro Trossard bundled in the fourth.
Incredibly, there was still half an hour to go – and Brighton should have added at least two more before there was a brief show of defiance from Rangnick’s men, as Edinson Cavani and Fernandes forced saves from Robert Sanchez, and Harry Maguire had a goal disallowed.
To say United were bad is to say it is a mite chilly in the middle of the Greenland ice cap.
Ronaldo flounced petulantly about, getting booked for a nasty challenge on Lewis Dunk and, as the third went in, could be seen laughing, hands on hips, at the other end of the pitch. Rangnick reckons he will stay, but will Ten Hag want him, even with 24 goals?Will he want any of them? Maybe it is best to start all over again.
United’s best player was 34-year-old Juan Mata, playing in his penultimate game before leaving at the end of the season.A lovely little footballer who never wastes a pass, with a gorgeous touch. And he looked like he cared.