WEAK& WOEFUL
United go down with a whimper but boss Ten Hag is still defiant
IT is wholly unfair to home in on Manchester United’s bursting box of deficiencies on a day West Ham executed their game plan to perfection.
That said, it is what it is. You cannot avoid the unavoidable.
How long can this go on for? How long can United carry on in this shambolic manner? Abysmal. Again.
If you are going to lose — go down fighting. Go down swinging your arms and clenching your fists.
Not like this. Pitiful, weak and wretched.
Whatever the Manchester United way is or what it represents, then this is not it.
A club rich in tradition, iconic across the world, is on its knees.
From tales of George Best, Denis Law, Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona to this story of utter woe an inadequacy.
Three hundred and eighty one minutes without a goal — more than six hours of football.
It is a painful watch, out of kilter with United’s attacking legacies.
But beleaguered boss Erik ten Hag said: ‘We have players who can do it. They’ve proved in the past they can do it.
‘But we also have to acknowledge the fact that we didn’t do it as a team. We have to take responsibility. Football is about winning games and scoring goals.
‘We have issues. We have had many setbacks and injuries, etc. But the players on the pitch are good enough to win the game. Get into the box, make sure you’re there, make sure you have the willingness to arrive and willingness to score goals.
‘They are capable of it. I know (Marcus) Rashford can score, (Rasmus) Hojlund can score, (Alejandro) Garnacho can score, Bruno (Fernandes) can score, Scott McTominay can score.
‘We have scoring abilities in our squad and also from set-plays. At this moment we’re not doing it. They have to stick together and believe in themselves that they can do it.
‘To get where you have to be to score is to get in the box, especially the six-yard box. You have to arrive as a striker.’
West Ham deserved their victory here. They were well-drilled, well-coached and had clear a plan.
United were anything but. That is on Ten Hag.
Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus did the damage but that only tells half the story.
Because this defeat, United’s 13th of a shambolic season, was largely self-inflicted by a lack of spirit and invention.
With Aston Villa up next, United should be fearing the worst.
Ten Hag may point to mitigating circumstances.
Academy product Willy Kambwala became the 248th graduate of United’s youth set-up, the 19-year-old thrust into the heat of battle amid a central defensive selection crisis that left Ten Hag unable to pick Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof due to varying ailments. But that would be a feeble excuse. Indeed the teenager looked more than comfortable on his Premier League bow.
That was true for both defences during a first half that will not live long in the memory. Scrappy, cagey and downright mundane at times.
‘I thought whoever scored the first goal would probably win the game and thankfully we got it,’ admitted Hammers manager David Moyes.
West Ham are now back in and around the top six, an achievement Moyes feels is all the more impressive given the rebuild he has undertaken since selling Declan Rice to Arsenal.
‘I think when you sell England’s best player at the moment and you’re still challenging... we’ve tried to pull another team together, we’ve made some signings, now at this time of the season we’ve got 30 points,’ he added.
‘It’s a brilliant number of points for us at West Ham because we’re not going to be a club rattling right at the top — we’ll try to, but until we keep growing and improving a bit every year that’s all we can do.’
There was plenty to admire about the intensity of West Ham’s play during the opening exchanges — but all without an attacking threat.
That was more than could be said for United, who were devoid of both traits for the opening half hour. Their tempo was slow, their patterns easy to read. It took 33 minutes for United to conjure their first effort on goal, Antony’s tame curling shot from distance easily held by Alphonse Areola.
In fairness to Ten Hag’s team, they improved during the closing stages of the first half.
Garnacho squandered their best chance of the game with just Areola to beat before the Hammers goalkeeper nearly gifted Kobbie Mainoo his first senior goal just before the break.
The half’s end raised at least a degree of positivity for Ten Hag — but no more than that.
Kurt Zouma denied Garnacho a
certain goal with a last-ditch block from Luke Shaw’s menacing cross to the back post in the 70th minute.
Inevitably, Lucas Paqueta was at the heart of West Ham’s opening goal. His delicately executed scooped ball into Bowen’s path had United’s defence flummoxed.
Bowen’s initial effort was saved by Andre Onana only for the rebound to cannon back off the West Ham forward and into the net for the England international’s 13th of the season.
Not that anyone in claret and blue cared about the manner of the goal. Moyes was frenzied in euphoria. Ten Hag, hands in pockets, stood there stunned. It’s an image that has defined United’s season. No answers. Again.
The Hammers’ second arrived 12 minutes from time. It was unjust Mainoo suffered the embarrassment of being the fall guy.
His mistake that led to Kudus’ goal was sloppy, but United’s problems run far deeper than a error from an 18-year-old who had once more acquitted himself excellently. But as soon as Mainoo let Jonny Evans’ pass roll under his foot, United were done for.
Of course, it was Paqueta who played the killer pass. Kudus’ finish was unerringly convincing, leaving Evans for dead before firing back across Onana.
The cameras panned to Mainoo, who cut a disconsolate figure. But this latest aberration is not on him. He is United’s future.
United are not lurching from crisis to crisis because of a kid.
That is on the senior players. That is on Ten Hag.