Premier League – Another Away Defeat, This Time in Nottingham

Manchester United traveled to the East Midlands of England earlier today for a Premier League match against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. United were looking to continue their winning momentum having beaten Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, while Forest were also looking to continue their winning form under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo. For a team like Forest in a relegation battle, every point they can scrape matters. The points mattered for United and manager Erik ten Hag as well, but for the visitors it was more about putting in a competent performance and playing with the consistency that has eluded them this season.

The atmosphere inside the City Ground was electric and high energy from the start, although the play on the pitch in the first half from both sides was decidedly dull. Forest were probably slightly better on the balance of things, mainly because United were absolutely anemic in attack. They put together some decent moves towards the end of the half, but the shots on goal were few and far between. Forest failed to score as well, but they looked much more cohesive when in possession. For the umpteenth time this season, United looked clueless in attack. A key substitution was made at halftime by ETH, with defensive midfielder Kobbie Mainoo being replaced by fellow midfielder Scott McTominay. More on this substitution below.

The second half was much more high-energy and uptempo from both sides. Forest grew into the game considerably well, likely buoyed by their home support. The opening goal came from midfielder Nicolas Dominguez, who slotted home past United keeper Andre Onana on the hour mark. Hard to say Forest didn’t deserve it, but the defending from United was very poor. As a defensive midfielder, McTominay was responsible for defending the edge of the box. For whatever reason though, he wasn’t there and Dominguez was given an opening from which to shoot. Onana maybe could have done better with his positioning, but McTominay has to be in position to make a clearance in situations like this one.

I was resigned to another away defeat for United given their lack of urgency going forward, but the Red Devils responded a bit (finally) after going down 1-0. Left back Diogo Dalot struck the post after a good move, and United got an equalizer on 78 minutes thanks to some good pressing from winger Alejandro Garnacho and a bad mistake by Forest keeper Matt Turner. Turner had been having issues playing the ball out from the back for most of the half, and Garnacho jumped on one of his many unconvincing passes. He won the ball about 20 yards out from goal, after which he found winger/forward Marcus Rashford to his left. The Forest defense was scrambling to get back, and Rashford was able to curve a shot along the ground past Turner for 1-1. The goal came about more because of the mistake from Turner than anything else, but of course it counted all the same. I would have been more than pleased with a 1-1 given how the match had gone, as well. Well done to Rashford for finishing clinically despite not being in good scoring form this season.

Unfortunately, United’s defense was undone again just four minutes later by attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. United were pushing for a winner, but were caught out on a swift counter-attack organized by winger (and former United player) Anthony Elanga. Elanga brought the ball forward before centering it along the ground for Gibbs-White, who curled a spectacular shot around center-back Jonny Evans that crept inside Onana’s left-hand post. Again, a fine move and finish from Forest, but where was the marking from United? Evans and fellow center back Raphael Varane weren’t communicating properly, and McTominay was again nowhere to be found when he was supposed to be covering the edge of the box. Gibbs-White is a talented player, and he was given far too much room to shoot. 2-1 to Forest.

United pushed again for another equalizer and were aided by a staggering 10 minutes of stoppage time, but the best they could muster was a deflected effort from midfielder Bruno Fernandes that was saved by Turner. A few more routine saves from the American keeper helped Forest out the rest of the match, and the Garibaldi Reds 2-1 winners on the day. It was their first ever victory over United at the City Ground, and it was a crucial three points towards their survival at the end of the season. All credit to Forest and Nuno, but United were bad yet again.

Frustratingly, there was again a lack of urgency and desire from the players until they were already down 1-0. I don’t know why they don’t start trying until they’re already losing. Another big factor was ETH’s initial tactics and substitutions. He insists on playing Garnacho on the left wing, with opposite winger Antony dos Santos occupying the right wing. This is a good idea if both are encouraged to cut inside and get shots away from distance, but teams have figured out that tactic and they know how to prevent it. Antony in particular was poor today. It’s not a coincidence that United improved when he was taken off and replaced by fellow winger Amad Diallo. Antony has scored just one goal in 33 matches in 2023, and he has not justified his £85 million price tag. I don’t know why ETH simply doesn’t swap Garnacho and Antony so they can ping crosses in with their preferred foot. The “cutting inside to shoot” tactic isn’t working and hasn’t worked, so why not try something different?

Further, taking off Mainoo for McTominay was utterly baffling from ETH. Mainoo has been one of our better midfielders since breaking into the first team earlier this season, and he was doing fairly well at helping to control the midfield. So why was he taken off? There was no injury or yellow card situation for him, but ETH still elected to take him off at halftime anyway. As has been discussed before on this blog, McTominay is not a defensive midfielder. He is simply not good at it and is much more suited to attacking than the defending. It could be argued that McTominay was at fault for both Forest goals due to being out of position both times. United may still have lost anyway, but I think Mainoo would have done much better at helping the defense than McTominay did.

This is the first match where I’ve really questioned what ETH is trying to do. He needs to stop trying to make the inverted winger tactic work, and he really needs to ensure that McTominay is not playing as a defensive midfielder. Is it stubbornness from the Dutchman? Lack of options? I know the injuries have been bad this season, but I think United could have nicked a draw today had Mainoo been on the pitch longer. ETH really needs to re-evaluate his tactics, and the team selection needs further scrutiny as well. Put Antony on the left, Garnacho on the right, and stick a center forward between the two of them with Bruno in behind. Let’s get a lot more players into the box and have the wingers play crosses in to them. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, there needs to be a lot more desire and drive from a good portion of this United team.

United remain 7th in the Premier League table, but could fall as far as 9th once Brighton and Newcastle play their games in hand tomorrow. Next up, it’s a short trip to Wigan, England for a match in the FA Cup with Wigan Athletic. The FA Cup is our last chance at a trophy this season, and ETH really needs a victory there to restore some of the supporters’ faith in him. If they lose to a lower league side in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, the seat underneath ETH will become very hot indeed.

Glazers Out!

“Lads, it’s Tottenham…”

The above quote was first uttered about 20-25 years ago by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and it was directed at his squad during a pre-game speech. United legend Roy Keane often tells the story of how the above quote was all Ferguson needed to say to let the players know what he expected them to do against Tottenham Hotspur. Yes they are/were well-organized and have lots of neat and tidy passing, but in the end the Red Devils knew they could go and get a result.

Tottenham hasn’t changed much over the past two decades either, which is why the above quote is so often repeated in online forums and on social media even today. They are a talented side no doubt, but their current tactical system under manager Nuno Espirito Santo leaves a lot to be desired. Players such as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are not being utilized to their maximum potential, and Spurs appear to be a side unwilling to take major risks with the ball.

Of course, both United and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were under massive pressure today to deliver a positive result of their own, coming off the embarrassing home defeat to Liverpool last weekend. If OGS did not win today, he knew he likely would be sacked in the morning. Given this situation, OGS decided to switch up the team and tactics a bit. A tactical shake-up was indeed needed, with the normal 4-2-3-1 being scrapped in favor of the fairly-unused 3-4-3/5-2-3. United were happy to have center-back Raphael Varane back from injury, and he was the main central defender today in the back 3.

As soon as the match kicked off at Tottenham’s shiny new stadium, it was clear United were content to sit back and let Tottenham have the ball. I was immediately apprehensive about this strategy, because it’s the exact reason we lost to Liverpool and Leicester City before that. When we aren’t aggressive on the ball, talented teams have the ability to play it around us and create chances.

In the opening 30 minutes or so the match was very defensive though and it looked like Tottenham were struggling to break us down when in possession. Outside of the occasional set-piece, they were really struggling to create good chances. They had a goal correctly ruled out for offside, and before that Son should have done better from close range after the ball was worked around from a cleared free kick. United hadn’t really looked great going forward either, but the defense appeared to be much-improved from last week. Varane, plus the midfield duo of Fred and Scott McTominay in the 3-4-3, really helped with that.

Fred stung the palms of Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris from long range on 32 minutes, and at that point you could sense United growing into the game from an attacking perspective. The opener came on 38 minutes via a pass over the top from Bruno Fernandes in midfield, who found the run of Cristiano Ronaldo towards the right hand post of the goal. Ronaldo sublimely hit the ball on a one-touch volley back across Lloris low and with power, and the technique he used to hit it was simply stunning. For any other player its a career highlight, but for Ronaldo its just another amazingly athletic goal on a laundry list of many. Despite things looking a little tentative at times, United had the lead. Great vision and pass from Bruno, and a world-class finish from Ronaldo. United went into halftime 1-0 ahead and feeling much better than they did this time last week.

United continued to grow into the game as the second half got underway, and Ronaldo thought he had his 2nd on the day after a fine run and finish into the top corner. The linesman raised his flag though and the goal was ruled out for offside. It probably was the correct decision, but it was a shame to take such a strong finish off the books. The warning signs were there for Tottenham though – their back line had all kinds of problems tracking our runners in behind them. The movement of Ronaldo and fellow striker Edinson Cavani wreaked havoc on their marking.

And it was Bruno, Ronaldo, and Cavani that all combined for United’s second goal on 63 minutes. Bruno won the ball high up the pitch and played it into the path of Ronaldo. Ronaldo positioned himself like he was going to run at his defender, but instead he cut it back inside and played a smart pass onto a lurking Cavani to his left. Cavani took a touch on the ball to get it around the on-rushing Lloris, and he then chipped it over the Tottenham keeper for 2-0. A great pass and finish, but it was all started by Bruno knowing when to press and effectively doing it. Given Tottenham’s lack of creativity, the match was now very much in United’s hands.

A few minutes later, Marcus Rashford was subbed on for Ronaldo so that he could begin his recovery and prepare for the Champions League match in midweek. United’s defense took over again at that point, and it became clear that Tottenham would not be scoring in this match. Attack after attack was cleared by the United back line, and Tottenham were shooting themselves in the foot a bit with poor finishing and even-poorer decision making. Cavani gave the ball away badly to Kane at one point, but Kane waffled on the ball and was unsure if to pass it or shoot it. The United defense capitalized on his indecision and cleared the ball quickly. It’s obvious that Kane is mentally a bit off right now, because on most days he makes the opposition pay in a situation like that.

United got a 3rd via Rashford next, and it was a fairly similar goal to the second one. United had the ball in midfield and fellow substitute Nemanja Matic played a ball through the Tottenham backline and on to the run of Rashford. The Spurs defenders couldn’t cope with the movement of Ronaldo and Cavani all day, so they had no chance at catching Rashford when he was fresh off the bench. Rashford pushed the ball straight at the left side of the goal before opening up his body and slotting it home past Lloris at the far post. A good pass and finish, but the Tottenham defense was fairly poor. Still, take nothing away from Rashford. Since his return from injury, he has scored 3 goals in 3 matches. After that it was job done and points sealed. United also managed to secure their first clean sheet in quite awhile, so credit to David De Gea for that achievement on what was a fairly lowkey day for him.

The biggest takeaway from today is that for the first time in several matches it looked like United had a cohesive plan and a clear vision of how they wanted to play this game. We sat back and let them have the ball, and when they couldn’t break us down we punished them with a quick counter-attack or by winning the ball off them high up the pitch. Against Liverpool it looked like we had no idea how to press, but against Tottenham we look like the best pressing team in the Premier League. Credit to OGS and his staff for getting the tactics right, while also making the correct substitutions.

It must be said that Tottenham were very poor today. They are certainly not playing to the level they are capable of, and Nuno will now begin to feel his own managerial seat warming up as well. They look like they don’t know how to score goals, and their back line was undone today by two forwards who are 36 and 34 years old respectively. They have some of their own soul-searching to do if they want to have some success this season. The transfer saga of Kane needs to be put to rest, for a start. Is he staying? Is he not? All that conjecture and speculation about a team’s best player can be a huge distraction for other players.

Three goals and a clean sheet in a Premier League match is always worth a celebration, but OGS’s job is still far from secure. The next two matches will likely decide his tenure – away to Atalanta in the Champions League in midweek and then the Manchester Derby next weekend. If we win both of those, I think OGS stays for the season. If we lose them both or put in some otherwise-lackluster performances, I think OGS will be on his way out. The rumor mill this past week has had a ton of managers linked to us, and it seems like Antonio Conte and Brendan Rodgers are the frontrunners. I’d much prefer Conte if that is indeed the scenario, but only time will tell what happens.

United now sit 5th in the Premier League, 8 points behind league leaders Chelsea. Man of the Match today is Bruno, but you could also argue for Ronaldo or Varane. Glory glory Man United!

United Get an Ugly Win Away at Molineux

The Red Devils travelled to the West Midlands of England today to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) in the Premier League. Wolves have traditionally given United a lot of problems in the past few seasons. They are big, physical team with just enough flair and pace to get out quickly on the counter-attack. Interestingly. this match was a bit of a Portuguese derby in the sense that Portuguese-speaking players were well represented in both lineups today. Bruno Fernandes, Fred, and substitute Diogo Dalot made up United’s contingent, while Wolves are primarily made up of internationals from Portugal and Brazil. This is somewhat of an oddity for a Premier League team these days but its down to the influence of previous Wolves’ manager Nuno Espirito Santo and current manager Bruno Lage, both of whom hail from the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. To cap it all off, the shadow of the greatest ever Portuguese player loomed large over this match too. Even though he didn’t play and was not in attendance, Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence was still felt at the match. Some United supporters even brought a cardboard cut-out of Ronaldo to ensure he was at least there in spirit if not physically. Ronaldo is currently in Portugal and is expected to join up with the club after the upcoming international break, having signed earlier this week from Juventus.

Despite all the good news surrounding the Ronaldo transfer, this match was rather poor from a United standpoint. They started out in a 4-3-3 formation, which is a departure from the now-standard 4-2-3-1 that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer usually deploys. Fred was tasked with playing that lynchpin defensive midfield position that is crucial for ball distribution to the forwards. I liked that OGS wanted to go more attack-minded today, but it was a big risk playing Fred in that position. I have to wonder if it was a necessary change made due to the injury to Scott McTominay, who would normally play alongside Fred in defensive midfield. Together they usually do a good job of maintaining possession and starting attacks, but Fred is not a natural defensive midfielder and I question whether or not he has the size and physicality to play there on his own.

Still, United should be winning this match handily on paper. Today was the debut for center back Raphael Varane and winger Jadon Sancho got his first full Premier League start as well. I was watching those two players closely today to see just what kind of players the club had spent all that money on.

For most of this match however and certainly most of the first half, Wolves were the better team. Our tactics were simply wrong from the start. The objective was to sacrifice a little bit of defensive stability for more attacking prowess, but we couldn’t create and were exposed at the back several times. Wolves’s 3-4-3 was proving to be challenging to break down through the middle going forward, and we couldn’t keep possession on the wings. Additionally, as I suspected, Fred simply cannot play as a DM by himself. He was targeted by Wolves every time he was on the ball, and he couldn’t win the ball to save his life. He was being tormented the whole match by the pacey and powerful Wolves winger Adama Traoré in particular. Opposite winger Francisco Trincão was also causing a ton of problems for the United midfield with his dribbling and passing into dangerous areas. Wolves weren’t doing anything super complex – they were just hounding us when off the ball and playing it forward rapidly when they won possession. Ruben Neves was in particularly fine form, and he showed why he was a target for United this summer. He is a very good defensive midfielder and seemed to be everywhere at times. Wolves forced a save from David De Gea just three minutes in via a counter-attack, and then Aaron Wan-Bissaka was forced into a goal-line clearance a few minutes later. Both chances were very good and both were the direct result of mistakes made by Fred. Wolves were tormenting us, truthfully.

Due to Fred being tormented whenever he was on the ball, Paul Pogba was quickly moved down into a more defensive position. This meant that he was less able to ping the ball towards the forward players, and we continued to struggle to create any real chances of note in the first 45. Wolves midfielder João Moutinho had a shot go over the bar, and Bruno later had a goal called back for offside after being clean through on goal. United’s best chance came just before halftime when Mason Greenwood fired wide of the far post from a tight angle on the left side of the box. He was close, but it’s always tough to score from that angle and the half ended 0-0. The score line was somewhat relieving for United fans though, as Wolves were definitely the better team and probably should have been up at least 1-0. They have had trouble with finishing so far this season though and those problems were continuing today. They were doing everything right – pressing, tackling, and passing. It was all good, apart from putting the ball in the net. Of course, that’s the most important part of the whole process. United needed a change of shape or personnel desperately though because Plan A was decidedly not working. United hadn’t held a clean sheet so far this season and I was concerned we were going to let one in.

OGS didn’t make any changes at halftime though and things carried on much the same for the opening part of the second half. United maybe had a little bit more possession, but Wolves were still defensively resolute and very happy to hit us on the counter or to run at the goal having won the ball in a dangerous area. Given that things still weren’t going well, you had to wonder when OGS would make some changes to try and win this match. Despite all the domination from Wolves, they still hadn’t scored and United only needed one good chance to maybe snatch a win. I was happy to see Edinson Cavani come on at 52 minutes for the ineffective Daniel James. A big criticism of OGS last year was his tendency to wait too long to make changes when things weren’t going according to plan. I didn’t know if Cavani would actually help us or not (and ultimately he really didn’t do much), but at least we tried something different instead of banging our heads against the wall repeatedly and hoping that it works.

Wolves weren’t done though, as De Gea was called into action on 66 minutes when they won a corner. Moutinho swung the ball in and gigantic center back Romain Saïss outmuscled his marker Varane to get good contact with his head. The ball was headed downwards with pace, but at straight at Big Brave Spanish Dave who made a reflexive point-blank save off the header. Due to the power on the header though there was a rebound off De Gea straight back to Saïss, who tried to hit it with his right foot into the bottom corner from 2-3 yards out. Despite still being at point blank range, De Gea stuck his left arm out and made another ludicrous save on that shot too. This time though the ball bounced away and United eventually cleared. Everyone in the stadium – Saïss included – had no idea how the ball didn’t go in. A double-save like that is as good as a goal, and you felt afterwards that Wolves would be made to pay for their wastefulness. All credit to De Gea for finding some of his old form to start this season.

Neves had a long range shot saved by De Gea again after that, but the breakthrough finally came on 80 minutes via the teenager Greenwood, and it was not without controversy. The ball was played from the Wolves box out towards Pogba, who took a very heavy touch and lost the ball to Neves. Pogba attempted to tackle Neves but missed the ball and most of Neves in the process. The ball was not fully cleared and though and it fell to Varane who was covering behind Pogba. Varane spotted Greenwood in the right channel and played the ball to him along the ground. Greenwood took a few touches before being met by a Wolves defender, but he cleverly played the ball towards the end line and got a shot off at a tight angle. Wolves keeper Jose Sa should have done much better with his save, as he only got one hand to it as the ball went down and away to his right. He got a piece of it, but the ball bounced almost under him and into the net for 1-0. Neves and all of Molineux were belly-aching for a foul committed by Pogba in the build-up to the goal, but replays showed the Neves basically took a dive after minimal contact on his foot by Pogba. He even looked at referee Mike Dean, who was stood right next to him, before falling down. Theatrics all the way and it was never a foul. Dean even booked a Wolves player for dissent afterwards and it was hysterical.

The goal was the result of poor keeping to be sure, but take nothing away from Greenwood for the dribble and powerful-yet-precise shot. He is still only 19, but he is scoring goals at the rate of a striker in his prime. He is small, but that makes him slippery due to a lower center of gravity, and it’s hard for a defender to use angles to cut him off due to his quickness. He can generate a lot of power in a very small amount of space, and his shooting accuracy might be the best at the club. The sky is the limit for this young man and he is now our joint-level goal scorer this season. 3 goals in 3 games for Greenwood. What a player! Why England manager Gareth Southgate isn’t calling him up, I have no idea.

United then spent the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time playing keep-away to the best of their abilities. There was no need to risk the 3 points pushing men forward, so we played it amongst ourselves and invited Wolves to try and take it off of us. We won several fouls and took our time on free kicks as well. Wolves maybe had a corner at one point but it came to nothing. The final whistle went and United snatched a victory that our play frankly didn’t merit.

But still, the mark of a champion is the ability to win even when not playing well. There were countless matches in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson were United were absolutely shocking, yet due to tenacity and determination they eventually found a way to win. This match felt very similar to those ones. But this mentality is what you need to win the Premier League – just sheer determination and doggedness. Escaping Molineux with a win will lift the team spirit and have them feeling good going into the international break.

I think De Gea probably gets Man of the Match today for the double-save, but a surprising runner-up for me is Varane. He barely put a foot wrong today, and also managed to grab an assist for himself. His pace is incredible and his instincts are usually right, and he did well to snuff out some half-decent chances for Wolves at several points throughout the game. He did get outmuscled by Saïss on a header during his big chance, but he was bailed out by De Gea. Overall a very good debut. I wish I could say the same for Sancho, though. He was largely anonymous all match and didn’t seem to be too involved overall. I’ll cut him some slack due to it being his first start, but he needs to get on the ball a lot more in future matches. I’m sure he will improve.

Speaking of future matches, United are now off until the 11th of September due to the international break. Most countries are playing World Cup qualifiers, assuming they aren’t cancelled or postponed due to COVID. It is unclear if Ronaldo will play against Newcastle on that day, but that would be the most likely scenario. Give him a debut at Old Trafford, let him come off the bench for an ovation, etc. As for United the club are now level second in the table with West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Everton. Surprisingly, it is only Tottenham Hotspur who have a 100% record still, and they have a two point lead at the top. Even more surprisingly, Arsenal are at rock-bottom of the table in 20th, having lost all 3 of their matches so far and having scored no goals. What is going on at Arsenal? There is no managerial seat in the Prem hotter than the one under Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

But England return to play next, with three World Cup qualifiers scheduled away to Hungary, at home to Andorra, and then away to Poland. It’ll be the first time everyone plays together after the loss in the Euro 2020(1) final, so it’ll be good to see them back. Maybe we can take our frustrations out on Andorra at Wembley. The matches away to Hungary and away to Poland are not guaranteed wins though. England will need to be sharp in order to stay on track for qualification for 2022. They are top of the group currently, so a few more victories will really go a long way to ensuring that England will be there.

Premier League Final Day Round-Up, Plus a Preview of the Europa League Final

Going into the final matchday of the season, most of the important questions about how the league would finish up had already been answered. It was clear that Manchester City would be champions, and that Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and Sheffield United were all to be relegated. Really the only question of any importance that hadn’t been answered was who would take the final two top-4 spots. City and Manchester United had already clinched 1st and 2nd respectively, but Chelsea, Liverpool, and Leicester City were all fighting for the final two Champions League places and all the riches that come with finishing in those two spots.

Liverpool beat Crystal Palace, Chelsea lost to Aston Villa, and Leicester lost to Tottenham despite being two goals ahead at one point. As a result, Liverpool finished 3rd, Chelsea finished 4th, and Leicester were left on the outside looking in. They, along with West Ham, will play in the Europa League next season. Great season for West Ham considering they weren’t really expected to finish so high, but a disappointment for Leicester finishing 5th when they had been in the top-4 for most of the season. They still have the FA Cup to hang their hats on, but to not qualify for the CL is a let down for that club. Arsenal and Everton miss out on European competition all together, which is also a disappointment for clubs of that size.

United took on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineaux in the final match day of the season. Neither side had much to play for, and it showed by the team selection from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Wolves were perhaps a little bit more keen to win though, given that it was the last match of their beloved manager Nuno Espirito Santo. All of United’s regular starters sat out today in anticipation of the Europa League final on Wednesday, but I was indeed impressed with several of our youth players, including but not limited to Anthony Elanga, Amad Diallo, and substitute Hannibal Mejbri. They are young guys but they did very well today against an almost full-strength Wolves side. Elanga opened the scoring (and his United goal scoring account) after a peach of a cross from Daniel James on the left hand side. We conceded an equalizer to Woves via a Nelson Semedo finish from close range, but Juan Mata then converted a penalty after Donny Van de Beek was tripped in the penalty area by a Wolves defender. Some good defensive work from Axel Tuanzebe and Eric Bailly ensured that Wolves did not get another goal. Seeing so many academy products on the pitch today was awesome and the fact that they managed to win is a great sign for the future of the club. OGS understands the importance of this club’s academy and integrating players from there into the first team, as evidenced by the fact that he has given more first team debuts to youth products than any United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

Today was likely the last match in the United red for Mata, who looks to be either headed into retirement or possibly back to his native Spain for one last season. He is an absolutely class player, and he is equally class off the pitch as well. His skills have diminished due to age, but he is an excellent team leader and his presence in the locker room was key for many of the younger players and new signings. You always need players who are good for the locker room, even if their skills are perhaps just not quite good enough for the pace and intensity of the Premier League. I hope he gets a testimonial match in his honor, but if he doesn’t he can retire knowing he is a Premier League winner, Champions League winner, and Euros winner with Spain. There’s a possible club ambassadorship in the offing for him as well. Thank you for your services, Juan Mata!

Overall, 74 points and second place is a big improvement on last season. I am content with it, but not fully satisfied. We need some reinforcements in the summer, but this is the closest we have been to the Premier League title since the departure of Ferguson. A legitimate title challenge next season is the next step for this club.

Only one match left to play now – the Europa League final against Spanish side Villarreal next Wednesday in Gdansk, Poland. I do like United’s chances, but a big worry will be the absence of center back and captain Harry Maguire. OGS said in earlier in the week that Maguire is very unlikely to play, which means that the normal pairing of Victor Lindelof and Maguire will need to be changed. It is either Tuanzebe or Bailly that will fill in for Maguire, and it’s unclear at this time who OGS will select. Both had good games today, and there are pros and cons to selecting either of them. Bailly is more athletic and experienced, but Tuanzebe tends to show up in big games and is very good mentally in terms of concentration and awareness. I could see it going either way, but if it’s me I pick Bailly. He is a former Villarreal player so he probably knows some of the players there still, and he has experience playing against the passing tactics of Spanish sides. He just really needs to concentrate and listen to what Lindelof tells him to do. He must be disciplined and likely cannot go off doing his own thing, which he sometimes tends to do.

Villarreal are managed by the Frenchman Unai Emery, and he is indeed very good at setting up his team(s) tactically when playing against United. He is a former Arsenal manager, and he has previously given United fits when the two squared off in the Premier League in seasons past. Villarreal does not have the star players we have, but never underestimate the ability of an Emery-coached side to play better than the sum of their parts. When you can’t match the individual skill level of the opposition, playing coherently as a team and sticking to your tactics is the best way to still get a result.

I think United are going to need to score, and score multiple goals, in order to win this match. Our defense looks shaky without Maguire, so I am not super optimistic on our chances of keeping a clean sheet. Players like Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, and Edinson Cavani will need to be in good form to break down any stubborn defending from Villarreal. I think Bruno in particular will have a good game. He is hungry for trophies and now that silverware is on the line, I think he is going to take his all-world form to an even higher level. Players like Pogba and Rashford have already helped us win the Europa League once back in 2017, so I expect them to have big games as well.

Next weekend is also the Champions League final featuring Man City and Chelsea, which I anticipate doing a preview/review for as well. It is Europe’s version of the Super Bowl, after all.

Glory glory Man United!

Victory, But At What Cost?

Manchester United took on Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) in a FA Cup 3rd Round replay fixture at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening. The FA Cup is the oldest competition in club football and is normally a single elimination tournament, but in the event of a draw, a “replay” at the other team’s stadium is required. I personally think the replay rule is outdated since it congests the fixture list for both teams and the risk of injury is greater when clubs have to play a lot of matches in a short amount of time. More on injuries later.

I’d like to see the Football Association modify the rules on replays. If you need a winner in a tournament match, just do extra time and then a penalty shootout as is normally done. No need to drag it out for another week. They’ve already scrapped replays after the semifinals anyway, so why not scrap them altogether?

Well, the benefit of replays is largely a financial one, not only for the FA but for the clubs themselves. Now, one extra match is largely not going to affect a club with financial resources like United or Wolves, but for the smaller clubs a trip to Old Trafford, Anfield, or the Etihad can be quite the financial windfall. Any move to eliminate replays would likely be seen as just another tactic deny funds to the smaller clubs.

Solution: let the managers of each team decide how to resolve the fixture if the scores are level at the end of the 90 minutes. For example, under my rule Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Nuno Espiritu Santo (managers of United and Wolves, respectively) would have gotten together on the touchline at the end of the first match to discuss the two options of a replay or doing the 30 minutes of extra time and then a shootout. If the managers cannot agree on what is to be done, a replay is held. But, if both managers confirm with the referee they want extra time, then that is what should happen. This solution probably will never be enacted as it makes far too much sense, but it’s the best “middle of the road” solution to resolving the problem.

Neither us or Wolves really wanted this replay, as both clubs are going through a heavily congested period of fixtures. United had several injured players coming into the game to make matters worse, and Wolves have been playing intense and draining matches since July. Had OGS and Nuno been given the option, I think both would have elected to finish things last week after a tepid 90 minutes at Molineaux.

While this match was definitely more entertaining than the last one in terms of chances created, both teams were wasteful in front of goal. About midway through the first half a calamitous error by the United defense saw Pedro Neto through on goal, and he tucked the ball away nicely past keeper Sergio Romero. VAR got involved though to check for a possible foul on Harry Maguire in the buildup, but interesting the VAR official ruled there was a handball. As a United supporter I was happy to see the goal disallowed, but from a neutral perspective it was a close call. The ball did incidentally bounce off the arm of a Wolves player as he was winning the ball off Maguire, but under the new handball rule the decision was correct. Many people (including myself) still think there needs to be an element of intent when it comes to a handball violation, but I won’t argue too hard for that right now 😉

A few more chances were created by both sides as the half went on, but they usually resulted in shots that were easily saved or nowhere near the opposition’s goal. I feared another draining 30 minutes and a shootout were in the cards. OGS brought on Marcus Rashford as a sub for the ineffective Mason Greenwood around the hour mark in the search for a goal. It later proved to be the most consequential decision of the day.

United did get the goal that would eventually be the winner in the 67th minute, after some lovely work by Anthony Martial near the halfway line with some involvement from Rashford as well. Wolves were caught with their back line too far forward, and Juan Mata wisely ran in behind them as Martial was dancing on the ball to create space. His weighted pass found Mata’s run as he streaked towards the box, and Mata showed great composure in front of goal to deftly chip it over the onrushing Wolves keeper. VAR checked for offside, but Mata was half a yard behind the last defender when the ball was played.

Shortly after the goal, Rashford collided with a Wolves player and went down in a heap. At first it looked like he got hit in the calf, but after the match it was reported he had a back injury. Rashford was down for several minutes and needed a substitution, but unfortunately his replacement (Jesse Lingard) was not warmed up and ready to come on. Rashford was forced to just walk around on the pitch until he was ready, and then to exacerbate matters Wolves were on the ball for about 2 minutes of game play and United couldn’t get the ball out for a substitution.

Seeing Rashford in pain like that was and still is very worrisome. He’s our top goalscorer on the season and probably the best attacking threat we have in terms of consistency. While it is still not known to what extent he is injured, he seems doubtful for the showdown with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. He had only come on about 10 minutes before as well. Now Rashford’s a young guy and doesn’t have much injury history so hopefully he’s able to recover quickly, but this is why I’d like to see replays scrapped. Too many injuries. Rashford is not the first and he will not be the last. It’s true that OGS took a risk he did not necessarily have to take by bringing Rashford on, but United needed a spark so I can understand why he did it.

Next match is away at Anfield, which I am not really looking forward to. Liverpool are in sensational form and haven’t dropped any points in the Premier League since the last time they played us, and without Rashford I am less than optimistic about a positive result. I would gladly take a 0-0 or 1-1 draw. I do hope we can at least delay the title celebrations for the Scousers by another week come April/May.

United Suffer Disappointing Draw Versus Wolves; Racism Rears Its Ugly Head Again

Manchester United traveled to the Midlands to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) at Molineaux last Monday night. Wolves were a very difficult team for United last season, having lost to them both in the FA Cup and in the Premier League. Wolves’ Portuguese manager Nuno has the team well-drilled and they have talented attacking players. Fun fact: Wolves have the most Portuguese players out of any team in the Prem!

Meanwhile, the Red Devils looked to exact a bit of revenge for last season and continue their amazing start to the season after the victory over Chelsea in the opening match. In these early games you want to establish momentum and set the tone for the rest of the season. As the old adage goes: you can’t win the title in the first 10 matches of the season, but you can certainly lose it.

For the duration of the first half, it was all United. Although the opening 20 minutes or so were slow, United created the better chances and dominated most of the possession. They were rewarded for their dominance when Anthony Martial capped off a lovely move down the United left side with a stunner into the roof of the net from a tight angle. The buildup to the goal was phenomenal to watch, with Jesse Lingard, Luke Shaw, and Marcus Rashford all getting touches before Martial slammed it home. Congrats to Martial on scoring his 50th goal for United! He looks really at home in the center-forward position, having been shoved out to the left last season to accommodate Romelu Lukaku. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shown a lot of faith in Martial by giving him the No. 9 shirt back, and so far Martial has rewarded him. I want to see how Martial does when things get tougher down the road and the goals aren’t flowing as freely. He has a tendency to get down on his confidence which negatively affects his game. When his head is up though, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Martial almost got a second one thanks to a lazy pass from a Wolves defender just before half time, but he was knocked off the ball at the last second and the chance was gone. It was a controlled first half for United, but I was concerned that we would need another one to really solidify the odds of victory. It’s very difficult to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League due to the level of talent up and down the table, and even more difficult to do away from home. A cauldron like Molineaux is certainly no exception to that.

Wolves didn’t really get anything going until the 60th minute or so, and their ascendancy was aided by Spanish winger Adama Traore coming on. He tormented United down the right side and created some of Wolves’ best chances, including the cross that fell to Portuguese striker Ruben Neves at the top of the penalty box. He took a touch and United’s defenders were slow to close him down, and he struck an absolute belter past the outstretched arm of David De Gea for Wolves’ equalizer.

I can’t really be too mad about the goal itself. It was a wonderful goal from a good striker. The defense could have closed him down quicker, but you can’t take too much away from Neves. Fortunately, United still had plenty of time to find a winner.

They almost did a few minutes later when French midfield superstar Paul Pogba was fouled in the box by a Wolves center-back. It was stonewall penalty and could not have been any clearer. Pogba decided to take the penalty he had earned himself, and while his strike was powerful it was too close to Portuguese keeper Rui Patricio who saved down to his right. Pogba pulled his shirt over his head in shame and Wolves players celebrated.

A lot of people have focused on their criticisms on the penalty miss, and I have to admit I was confused by Pogba taking it as well. For those who don’t know, each time has their own methods for deciding who takes penalties when they are awarded. I am just honestly unclear as to what United’s particular procedure is. For example, the German national team has a rule that whoever wins the penalty does not take the penalty. I don’t know why they do it that way, but it seems to usually work for them. Some teams have a designated penalty taker for each individual game, and still some other teams designate a player who takes penalties until he misses one. After that, the job goes to someone else. I was under the impression that Rashford was our current penalty taker, not Pogba. Rashford has been cold as ice from the spot recently, while Pogba has missed four of them in his United career. I personally think Rashford should have been on the ball for this one. If he was, maybe it’s a different result. More on Pogba below.

The penalty miss sucked, but what concerned me more though was our inability to create chances in the second half. We looked flat and Wolves were all over us. Frankly, we were lucky to not concede a second. I didn’t really see a clear opportunity for United again until well into stoppage time, when Shaw smashed a shot directly at Patricio. The match ended rather flatly, with both teams clearly tired.

A draw is better than a loss, but given how well United played for most the game (in particular by the defense) a draw is still disappointing. We played much better at Molineaux this time than we did last season, but still only came away with a point. I know Wolves will cause problems for a lot of good teams this year, but you walk away from this one feeling like points were left on the table today. Still, 4 points from Chelsea and Wolves is not a terrible start to the season. United are at home to Crystal Palace next Saturday morning America-time.

***

After the match was over, Pogba was the target of racist abuse by some asshole idiots on Twitter and other forms of social media. They were pissed at him because he missed the penalty and decided to show their lack of intelligence through racial slurs behind anonymous online accounts.

This needs to stop. Period. It’s the third time this week that black players have been targets of racial abuse, and it’s completely disgusting. You can be mad at a player for not playing well or missing a penalty or whatever, but there is never, ever, any reason to use racist language against them. It’s maddening and these cowardly bastards are mostly getting away with it.

Twitter needs to do more to control racist speech and abuse online. I understand in America that racist language by itself isn’t illegal, but in England and in other parts of Europe it decidedly is. I think it’s getting worse due to 1) more visibility and media coverage and 2) an increasingly polarized society where it is tragically becoming more acceptable to be racist.

Of course, even if Twitter does tighten things up with their #KickItOut campaign, it’s only a band-aid on the problem. We have to address the root cores of racism in society overall instead of just fixing the behavior of football fans. Ignorance is the enemy of progress.

Shout out to Harry Maguire, Rashford, Lingard, and the club itself for calling out these morons and standing with Pogba. It’s good to see the players standing up for one another and the club vocally supporting them as well. I hope Pogba keeps his head up and pays no attention to them. He gets more than his fair share of criticism as it is.

 

United Eliminated from the FA Cup

Wolverhampton Wanderers knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup quarterfinals away to Molineaux yesterday afternoon. This was United’s first time losing consecutive matches under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure and to be honest I am feeling quite deflated still, even 24 hours later. I have had some time to think about it though, and I think I am ready to move past it. You have to take emotion out of the equation if you want to do a fair analysis, which is why I didn’t post this yesterday!

United lost 2-1, with nothing really happening until the last 20 minutes of the match. The first half was mostly just United banging their head against a brick wall over and over again, expecting to somehow break it. They kept playing the ball through the middle and it didn’t work time and time again. The play from the forwards was poor especially. They were disjointed in attack all day, and they made it easy for the Wolves defense to break up passes and clear chances away. Wolves were very well-drilled defensively and their manager Nuno deserves credit for having them ready. They’re a very good team and have taken points off of every team in the “Big 6” this season.

United conceded a very sloppy goal in the 70th minute after failing to clear the ball from the box. The shot was bungled in from midfielder Raul Jimenez after it bounced around and fell to him from about 8 yards out. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero probably could have done better to save the shot, but the defenders shouldn’t have allowed the shot in the first place. United’s centre-backs were probably more culpable.

Wolves got a second goal off a counter attack with more sloppy defending from United. Again Romero could have done better to get down and save the shot on his near post to save the shot from midfielder Diogo Jota, but really the fault again lies with the defense. United had men forward to press for the equalizer, and Wolves caught us out. Victor Lindelof in particular had a shocking 5 minutes. A multi-goal deficit with 15 minutes left away from home is usually a bad situation.

Marcus Rashford did get a late consolation goal after a nice run and cross from Luke Shaw down the left channel, but it was the proverbial too little too late. Wolves fully deserved this win and United will have to lick their wounds on the trip back to Manchester. The loss to Arsenal sucked because we didn’t deserve to lose. This one sucks because we completely deserved to lose. The whole of the team needs to take their share of the blame.

I think the main thing OGS got wrong today was his team selection. We had several usual starters returning from injury, and it was clear that OGS wanted to give them a run-out. I think that was a mistake. The game looked much too fast for Ander Herrera, and the same for Jessie Lingard. Anthony Martial looked completely lost going forward for much of the game too. One player who had no excuse was Nemanja Matic, given that he hasn’t been injured. I don’t think he should have been starting today. His pace has dropped off significantly since last season and I think should be played against teams with slower midfielders. Today’s game against Wolves’ quick midfielders screamed out for players like Andreas Peireira and Scott McTominay, two youthful players with more pace and energy. Starting them over still-returning Herrera and slow Matic may have made a much bigger difference.

Another player who should have been on the pitch today was Romelu Lukaku. Rashford is good but looks tired and needs a rest, and Lingard needs to be slowly re-introduced to first team action in order to be most effective in the long run. The Wolves defense was bossing us physically, and Big Rom would have made it a lot more difficult on them. OGS missed this opportunity as well and elected instead to play his favorite XI. Hopefully he learns from this that sometimes you need to tailor your team to play the opposition, instead of just playing the way you want to. I’m sure he will, as he has a great coaching staff around him and he will adjust.

While the opportunity to win a trophy is now gone, we need to look at all aspects of this. Many of the more unintelligent comments I’ve read on the internet are already saying OGS should not get the job next season, but I think all of that is incredibly premature. He’s worked wonders so far, and no manager, not even Alex Ferguson, wins every game.

Some positives: for one, we are now heading into an international break, which means some of the players will get some well-deserved rest. Another aspect of this is now we get to narrow our focus on two tournaments: the Premier League and the Champions League. Having fewer matches is somewhat of a good thing for us, as our squad is relatively thin by the standards of other top European clubs.

One big silver lining from today was that Chelsea lost their game in-hand away to Everton at Goodison Park. Everton have now taken points off Liverpool and Chelsea in the past month, and if United are to finish in the top-4, Everton will be a big reason why. Had Chelsea won today, they would have moved ahead of United into 5th going into the fortnight-long international break. The race for the top 4 remains as tight as ever, and looks like this (all teams have played 30 games):

Tottenham – 61 points

Arsenal – 60 points

Manchester United – 58 points

Chelsea – 57 points

Four points. That’s it. A scant four points separates spots 3-6. I have never seen the top-4 race this close this late in the season. Only two teams of the four listed will finish in 3rd and 4th, and with 8 games to go there’s all to play for. United only 2 off Arsenal and 3 off Tottenham.

United also get to look forward to a two-legged tie with Catalan giants Barcelona CF in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The first match is at Old Trafford on April 10th and I personally am relishing the opportunity to take one of the best clubs (if not the best) in the world. A full preview will be coming in the days before the April 10th match-up.

The next blog post will be a transition to talking about England, as United do not play again until March 30th at home versus Watford. England however have qualifiers for Euro 2020 against Czech Repbulic and Montenegro, and will be looking to keep building on the good form they showed during the World Cup and Nations League.

Glory Glory Man United and Come On England!