Manchester United’s mini-revival has firmly come to an end, if there ever was one, in their 0-3 home loss to Tottenham where they played more than 45 minutes with ten men.
When the teamsheets dropped, the excitement was high since with the absence of a natural left-back, it was arguably United’s best XI on paper.
If only football matches were won on paper is the thought Erik ten Hag would be left with after they were taught a footballing lesson.
Spurs sliced through the team with almost every attack and the whole team looked like they were in a daze as the opposition buzzed around them.
It was hardly the ideal introduction to the Premier League for Manuel Ugarte, who got his first league start at United.
He will remember his debut league start for a long time but it won’t be for the right reasons…
Manuel Ugarte’s first league start
Starting next to Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes ahead of him, this was ideally the first-choice midfield setup Ten Hag would have envisioned.
Of course, the players haven’t gotten used to playing with each other so the growing pains will be there but so should be the starting signs of something building.
The earlier was all the fans got, as the fans were treated to a “deja vu” experience of the 2023/24 season when Micky Van de Ven ran through the whole midfield in the second minute to cross for Spurs’ equaliser.
Ugarte was a part of that system which failed completely and it didn’t get much better throughout the game.
Spurs pressed relentlessly, buoyed further when they had a one-man advantage, and that just made Ugarte’s job even more difficult.
Mainoo’s injury added to the troubles and by the time the full-time whistle blew, Ugarte had cycled through four midfield partners in the span of 90 minutes- Mainoo, Eriksen, Casemiro, Mount.
His first Premier League minutes came in the ideal scenario, up 3-0 at Southampton, his first league start was the polar opposite of it.
Man Utd fans react to Ugarte’s performance
It was widely expected that Casemiro was a big problem last season and Ugarte’s arrival was the most important one to address that gaping hole at the base of midfield.
Granted, he’s only had three starts in all competitions, but so far, the early signs are hardly promising.
After going at Casemiro the whole of last season, there needs to be a deeper analysis of the issue instead of just spending more to get more players.
United fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, made that same claim, saying that Ugarte didn’t cover himself in glory but this problem can no longer be attributed to one man.
“Constant criticism for Casemiro, for Amrabat last year, of Ugarte now. An imbalanced structure that demands so much of whoever plays that role sets these guys up for failure. How the tactics never change to add support is baffling,” said one user.
Another said: “Casemiro was an easy scapegoat when the structure around him is the main issue.”
“It’s all tactics. Or lack off. We could have Scholes, Busquets, and Modric in the middle and still get bypassed easily,” another commented.
A fourth agreed emphatically, making a loud claim: “Been saying it for ages. It’s not a personnel issue, it’s a tactics/system issue.”
Another fan made the same point with a touch of sass: “Ugarte isn’t solving the ‘Casemiro’ problem. Our midfield is still so easily bypassed. Imagine my absolute shock!”
Finally, a level-headed comment summed up the problem perfectly as tactical instead of personnel-based: “Tottenham exploiting Bruno’s positioning being close to Zirkzee. They’re packing the midfield behind him and giving Ugarte and Mainoo three and sometimes four players to deal with. Very difficult.”
“Very difficult” is exactly the predicament Erik ten Hag finds himself in because the chances of Ugarte getting a new manager are much higher than Ten Hag getting another defensive midfielder.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/QD1p9jC