Manchester United couldn’t get their campaign back on track as they lost at home to Liverpool 0-3 in a game that laid bare their weaknesses.
Arne Slot was managing only his third competitive Liverpool game but their side still looked much more well-oiled and organised.
Casemiro, of course, will grab the majority of headlines for an all-timer bad performance in front of the Old Trafford faithful.
However, he wasn’t on the pitch for United’s third conceded goal which laid bare the biggest problem at Manchester United right now.
Manchester United’s big problem
Casemiro misplaced a pass for the first goal and lost the ball himself for the second. Kobbie Mainoo was an offender for the third in the second half.
On the surface of it, it’s simple- three mistakes directly leading to three goals against an extremely clinical side.
However, in a compact side, those three mistakes don’t necessarily even lead to shots on goal, let alone goals.
United’s third goal was a great case in point as there’s no Casemiro to direct the rage towards. When Mainoo lost the ball just inside his own half, the next man Liverpool had to beat was Matthijs de Ligt.
Mind you, United played a 4-2-3-1 at that point so where was Toby Collyer? That’s United’s biggest problem.
Fans could be forgiven for having a feeling of deja vu as the answer to this question is a vacant midfield, again!
If Casemiro regularly ran forward and left the midfield open it would be a Casemiro problem. But here was a 20-year-old, defensive-minded player from the academy making his Premier League debut doing the same.
At this point, it’s worth assuming that this is by design, and that falls on Erik ten Hag.
A systemic issue
The incompetency and mistakes by the player are undoubtedly making it worse, but it’s hard to see how this team, as currently constructed, can win many games, let alone dominate some.
There is no discipline in the forward press, the midfield issue keeps cropping up through which teams slice like a hot knife through butter, and Ten Hag’s “revolutionary” strikerless formation is a tape on a fracture.
The answer to pressing better is not to have more players to press, thereby sacrificing a forward, as was being done with Mason Mount’s selection. It can only be solved systemically by implementing a pattern of press and identifying triggers and zones to do so.
Similarly, switch Manuel Ugarte with Casemiro in the midfield and the problems will still remain. If the defensive midfielder is asked to join the attack, then he will, regardless of what his name is.
It will just look slightly better because Ugarte has more in his legs than Casemiro. However, it won’t solve the issue, which is systemic.
Casemiro is a big part of the problem, but the issue itself can only be solved by Ten Hag. Even the Brazilian will look better for it.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/iQkVwEz