Man Utd’s Lack Of Transfers: Erik Ten Hag’s Decision Backfired
Man Utd’s Lack Of Transfers: Pascal Gross tapped into his previous form to score past Manchester United for the fourth time this term. Gross bagged another as Brighton continued to dominate a stylish affair. The German international ended up scoring again in his side’s dramatic fightback against United. United supporters, not amused by mistakes being made repeatedly by their own players, often booed after the changes were made. The reactions were identical at full-time with United defeating the Red Devils yet again.
The team’s chief executive and director John Murtough, Darren Fletcher, and football analyst were set to watch from a box after being relocated from the sidelines due to crowd reactions.
Even before president Demetrios Gross resigned, the United supporters have been expressing their neglect and discontent towards the co-chairman Avram Glazer.
The United squad is going through a rebuilding phase, and has little time to integrate new players before Champions League play begins. The upcoming pre-season was misleading; in the post-Ferguson era, United managers have only been unbeaten in their first match against the club’s current competition.
The crowd groaned at Scott McTominay’s misplaced ball, and the sluggish Luke Shaw had to be told by Danny Welbeck to go with Marcus Rashford. The lack of success this time is not auspicious for the team.
United’s 2-0 loss to Brighton during the Amex Stadium playoff game should have taught them not to meander against them, but they did anyways. Brighton still had a well-structured playing style and game plan with forward coach Chris Hughton.
United looked exactly how they were described: a team lacking an imposing midfielder and a dependable goalscorer. The midfield malaise was captured in a microcosm by Scott McTominay, who had six touches in the final third, overran the ball and was booked for an overzealous foul on Moises Caicedo.
With another impressive performance, Caicedo again showed his dominance over his once-upstart teammates. The Seagulls chanted their disapproval of the Palace.
The lack of Anthony Martial is arguably the most important development. Javier Hernandez was forced to play in a position he never plays, and Christian Eriksen lined up as a striker for much of the game. There are holes in United’s side without the Frenchman, but without Antonio Valencia or Marouane Fellaini, United might have struggled to find goals. Ronaldo urged his teammates to react to Gross’s opening goal. They didn’t.
Ten Hag defused Ronaldo’s poor form by playing Elanga alongside him and with the addition of Eriksen as an attacking mid, United saw a huge improvement in their attacking play. On 68 minutes, Bruno Fernandes delivered a corner that was cleared by Alexis Mac Allister and it led to United scoring from the resulting penalty kick through Zizou. Although written at the start of the second half, this is only true for part of the sentence and echoes what was originally said- “Sir Alex Ferguson quipped.”
With the delay of Ronaldo, there is no clear starting point in front of the team. However, the quality will increase because Ronaldo was on the bench.
The offside flag may show Rashford should have been penalized for what was deemed an irrelevant offside on the replay, while he committed a desperate mistake by swiping at a ball that actually dropped to him, too. Ten Hag may realize now he was naive to entrust Rashford with such responsibility after he spurned two glaring opportunities.
Ten Hag emerged from the tunnel and was greeted with applause. After that, players had a positive focus on the game as they continued to play. The afternoon peaked when Ten Hag scored.
The supporters also were still in their seats as the final whistle was blown after last week’s expulsion. That might be the best measure of progress for now.
An eyewitness in attendance captured the moment when the stadium was empty and noted that many of those voicing their discontentments were wearing partial attire and disproving their argument. The current chairman Joel has been out of the country for over three years.
Jaap Stam dusted himself off, despite an unfortunate first few weeks, and proved to be a great signing for United. He is still revered by the Stretford End, even after all these years.
Ten Hag’s defensive line was extremely flexible and during any kind of possession, he would change Dalot’s position, putting Maguire on the other side of the halfway line.