Manuel Ugarte was paraded in front of the fans before kick off today. If we all had it our way, he would have been on the pitch, even if he would probably be unable to get through the game. It was even at the start but once Liverpool started to circulate, Man Utd started to wilt both in their feet and their mind, as we have become accustomed to. Two Casemiro mistakes, two Diaz goals. One from a pass, one from being outmuscled in possession. Collyer came on for the Brazilian at half time and Mainoo went into that position. Salah assisted the two goals but got in on the act as Mainoo was muscled off it in his own half and an easy chance was presented to Salah. All in all, for the first three games, it hasn’t been a pretty sight and the pressure will mount and mount on Erik Ten Hag.
Catastrophic Casemiro
23 months ago, after the mauling at the hands of our City neighbours, Ten Hag would finally draft in the £60 million summer signing of Casemiro after much pressure to do so from the Southampton game that happened a month and half earlier. What followed in those 5 months afterwards, was a hallelujah moment whereby United fans finally saw a midfield enforcer bringing some stability to that midfielder. The latter 18 months of Casemiro’s United career has been absolute car crash.
Ironically enough, it started with the Liverpool game in which they trounced us 7-0. The shape of the midfield played a part in that but the performance from everyone was poor but the Brazilian was within the bottom 5 at least. From then on, it was a gradual decline towards the end of the season. The steep drop off came post pre season. The Wolves game was supposed to be a blip but it has become an enshrining moment of his absolute downfall as a footballer. Perhaps the most concerning part is that he is doing things that someone at the age of 32 shouldn’t be doing. On his best days, he is able to find some excellent passes that many in his position cannot. The problem is that if you were to look at the success rate, it is 15% at best. That 85%, a scary amount of them present it to the opposition in incredibly positive positions. That’s exactly what happened today. The first time pass into Mainoo when the supposed recipient of the pass isn’t even looking is nothing to do with age. It is everything to do with stupidity and lacking in any tactical nous.
The second where he is muscled off perhaps is but again, it is a lack of protection of the ball that is due to something he has never had in his career – the nimbleness to get away from pressure in front or behind him. The thing is, if it were those two mistakes only, perhaps the ignominious half time substitution wouldn’t have occurred. But he was at it throughout the game. One on the touchline where his body just seemed to completely shut down on one of the only occasions where he had the presence of mind to actually look up before playing a pass. After those two mistakes, he made another two – one where he seemed to boot the ball up the field simply because he did not want to be on it and another where he just passed the ball straight out off the pitch. It might have been those that put it into the manager’s mind that this game was past him and perhaps his time as a starter, with the addition of Manuel Ugarte, is going to follow suit.
What Exactly Is It?
Perhaps the most indicting thing for Erik Ten Hag is that his country compatriot opposite him today has managed to build a clearly identity in 3 months than he has in 3 years.
The first 20 mins, it was a compact shape and United were able to build enough through the thirds before the final pass was letting them down. Slot decided to change it a bit tactically by making Alexander Arnold drift into midfield. It caused a conundrum for Rashford, who isn’t the best defensively anyway, and Liverpool grew and grew into the game. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems that Ten Hag has is that once his Plan A has been rumbled, he doesn’t have the courage nor ability to change his shape to counter what the opponent manager has done. Of course, the individual mistakes were what really done in the team today but the goal was coming prior to Salah finding Diaz at the back post.
One wonders how long can continue with the club listlessly continuing in uninspiring fashion. United can pass the ball at the back brilliantly but more often than not, it will be between each other because the manager does not have the players occupying the correct spaces nor do these players have the quality to actually receive the ball on the half turn. You look at the quality of MacAllister and Gravenberch, both excellent technicians, who absolutely ran us ragged both on and off the ball. It is really sobering to watch this. It is even more sobering when you consider the fact that this has just been another in the long line of disastrous defeats, not just against Liverpool, but under the reign of Erik Ten Hag.
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