Opinion: André Onana's performance didn't cause United's shaky result against Brentford
Manchester United's shaky defence and midfield raise concerns after Brentford clash. Yet the team had some light at the end of the tunnel during the match. Here are my thoughts of United's last game.
After watching Manchester United’s game against Brentford there are many concerns I have around the team’s current situation.
The team’s recent 2-1 against Brentford showed the team had significant issues in the defence and the middle of the park.
Here are my thoughts about United’s issues.
Olie Ball returns
Scott McTominay scoring two vital winning goals in the dying minutes of the game was great. Any football fan across the world would be over the moon to see their team win a game in the dying minutes of a match.
But when I watched United’s game against Brentford I could only sit back and think how the football quality had decreased. Don’t get me wrong any goal in the dying minutes of a game will get me going.
But seeing over-the-top through balls to McTominay for the last 10 minutes of the game, I could only think: ‘Has the club gone back to playing Olie ball? Where was the transitional gameplay we were promised this season?’
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Consistent bad picks
Apart from the overall team’s performance, I was annoyed watching some of United’s key players.
Casemiro’s performance was poor, his bad pass led to Brentford’s first goal. Some United fans blame Onana for the goal, I do admit he stuffed up the save, however, entirely blaming him for the goal is over the top. Casemiro and Lindelof shared responsibility for the goal.
Erik ten Hag also picked Marcus Rashford to start the match despite his continued bad form. I have followed Rashford’s career since Louis van Gaal was the manager at United and I think he is a quality player.
But Rashford’s quality has dropped off significantly, he continues to shoot from silly distances and tries to impersonate Ronaldo in the early noughties by doing skill moves to beat multiple defenders.
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Don’t get me wrong, I thought he played well during United’s Champions League match against Galatasaray. The combination of Rashford and Rasmus Højlund got me excited, but in this game against Brentford, he offered very little.
As a United fan, you have to be thinking: ‘Erik, why are you not starting Garnacho?’
When Ten Hag brought him into the game, the momentum of the match changed entirely we looked like a threat during the match.
Good backline
This season United have gone through as many left-back as I have had hot dinners in my life.
Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, and Sergio Reguilon have been all ruled out due to injuries. I mean it’s getting silly at this point, over the more than 10 years I have watched the Red Devils I have never seen the club in this situation.
I thought the choice of using Victor Lindelof and Diogo Dalot as left-back and right-back was fine. I would have used Dalot as a left-back because he has played more games in that position. However, playing both players in these positions was significantly better compared to how Ten Hag has been dealing with the problem.
His choice of Sofyan Amrabat at left-back is bad. He makes United’s defence weak and doesn’t have the positional awareness of a player such as Shaw. It was good seeing the manager try something new which worked better than what he had been doing previously.
Conclusion
The words ‘mentality’, ‘focus’, and ‘strength’ have been some words that Ten Hag have used to describe the team’s win. I agree with these descriptions of the last 10 minutes of the game and the win should be praised.
United players this season have dropped their heads when they have gone behind in a game and it was great to see two Fergie time goals.
However, there is no style of play at the moment. United looks desperate to score goals which is not a good sign.
Ten Hag has a mountain of problems: dealing with an injury crisis, and getting Rashford’s good form back are some tasks he must complete.
Yet you can only wonder how United will return after the international break with the team’s inconsistent form.
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