Manchester United continued their sloppy run in the league and failed to capitalise on the slip-ups by some of their rivals. United’s draw showed the importance of scoring goals when the opportunity arises rather than sitting back and going defensive. Poor substitutions cost United the game as they lost two more points in a game they should’ve finished off.
Each department in brief
Mkhitaryan started his second Premier league game on the back of a wonderful cup performance and Martial got back into the side thanks to his brace against West Ham in the same league cup where Mkhitaryan was on fire. Mata wasn’t in the starting lineup due to the inclusion of Pogba while the back four remained the same.
Attack
While Ibrahimović scored a splendid goal, he still failed to have any impact of sorts with a pass accuracy of 63%. Link up play is crucial for quick attacks and United, in all honesty, that really wasn’t evident for the latter half of the game. It was there in parts but there was no genuine end product.
Midfield
Michael Carrick did a good job at the back yet again and Pogba had 3 key passes but that was it. United had 6 key passes with only 3 from midfield. While there were good link ups for a fair span of the game, the lack of converting chances prevailed yet again.
Defence
In all honesty, I wouldn’t blame the defence because they are a makeshift duo thanks to injuries. Jones has been excellent and Rojo has been decent to a level. Valencia has linked up well in attack and has had key changes every alternate game. Darmian has been sloppy in attack and could be sold come January.
Substitutions for the sake of substitutions
I honestly believe bringing on Rashford was more of a ‘for the sake of it’ incident than anything else. How was he expected to contribute? Ibrahimović was still on and we all know he can’t be a defensive contribution. The effective substitution would’ve been to bring Mata on for Mkhitaryan at around the 60th minute. This would’ve ensured the continuity of attack and possibly a goal.
Fellaini couldn’t have had a worse day after coming on. He was brought on with the intention of being the physical block. He ended up being a physical block in the wrong manner giving away a penalty.
Conclusion
United need to realise that one cannot score a goal and just sit back. A cushion of 2 goals may not help if the defence is sloppy either (Liverpool vs Bournemouth game for example). United have reached a situation where 3 points a game is looking hard irrespective of the opposition.
Let’s just hope that the game against Spurs can provide the spark for a run of points while the others (hopefully) slip up. How long will it take for United to convert and dominate games? Too hard to say. Is it too far? Let’s hope not.
Stats via Squawka.com
