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Casemiro misplaced his legs. Marcus Rashford just isn’t trying again. Bruno Fernandes cries so much. Christian Eriksen has misplaced his physicality. Scott McTominay just isn’t positionally disciplined. Harry Maguire is clumsy.
These are a number of the criticisms that Manchester United gamers have confronted this season. They’re all proper to various levels, however to say {that a} workforce that completed third final season and gained trophies has all of the sudden grow to be nugatory could be an understatement.
The reality is that Eric ten Hag's system, quite than hiding his gamers' shortcomings and maximizing their effectiveness, is exacerbating them.
Gamers dropping religion of their managers and giving up has been a standard theme within the post-Sir Alex world at United, which is why Ten Hag has been given a protracted leash.
So, it's ironic that the one-time gamers are literally following his directions to a tee, inflicting extra concern than they might have if that they had simply given up.
That's as a result of Ten Hag's techniques are United's greatest drawback for the time being, which is extra evident than ever after the defeat to Fulham at Outdated Trafford.
Suppressant construction and “chaos ball”
Urgent is a vital a part of fashionable soccer and all good groups do it. Ten Hag has written lyrically about his workforce's possession of the pitch, which needs to be an indication of greatness.
Though Ten Hag's concept is nice, its execution is flawed. The result’s that United are simply ignored in midfield as soon as the opponent performs by means of their preliminary ahead press.
It's not onerous to do, as a result of for a supervisor who talks a lot about urgent, his concept of urgent sounds similar to a participant operating in direction of the ball.
It's onerous to see the set off pressed, there's nobody marking the area, and by making use of strain the one entice United have set for themselves is one the place they're open to the counter-attack.
A easy one-two press bypass and all of the sudden, a wave of rival gamers are speeding on the defensive midfielder, on their own on an island.
Casemiro might not have the identical toes as final yr, however no defensive midfielder can single-handedly mark acres of area and a number of gamers.
Harry Maguire could also be clumsy, however there isn’t any line of defense that may deal with the quantity of high-quality transition alternatives United league on a per sport foundation.
Christian Eriksen lacks physicality, however no participant can match the tempo of the sport when it's ping-pong from one finish to the opposite.
The truth is, it could possibly be argued that the rationale United have had so many accidents this season is as a result of gamers are pressured into conditions the place they need to make extra high-intensity runs than ever earlier than.
United's gamers aren’t hiding themselves from glory, however for as soon as, within the post-Sir Alex period, it’s particular person high quality that’s main the membership to victory, regardless of the system that has hindered them.
It will in the end result in a state of affairs the place both the system must be modified, or the particular person implementing it must be modified.
Proper now, the latter appears to be like extra seemingly than the previous as Ten Hag is nothing if not cussed in his methods.