Bournemouth the latest to expose Manchester United's flaws
WAVE GOODBYE?: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag ahead of the Premier League match at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth.Photo credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire.
THE flaws and weaknesses of this Manchester United side appear more evident the longer the season progresses.
And with every sub-standard performance, the case for Erik ten Hag being given the opportunity to remedy those problems next season weakens.
The United manager has pointed to the injuries that have affected his squad, particularly in defence and complained about his side’s bad luck in being on the wrong end of a number of contentious decisions recently.
On Saturday, luck was decidedly on United’s side, with Ten Hag’s team benefiting from two contentious decisions - the award of a penalty when the ball struck the arm of Bournemouth defender Adam Smith and the added time intervention of VAR to rule contact was outside the box when home midfielder Ryan Christie went to ground - and no amount of injuries could explain their shambolic defending.
Ten Hag was reduced to praising his side’s resilience after twice recovering after falling behind, on both occasions through Bruno Fernandes, one of the few United players to approach anything like the expected standard.
This, though, was by no means a one off and was simply the latest disjointed, incoherent display from a side that has fallen out of the race for the top four after just one win in six league games.
The manager’s growing frustration was evident when he was asked about the possibility of his side finishing lower than seventh and recording the club’s worst ever Premier League finish.
"I don't comment. That is not important for this moment,” he said, before abruptly ending his post-match press conference.
There will be more uncomfortable questions to come unless Ten Hag can conjure a significant improvement during the remaining six league games of the season.
Next Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final with Coventry should provide some respite, although the Championship side, managed by former United striker Mark Robins, will have noted with interest the ease with which Bournemouth scored their two first half goals and squandered several other opportunities.
Willy Kambwala slipped after being turned by Dominic Solanke before the Bournemouth striker scored his 17th league goal of the season in the 16th minute, although Alejandro Garnacho poor touch set up the chance.
Kambwala and Diogo Dalot then failed to pick up Justin Kluivert for the second. More of the same and Ten Hag and his players could leave Wembley red-faced with embarrassment.
"It's been happening in the last couple of games, we don't look to who has done it but we know it can happen at this level because they are clinical enough to score if we make mistakes,” said Dalot.
“It's something we have to look for and try not to do.
"It's part of life to make mistakes. It's about reacting well the next game and the next few minutes to try to do better. That's what we have to overcome. We have to take responsibility but try not to do it for the next games and that's the challenge.”
Off course the running theme recently has been the astonishing number of shooting opportunities United’s opponents have had. On Saturday Bournemouth had 20 attempts on goal despite United enjoying a greater share of possession, extending an alarming run that has seen United allow 241 attempts on their goal in the last ten matches.
"It's been one of our concerns,” acknowledged Dalot. “Maybe we need to try to be more compact as a team - don't try to make the gap between defenders and midfield too big.
Sometimes it is, and they counter on the counter-attack. It's something we have to improve because it's been nowhere near good enough for the level of this club.
"We've been showing belief through the season, coming back from down moments. Too many this season. We have to control more and have the game under control, we lose it too many times.
"That's the aim for the next couple of games.”
Neto 6; Smith 6 (Aarons 70, 6), Zabarnyi 6, Senesi 7, Kerkez 7; Cook 7, Christie 9; Outtara 6 (Faivre, 70, 6), Kluivert 8 (Unal 76, 6), Sinisterra 6 (Kelly 39, 6); Solanke 8.
Travers, Scott, Hill, Billing, Gonzalez.
Onana 6; Dalot 5, Kambwala 5, Maguire 6, Wan-Bissaka 6; Casemiro 6, Mainoo 5 (Mount 78, 6); Garnacho 5 (Diallo 46, 6), Fernandes 8, Rashford 5; Hojlund 5.
Bayindir, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Amass, Ogunneye, Wheatley.
Tony Harrington 6
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