Manchester United took on Tottenham Hotspur in a match both teams needed to win to kickstart their season.
Andre Onana as always took his place in United’s goal and Noussair Mazraoui, Diogo Dalot and Lisandro Martinez all retained their place from Wednesday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with FC Twente.
Matthijs de Ligt returned replacing the injured Harry Maguire. There was a first start together for midfield trio Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes as Christian Eriksen dropped to the bench.
Alejandro Garnacho also made a welcome return to the first eleven, starting alongside Joshua Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford, after his impressive showing midweek.
Here are four things we learned from the game.
Poor defensive structure on show for all to see
United were embarrassingly cut open in midweek versus FC Twente for their equaliser and Ten Hag’s team started in exactly the same vein this afternoon.
After just three minutes, when losing the ball high up the pitch, Micky van de Ven charged through numerous United players before cutting the ball across for Brennan Johnson to tap in unmarked.
It was yet another catalogue of errors that got United off to the worst possible start in exactly the type of game they should have been right up for from the very first second of play.
After spending so much money and effort to strengthen the defence this summer, it will worry fans immensely that the team still continues to fold like a house of cards when the pressure is on and does nothing to suggest that Ten Hag has the capacity to organise his side tactically or mentally for games of this ilk.
Much was made of United keeping four clean sheets in their first six games of the season but the sad truth is once they play against anyone close to the top of the table, the defence looks absolutely clueless, which could be seen when they were dismantled with ease by Liverpool at the start of the month.
United’s poor mentality was on show once more as they gifted Spurs’ a second goal right at the start of the second half with Martinez in the visitors’ half despite being one man down.
United’s return to chaos ball
Ten Hag has brought in Onana, Martinez and De Ligt with the aim of creating a possession heavy side who can play confidently out from the back.
Despite millions of pounds later, his side continue to look inept playing out from the back as they were constantly unable to escape Tottenham’s press.
In fact, United only looked dangerous when launching the ball forward to Garnacho and Rashford, and this was before Fernandes was sent off late in the first half.
There were numerous reports claiming that Ineos had instructed Ten Hag that he must abandon his chaos ball tactics and his job security would depend heavily on it.
After another crystal-clear demonstration that United cannot carry out this type of football at the highest level, it must be asked what are Ineos waiting for before they pull the trigger on the Dutchman’s time in Manchester.
Erik ten Hag is not the man for the job
When Ineos decided to back the former Ajax manager this summer after a dramatic FA Cup final, it is safe to say it was not a universally popular decision.
Ten Hag did enjoy a tidal wave of support from certain fans after the impressive Wembley victory but he has done nothing so far this season to show that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co. have made the right call.
As Spurs carved out chance after chance and dominated United’s ten man, it really felt like the death knell of yet another manager at Old Trafford.
The axe may not fall today, nor tomorrow, but it feels like only a matter of time before United must once again rebuild with a new coach in the famous dugout.
Bruno Fernandes lets his side down once more
Bruno Fernandes has had a horrible start to the 2024/2025 season, as he has failed to score a goal and missed numerous big opportunities.
Such has been the form of the Portuguese midfielder that Ten Hag felt the need in his pre-match press conference to suggest the playerwouldn’t be dropped before the match.
Fernandes continued this match in similar form as his previous matches with numerous poor passes and regular failure to connect with his teammates.
Disaster arrived in the 42nd minute of play when Fernandes was sent off for a high tackle on James Maddison.
Perhaps it was a harsh red, but it was an unnecessary tackle that screamed of petulance and frustration.
The media will surely be sharpening their knives over the 30 year old’s suitability for the captaincy, just as they did numerous times last year, but that won’t be United fans’ greatest concern.
The Red Devils need to find a way to get their star man back in form or the season could become a very long one indeed for all those connected with the club.
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