Manchester United succumbed to a last-minute Fulham winner after an awful performance at Old Trafford, leaving our Champions League ambitions hanging by a thread.
In-form striker Rasmus Hojlund was sorely missed, with his replacement Marcus Rashford offering almost nothing at centre forward. However, only 2 or 3 players turned in performances that could be considered ‘decent’, let alone ‘good’. United have now lost ten games out of 26 in the league.
Perhaps surprisingly, Erik Ten Hag praised United’s fight and spirit in his post-match comments, and focused on the bigger picture of United’s progress.
We had our chances before half-time, they did as well. We could have won this game and should have won this game; the team showed great character. We had slow starts in both halves; losing Casemiro was a great loss. We lost some stability and conceded in that moment. The first goal was very avoidable, but we showed great character to come back. We went for the win but let them slip away.
You have to see the bigger picture, which looks very good. We have to get players back from injury in certain positions to give more balance, and we will strengthen in the transfer window. There are many high-potential players coming, so definitely we are in the right direction.
Ten Hag after the game
Senior players not showing up
United’s youth has rightly been praised in recent weeks, but if we’re to do anything this season, our senior players need to show up on a consistent basis too.
Rashford, Fernandes Casemiro, Maguire, Lindelof – all played poorly yesterday, and in reality United were lucky to go into half-time at 0-0. After 3 difficult away wins at Wolves, Villa and Luton, Fulham at home should have been a match we controlled, dominated and won comfortably.
The reality however was the opposite; Fulham were quicker, hungrier and stronger for the majority of the game. What makes it even more baffling is that they are in mid-table with effectively nothing to play for, whilst we are chasing a top-4 spot.
player ratings and Motm
Onana – 6. Made decent saves in the first half and not really at fault for the goals.
Dalot – 5.5. Hit the post but found it difficult to get forward and couldn’t get much working with Omari Forson.
Varane – 5.5. Failed to deal with Alex Iwobi effectively in the first half, improved after the break.
Maguire – 5. Not his best showing; committed too many fouls, missed a great chance and got done for the winner.
Lindelof – 4. Again – a fish out of water at left back, and offers very little going forward. Surely there is a better solution in Luke Shaw’s absence?
Mainoo – 5. Less influential than in recent weeks – but it shouldn’t be the responsibility of an 18-year-old to carry United.
Casemiro – 4.5. Another poor performance – gave the ball away too often, one of which allowed Fulham a dangerous counter-attack. Brought off shortly after half-time due to a clash of heads.
Fernandes – 4. Poor again. Tried far too many low-percentage balls and exerted almost no control in midfield.
Forson – 4. Didn’t show his potential and offered nothing of note. Subbed shortly after half-time.
Garnacho – 7 & MOTM. Probably the only United player that could be proud of his performance. Looked dangerous all afternoon and tested the keeper a couple of times.
Rashford – 4. Offered almost nothing apart from creating a big chance that nobody was there to finish. Didn’t track back often and pulled out of a tackle leading to a Fulham counter right in front of where I was sitting! A player looking for a move away from Old Trafford?
Subs:
McTominay (on for Casemiro on 53′) – 5: Didn’t offer much of note and should have passed late on instead of shooting and wasting a good chance.
Eriksen (on for Forson on 53′) – 5. Made his first appearance for 6 weeks and it showed – looked off the pace.
Diallo (on for Mainoo on 80′) – N/A.
Antony (on for Lindelof on 90’+9′) – N/A.
Looking ahead
United travel to Nottingham Forest for a difficult FA Cup tie on Wednesday. It’s out last chance at a trophy and if we play anything like we did yesterday we will get beat. Some of our senior players need to have a look in the mirror over the next few days, appreciate the privileged position they’re in and actually show up against Forest.
After that is the small matter of the Manchester derby away at City, which really could be a horrorshow. Let’s just not think about that at the moment…
