During the National Day holiday, the two life-and-death battles of the "Vine Armor Army" ended in a draw. The Europa League away game against Porto got off to a perfect start, but then a defensive collapse followed, relying on old acquaintance Maguire to take away a point; Back in the Premier League, they faced Villa away and played a game where the combined xG expected goals of both teams were less than 1.0 after 90 minutes of a goalless draw.
Is this considered a "Baoteng success"? Will Ratcliffe, who sat in the stands against Villa, be satisfied with the content of the game that was complained by the fans about "watching a health ball"? I don't know, but at least it's a little bit more optimistic than two defeats.
Ten Hag thinks it's okay
Fernandes and Brendan Rodgers battle for possession
Objectively speaking, this game has not reached the point of "health", and the intensity of the confrontation between the two sides is not low. However, Villa's attacking line was not at its best, with almost all of the front-court players forgetting to bring their shooting boots, and 11 shots were taken down in the game, with only midfielder Youri Tielemans' long-range shot from the top of the arc on target. Maatsen had a dangerous cross from the bottom before full-time (and almost the only quality cross from Villa in the game), but Dalot kept out a close-range burst from Felokin at the back post, which was a vital protection as he used his body to protect Onana's goal, and possibly Ten Hag's position.
Villa qualified for the Champions League last season and have started the season with a high scoring efficiency, making them a clearly Champions League-caliber team. A draw at home to such an opponent is not a bad outcome, but is it enough for Manchester United? Villa's performance in this game is not good, is it Manchester United's self-pursuit to play an ugly game against such a Champions League team who are not at their best and then guarantee not to concede a goal?
Maguire was injured
Ten Hag's post-match press conference: 'This is our fourth clean sheet of the season and you can see we barely gave the opposition any chances, and in the end they did have a good chance [I think Dalot blocked] but I think it was almost the only chance. We hit the crossbar, Marcus Rashford had chances, and the two teams were evenly balanced. ”
Ten Hag seems to be satisfied, and given his current situation and position, he must also be satisfied externally. But all fans can see that after this game, Manchester United have picked up a total of eight points from the first seven Premier League games - the worst start to the Premier League in the team's history. It seems that more than half of the seven league games have been clean sheets, but two of them have been against Southampton and Crystal Palace, and they are currently second and third from bottom in the league (and 0-0 with Crystal Palace, no one can help anyone). Looking at the number of goals conceded, 8 goals conceded in 7 games do not seem to have anything to do with the so-called "impregnable". At the same time, Manchester United's offensive and defensive performance seemed to be sitting on a seesaw, attacking and defending at one end, up this side and going down that side.
Infinite Baoteng Dafa
Marcus Rashford was substituted
The 3-0 win over Southampton saw United go goalless in three consecutive Premier League games, losing 3-0 and drawing 0-0 against Tottenham Hotspur and Villa, two top-six teams. Ten Hag seems to have set his team's tactical strategy as a solid counter-attack – and that is exactly what you should play with Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Hojlen on the pitch, and it's a tactic that fans have widely called for United to adopt. However, Manchester United has never been able to play a smooth transition pass, as if the coaching staff has not clearly practiced any passing and running routines in their daily training, and the defense is more than enough, and the counterattack is insufficient.
Marcus Rashford's game showed the side of trying to get back on the defensive side, and he looked like he was responding to previous criticism with action, and he also contributed a dangerous inside shot in attack. But what is even more impressive is that from the 58th minute of the second half, he committed two consecutive meaningless backcourt fouls in two minutes. The referee showed mercy after the first kick on Cash and the second time he brought down Leon · Bailey, so scared that Ten Hag changed hands and replaced him. At the same time, Rashford has not let people see his progress in terms of "all" or "diversity", and the ball path is really getting narrower and narrower.
B fee to hide the face
Fernandes played a game that lacked highlights. Although United's biggest threat of the game came from him, it was only from a set-piece. In the athletic phase, he was able to find his teammates with a single kick and occasionally make a few long-distance transfers, and Garnacho was more aggressive forward when he rushed along the touchline, but he couldn't help much when the environment on the pitch required someone to be able to take the ball and turn forward.
What he can do with the ball on his feet is probably the biggest difference between him and another "big B" Bernardo · Silva. Bessi is a crucial tactical pawn for Guardiola, who can pass and control the ball at his feet to ensure that he does not lose it, and can play in the middle of the side, and the status of the team can be said to be not inferior to Rodri. Fernandes can pass the ball and is also good at running, smelling and finishing shots (which he is really good at), but he is relatively lacking in the means to help the team break through the predicament during the defensive rounds and the pressure stage of the team. In a way, Fernandes' predicament could be Manchester United's predicament. After all, he is not like Palmer next door, with Jackson on a rampage in front of him, and Madueke at his side, a helper who has a good body and bones and is gradually showing signs of "kicking clearly".
The problem of the players, the problem of the overall structure of the offense, still comes down to the actions of the coach. With the two main highlights of the weekend's attacking side coming from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Bruno – where are Ten Hag's own players? Hojlen scored in midweek in the Europa League, but he didn't do much against Villa; Zirkze came on in the second half, but he didn't bring much support and positive value to Manchester United's frontline...... It might have been as good as his debut against Fulham, where he at least contributed a goal-grabbing goal and three points.
Either Manchester United or a change of manager. Lose a few games in a daze, and then go one or two games unbeaten to complete Pautem, "win a team in the bottom half of the league when there is a dismissal crisis, and then everything is forgotten (Paul · Merson)", turning over and over, infinite loop, infinite want...... What does it mean for the team's future?