Erik ten Hag did feel sorry for his former team as his current one dropped one of their most boring and flat performances of the season so far.
MUFC struggled at home in the opening match of the Europa League as all they could manage was a drab draw which is now their second in two matches.
Erik ten Hag's side began much the slower of the two as it was our Dutch opponents that had the first great opportunity of the match. United didn't defend a corner well enough before Diogo Dalot failed to get rid of the second ball allowing the Twente winger to put in a cross. Luckily for the home side, the chance was missed on the front post when it probably should've been 1-0.
That caused United to raise their levels but it still wasn't anywhere near what we saw at Palace. While MUFC didn't give away too many chances, unlike in recent matches, they didn't create many of their own.
ten Hag's side's best chance came from a Twente defender as a header across goal from Martinez caused a skewed clearance resulting in a sharp stop from the Twente goalkeeper Unnerstall.
Not long after the half hour mark though, a man revitalized in more ways than one, Christian Eriksen fired in a powerful shot from just inside the box to put United in the lead. A great finish from a player that looked likely to leave the club in the summer.
It was at this moment that I thought we'll start to kick on.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as United continued to play in the same flat manner as they did before the goal.
FC Twente didn't create too many chances but as it was only 1-0 and United weren't as creative as they were at Palace, anything was possible.
The second half was a non-event as well despite the match having some end-to-end moments.
However, 70 minutes in, and disaster for Erik ten Hag and joy for Twente as right-back Bart van Rooij turned into Lionel Messi as he made a run all the way from his position, past four United players en route to helping his side get the equalizer.
While van Rooij was stopped by Ugarte, the ball found it's way to Eriksen who dilly-dallied on it and was caught in possession. This meant that United were out of position and overloaded. Sam Lammers ended up scoring at the near post to make it 1-1 and bring all those feelings of anger, frustration and disappointment back to Old Trafford.
I mean, could someone not pull the defender's shirt or tap his ankles and take the card but allow us to reset and prevent the chance in the first place?
Erik ten Hag then made some changes but to no effect as the game teetered out to a 1-1 draw.
The manager will come under a lot of criticism for this performance as it is unacceptable for his side to go from what they showed in the last three games to this.
At home against a side of that quality (with all due respect), and on a European night, MUFC should really be walking all over them.
ten Hag's lack of in-game management and adaptability to the situation will come into question as well. His changes were arguably the wrong ones and too late to make any difference in the match.
Just an all round flat evening.
Ratings:
Onana - 5
Mazraoui - 7 MOTM
Maguire - 6.5
Martinez - 6.5
Dalot - 6.5
Ugarte - 6.5
Eriksen - 6
Amad - 6
Bruno - 3
Rashford - 6
Zirkzee - 6
Garnacho - 6
Mount - 6
Mainoo - 6
Hojlund - 6
Erik ten Hag - 4
Final Thoughts
I don't know how we can go from the performance at Palace to this, in a matter of days. There weren't even wholesale changes to the starting lineup to make you think that that could've been a problem.
Perhaps it was because he didn't make too many changes that caused such a flat display. Maybe a lot of those players were tired?
Yeah, I'm just trying to find excuses to make myself feel better after that shite.
That's also the second game now where Bruno Fernandes was the worst player on the field. Something is not right with him and what's even worse is that the manager doesn't take him off. Perhaps coming out of the firing line will do him some good.
While Bruno was pathetic, he wasn't the only one who was not good enough as the rest of the team just weren't at the races tonight. There were too many average performances.
This is why we cannot get too excited about United. Despite the recent improvement in performances, three games against relegation fodder (Southampton), League One trash (Barnsley) and a struggling Palace outfit aren't really teams which make you think MUFC have truly turned a corner.
They need to play like that for a longer period and against better sides. Having these blips is unacceptable even more so against the likes of Twente in the Europa League.
Erik ten Hag also just sacks himself with some of his decision-making, or lack there of. Much like his team, he too has too many off games where we question a lot of what he does.
This makes qualifying for the round of 16 a little harder as we now absolutely need to beat Porto and Fenerbahce to not make this result appear too bad. However, those two games are away from home in hostile atmospheres. You know how we are at grounds like those.
We need a performance and win against Spurs on Sunday as another game like this...
Background Image: Man Utd draw 1-1 at home to FC Twente | Creator: Michael Regan | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News