Yes, it’s very rare to be saying that Man Utd actually won a game and played well doing so.
However, that is exactly what we got in the club’s final game at Old Trafford for the season. Quite the entertaining sendoff at the Theatre of Dreams.
Erik ten Hag was pleased at this display with there being a fair few aspects of that performance for him to build upon.
1. Onana’s passing from the back gets us in trouble
Although, I do want to start off with a negative, of which there were some.
Andre Onana was brought in to be this ball-playing goalkeeper who will revolutionize how Man Utd play out from defence. Admittedly, we need defenders who could also play out from the back which would make things easier for all including the goalkeeper.
In saying that, the new United ‘keeper’s distribution, especially when going long, is suspect to say the least.
More often than not, it fails to find its target and ends up putting United in trouble. We saw that on a couple of occasions in the win over Newcastle where some of his long balls went straight to opposition players. I often ask myself whether he’s playing for United or against us 😐.
One of which resulted in Anthony Gordon’s goal and another where Gordon was the man to almost score Newcastle’s second. Andre Onana’s distribution has been called into question throughout the campaign.
It is a big issue because one of the major reasons for bringing in Onana was because he was supposed to be an improvement from David de Gea when it came to distribution, something that the Spaniard received a lot of criticism for. So far, the Cameroonian hasn’t been too different.
2. Amrabat and Amad
How have these two guys not played more?! That is one of the things that I would say is against ten Hag in that there were opportunities to give others a chance especially in this injury-plagued campaign.
However, it’s only in the recent weeks have we truly seen the likes of Sofyan Amrabat and Amad been given a fair crack at it.
And how they have repaid the manager.
Sofyan Amrabat in these last two games has been the quintessential CDM. He keeps it simple, drops between the centre-backs to get the ball, tracks back really well, is relatively mobile and decent on the ball. He’s also quite a stocky and strong guy which makes him harder to hold off.
We saw the best of his qualities against Newcastle as he did all of those things as well as made an unbelievable last-ditch tackle which was on par with scoring a goal.
He protected the back line quite well too and this resulted in United not being so open and exposed as has been the case for most of the season. Casemiro in particular would’ve been seriously happy with the defensive work and holding of the midfield by the Moroccan as it meant that the Brazilian himself wasn’t so exposed and didn’t need to fly into challenges all the time.
Amrabat has been arguably our man-of-the-match in the last two matches. He’s been the perfect CDM we’ve been crying out for.
Amad as well has been a breath of fresh air.
He is a winger who actually looks to play the pass and keep things simple. He doesn’t overdo it and isn’t selfish. Amad has the ability to take on defenders as well but balances that with actual football.
The Ivorian can pass and move pretty well and is a good player to give and go with.
A lot of our attacks were also coming down his flank more than Garnacho’s which does tell you something. Many would say that that is our stronger side however, United obviously felt that the right-wing was more profitable in terms of attack than going down the left.
His strike was superb and is a goal he warranted. He deserved more time but I’m glad he and Amrabat are taking their opportunities.
3. Importance of Bruno Fernandes
We know how valuable certain players are when we see them play but we learn just how much they impact the team when they don’t.
Bruno Fernandes is one such player. He is the heart of Man Utd.
I know I’ve criticized him in the past and I was open to selling him but that’s because I expect better from him, I know he can be better, something he himself has admitted and when looking at his performances for most of the season, he has been kind of average by his high standards.
Although in the last month or so, we have been seeing the Bruno we all know and saw him win the club’s player-of-the-month award for April. The mentality he has is exactly what we need and he definitely has the quality. We just needed to see it more consistently.
The way he’s playing now, I definitely would NOT sell him.
What a player Bruno Fernandes is.
I think he was truly enjoying himself out there and is another who did keep it simple which for him, is saying something.
The term ‘Hollywood pass’ came about because of Bruno’s habit of trying the spectacular instead of just keeping it simple.
But in this game, there wasn’t much of those Hollywood passes or shots. He looked for his teammates more, he rotated the ball, he kept it moving and showed that he can play that sort of quick give and go football that the manager wants.
As usual, he managed to influence the game by getting an assist for Rasmus Hojlund’s goal. But it was just his all round performance that was superb. His leadership was also great which is something else that he has come under a lot of criticism for.
He was nigh on perfect which is why I gave him my MOTM award
But what I think we saw with Bruno, Amad and Amrabat is freshness. These three players have had time off. Amrabat and Amad have hardly played this season and Bruno was injured for the last two matches which allowed him some much needed rest, something that which I don’t think he’s had in many a year.
Is it a coincidence that those three were our best players?
Perhaps this is a criticism on the manager in that he failed to rotate his squad a lot more. At this moment, it is more difficult due to the injuries but even still, rotation is key as it keeps players fresh and breeds healthy competition.
4. Keeping it simple
Simple football is the way. This one both makes me happy and frustrated at the same time.
When we watch United play, keeping it simple is the last thing they do. Most of the time, it is this Hollywood, lack of patience, idealess, long ball crap that makes us question why we support this team.
And then there are games like these where we do what we all want: pass and move possession-based football.
United have done this in a couple of instances in other matches but it was even more evident against Newcastle.
The players were popping it off to each other with relative ease, not panicking unnecessarily, rotated the ball and didn’t try to force the issue.
This led to some neat, intricate play at times and got us in behind the Magpies’ defence. Those players I mentioned above were brilliant at this as I felt that Amrabat, Amad, Bruno and Mainoo were all really calm and composed when they had the ball. This is so important when it comes to possession-based play as too often, we give the ball away stupidly.
One piece of play that displayed this was between Bruno and Garnacho down the left which ended up in Garnacho having a decent goal scoring opportunity.
And this is where the annoyance comes in because we CAN play this way. We’ve showed it before and in this match, so why haven’t we done it more consistently? We look like a much better outfit for it.
This is the type of football Erik ten Hag would’ve liked to have seen more regularly.
5. Looking more like a team
I know I’ve said this a few times this season but the fact that I’m having to say it at all is a bit worrying.
Nevertheless, I do feel that this was one game where the team looked more together and United than they have done for large portions of the campaign.
Just last Monday at Crystal Palace, we were comparing that defeat to what we saw in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s last game at Watford before he was sacked. I feared that the same was to happen to Erik ten Hag.
Somehow though, he has managed to get this team as a unit and give us something positive to talk about as the season comes to a close.
I think a huge part of this had to do with the side looking a lot more cohesive and balanced. Yes players were still out of position mainly in defence but the rest of the XI appeared as if it was square pegs in square holes.
Everyone also had a better understanding of what they needed to do. No one looked completely out of sorts. We saw the return of the high fives from the defence. There were a lot of smiles amongst the players and all of this culminated in that speech by ten Hag after the game.
His words were very inspiring and motivating, words of belief and desperately wanting to end this truly awful campaign on a massive positive.
What he said of the fans was true. We were all there to back the team despite all our difficulties with the away crowd at Palace being a great example of just how truly amazing the supporters of our great club is.
Wins like this and moments like these where we can visibly see the togetherness amongst the squad gives us hope for the future even if the season is almost at an end.
But with one league game left at Brighton (who’ve had our number in recent seasons) and a pretty big final in 8 days, perhaps that late hope is all we need.
We must remain United until the end. Anything is possible especially at our club.
UNITED ✊! UNITED ✊! UNITED ✊!
Background image: Bruno Fernandes and Amad | Creator: OLI SCARFF | Credit: AFP via Getty Images Copyright: AFP or licensors — Man Utd News