This was a game that truly came full circle. Everyone who needed a performance or a reminder that they're quality, got it.
It wasn't as smooth sailing as the score line suggests but we desperately needed a drama-free game (if you want to call it that). Yes it had it's drama moments but nothing controversial nor was there any shit that hit the fan which is usually the case with United.
And there were more positives to take compared to the usual negatives.
1. Game management
Let's start with a positive.
This was (and still is) an area of our game that needs drastic improvement. However, against Southampton, what we did was control the game from the penalty save and onward.
We obviously felt a lot more confident once Onana made that stop and the team had a lift. This led to the two goals in quick succession but what we don’t often see from United is the ability to see games out.
While yes, it was the entire second half that ten Hag’s team kept the Saints at arm’s length which sort of made the game a little flat, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
We saw United control the game, create more opportunities (that we should’ve scored from), but ultimately didn’t let Southampton back into the game.
Most of the time, MUFC lose concentration and let teams straight back into it after scoring. It’s vary rare that we ourselves score within minutes of getting a goal but it’s even rarer still to see us keep the opposition quiet while controlling a match.
United were also good at recovering the ball quickly and in areas high up the pitch specifically in the second half.
This was a much needed improvement to an aspect of our game that is simply not good enough.
2. Injuries
These are still apparent, and frequent.
Nothing has come out to suggest that there are any serious issues but it was plain to see that towards the end of the game, several United players were struggling with some sort of injury.
Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez - all of whom had to be taken off - and substitute Harry Maguire all appeared to have had their concerns at the end of the match. Mazraoui was the one who looked the most worrying as he was being helped on the bench after the final whistle.
That could mean another injury to a full-back which would result in dalot being the only fit and available full-back. This is a problem area given the fact that we don’t have a left-back and may need to call upon youngster Harry Amass to fill in.
Full-back was a position that plagued Erik ten Hag all of last season and we saw what an impact it made to the team in not having enough available full-backs in the squad.
If all three of De Ligt, Martinez and Maguire have problems, it would mean only Jonny Evans is the available centre-back. This could mean it would be him and Casemiro who play as centre-backs on Tuesday against Barnsley. This wasn't a great pairing as we saw towards the end of last season and is a concern for the manager.
The victory was great but we are still picking up injuries which are now added to those already on the sidelines. The medical department was an area that needed to be addressed in the summer but looks to have been neglected by the club.
This could be a BIG problem much like it was last year and a reason as to why our season may not go as well as we’d like.
3. Joshua Zirkzee
I’ve been quite impressed with our new striker. He gives us something different thanks to his unorthodox play as a ‘striker.’
A lot of his game really helps us in the link up. His one-twos and give-and-go’s are very good as Zirkzee's touches are so on point and are the perfect weight for his team-mates.
Some of his passing is also pretty great as he can find a team-mate with great accuracy. There was a particular 20-yard pass to Amad in the first half that any creative midfielder would’ve been proud of.
That ability to drop deep and link the play up from there is something else that we can exploit as this can draw in opposition defenders and create space for the wingers to move into.
There were a few instances where there was good link up play between him and Rashford that led to some good openings. Even when Zirkzee dropped deeper or moved wide, there were combos between Rashford and Amad which displayed an overall good set of combination play from our front line.
His unusual style of play makes it difficult for opposition defenders to truly grasp what he’s going to do as he isn’t that traditional centre-forward.
It isn’t all perfect though, as Zirkzee can sometimes not be strong enough in holding the ball up despite his size, isn’t that great in the air and seems to have a problem when it comes to his finishing, which is his biggest area of concern.
While all of his false 9 attributes are great, the main aspect of being a striker is to put the ball in the back of the net. His debut goal gave us all this hope that we had (and hopefully still have) a top striker on our hands but ever since that goal against Fulham, Zirkzee has missed quite a few good opportunities.
Two big chances v Liverpool were followed by two more at Southampton where any top goal scorer would’ve scored at least one of those. He really needs to be taking them as it could put the team more at ease knowing that we have a couple of goals in the bag instead of having to fret over the game being closer than it should be.
United are the side who have missed the most big chances (12) in the Premier League. It's opportunities like Zirkzee's that cause us to be in more nervy situations than we'd like.
This is an area of his game where he (and team overall) needs serious work.
4. Set-pieces
New set-pieces from United? Andreas Georgson working some of his magic?
For United’s opener the team used a short corner kick and had an overload on the back post. We don’t often see ten Hag’s team do something like this and this is perhaps where Georgson comes in.
We know he had a great reputation wherever he’s been including Southampton funnily enough, and that set plays were an area where we needed to improve.
It may not have been anything much but most of the time, our corners are something a lot more routine rather a little different. Having a bit of variety is something we need to add to our game much like Zirkzee's dynamism up front.
With all this being said, De Ligt did come out after the game and admit that that corner routine wasn’t something that was worked on and was more a spur of the moment.
Still though, it worked and isn’t something we do all the time.
5. Right side stronger
Not so long ago, I mentioned how our left flank is our dominant side not necessarily in terms of chance creation or causing the opposition any problems but rather that we use that flank more than the right.
What we’ve seen from this season though, is that it is our right flank that actually causes the issues for the other team.
United look a lot deadlier down the right and between Mazraoui and Amad we have two technical players who are very good on the ball, don’t panic under pressure, can drive with the ball, work extremely hard out of possession and in Amad's case, tracks back.
The two of them aren’t quite Gary Neville and David Beckham in terms of that connection but they don’t appear to have too many issues with each other either. That is a positive as Mazraoui is a new player and Amad is only now getting the chances he deserves. With De Ligt on that side of the defense as well, the right flank of United is strong.
Amad also creates chances and is very direct with his play. Mazraoui is quite attack-minded too which makes for a good combo down that side.
Compare that to our dominant left, Dalot is out of position at left-back (and looked like it at St. Mary’s), Rashford hasn’t been great in the main this season and doesn’t track back, and Martinez hasn’t seemed to have found that crispness in his passing as well. He and Dalot also appeared to have a couple of breakdowns in communication which caused us one or two problems.
I find that we don’t use our right side enough even though it’s a lot more fluid and threatening. Even when building from the back, most of the time it starts off with Martinez, the left center-back.
We need to vary the use of our flanks more as it makes us too predictable and one dimensional.
Background Image: Amad | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)