MUFC are back to ruin weekends as they travel to Southampton in game 4 of the Premier League. If the Saints don't win this one, they deserve to be relegated.
🤣🤣, I'm laughing at my own team 😭.
See what you do to us United?!
This is a must win for United and especially Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman is under a lot of pressure after another poor start to a season. The MUFC boss has lost two of his first three games with the last coming in a damning humiliation by rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford two weeks ago.
With co-owners INEOS unimpressed with his results and performances, it is time to make amends and kick on in what is crunch time for ten Hag.
Can he get the win he desperately needs?
Predicted Lineup
Erik ten Hag isn't prone to doing something very irritating every now and then although it seems that all he's been doing this season has been irritating.
My gut tells me that he will leave new midfielder Manuel Ugarte on the bench in favor of the ill-firing Casemiro who has more of a chance of playing for Southampton than United given his recent performance.
The Brazilian was substituted at halftime in the loss to LFC so perhaps to boost his confidence the manager will start him.
I disagree with this (if this is the case) as we are in desperate need of victory. I feel that that is more likely with Ugarte in the side.
I think we all know that Marcus Rashford will start. That is not the correct move in many people's eyes because of how shite he's been. It should be Garnacho on the left and Amad on the right.
As you can see, I've kept Amad in the lineup because he's started two of the three games and Garnacho is coming back from international duty all the way from South America. It's a pretty easy decision (and excuse) to keep the 20-year-old on the bench.
The rest of the team stays the same.
United's Approach
Play out from the back. High line. Possession-based. Chance creation. Scoring goals.
That is what we need to see. I believe we can do it as well given the quality we have although I don't expect us to be perfect in this match or the next couple of games.
Playing out from the back is something we want to do but Andre Onana hasn't been great at it and neither has any of our defenders. Lisandro Martinez's passing hasn't been as crisp as we know it can be and De Ligt has had his problems during the international break too.
I would like to see the full-backs be more attacking. Dalot and Mazraoui have been good down the flanks but we don't really use an aspect of their game that is really good: their attacking prowess.
The midfield also needs to be solid as it is too open. This is why I'd like Ugarte to start as he is more capable of handling the load the CDM needs in this ten Hag midfield.
The number 6 has a lot of ground to cover and also needs to be able to pass especially under pressure. Casemiro at the moment, simply cannot do that. If he plays, it could be a problem.
The wingers and particularly Rashford, needs to pick their heads up a lot more and pass the ball. They can be too selfish and overlook runs made by the striker.
But when they do play the pass or put in the cross, the striker, or whoever, needs to finish them. United have missed the most big chances (9) in the league so at least we're creating them even if we're not scoring them.
Another issue is concentration and marking. We a lackadaisical when it comes to marking correctly and keeping the focus all game. Both Brighton and Liverpool had ample chances of scoring more goals thanks to United switching off. That cannot be there again because even Southampton will probably take advantage of it.
There was a lack of leadership as well in the defeat against Liverpool. We are in a tough place right now and this is where we need those leaders to stand up. Should they go missing again, this will most likely be another loss.
Many things need to improve even in one game.
Southampton
The Saints have had a rough start to life in the Premier League upon their return to the top flight.
Russell Martin's side have lost all three of their matches scoring 1 and conceding 5. This leaves them in the precarious position of 19th which is a worry even this early on as most have them as one of the teams to go down.
The Saints play a 3-5-2 formation which could cause problems for United especially in the midfield as that will create an overload of 3v2 in their favor. The wing-backs could also be something else to look into as we know that our wingers (ahem, Rashford) doesn't like to track back and could be an area where Martin will look to exploit.
It will be very interesting to see how Erik ten Hag tries to combat this formation as it isn't one that we come up against too often.
They also have a lot more possession it seems as in their three matches, the Saints have had 78% v Newcastle although the Magpies were 10 men for an hour, 65% v Forest and 64% v Brentford. They also had a decent amount of shots in these matches with a total of 30. Something else we need to watch out for.
MUFC are also lacking confidence and is another area where Southampton will try to take advantage of it.
Recent Meetings
There have been quite a few draws in recent times between the two clubs. Three stalemates in the last four with that one victory going United's way in this fixture back in 22/23.
The Saints don't have a good record against the Devils as their last win over MUFC came in 2016.
So at least that's another record for ten Hag to break 🤣🤣.
Prediction
We need to win, I can't emphasize that enough.
Would I take a scrappy, dodgy 1-0 win. Absolutely, simply because it's a victory. At the moment, that is what we need more than anything.
But as most are feeling at the moment, it's time to start moving on from these types of wins and performances. We need to see United put in a display where we dominate a side and score some goals.
That is what ten Hag needs to do.
With that being said though, I can't see an entertaining game but nor do I think it will be entirely boring however, there will be moments where we scream and throw our remotes at our TVs.
So the standard United stuff.
I'm going for a 2-0 United win. It won't be an all conquering, vintage MUFC performance but it would be decent to a point where we are contented with the performance.
Background Image of player: Manuel Ugarte in Man Utd training | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)