Harmful beating of the City

They say in Manchester that, on United’s bad day, Alex Ferguson He was always reprimanded with some profanity: ‘Football, damned hell,’ he could be heard repeating. The one who is now his replacement on the Old Trafford bench, the Dutchman, must have muttered the same thing on Sunday. Erik ten Haag, after a very unfortunate afternoon, where his team was insultingly beaten in the always hot city ‘derby’. The city exposed all its current shortcomings, at that time Ten Hags He continues to put out the fire in his club however and where he can.

City’s resounding 0-3 victory at Old Trafford once again exposed a United side still in the process of change, plagued by injuries, internal strife and owners still in doubt club how to sell it. So things and with that environment, Have a Hag, who started his cycle in Manchester in a very promising way, trying to transfer the ‘club culture’ he experienced so successfully at Ajax, is now a victim of the same confusion that grips the whole of United. Even in his words there was a certain surrender to his goals: “United do not have players who can play like Ajax. “We will never play that football,” he said after the defeat, as a contradiction message about his plans in English football.

The truth, rough and simple, is that the current United team lacks individual quality, players with more strategy and personality to solve matches and with which to dictate their attacking game. He still does not send a clear identity on the pitch and he has two of his best leaders and references, captain and scorer, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford below his best level. They suffered their fifth defeat in their first 10 Premier League games and are now eight points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, who will now be forced into a new uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League next season. year.

Ten Hags He wanted to transfer the good things about Ajax to Manchester, but he gave up ahead of schedule due to squad limitations, although there were some additions that bore his stamp, such as Lisandro Martinezthe Moroccan Amrabatthe goalkeeper Onana or his most expensive signing, Mason Mount, who, as an irony of the moment, started the game from the bench. The sense of impotence offered by United’s players to watch the ball roll from one side of the field to the other, without the physical intensity to steal it, was not diluted enough by the fans who, for the first time with Ten Hags, expressed his displeasure. Changing forward Rasmus Hojlund This is the height of boos. In the end, for a big club, the feeling of inferiority is very painful. When things don’t go well at one club, one bad decision seems to follow another.

SA Ten Hags He has been given the power to rebuild the club, and he will have more time to achieve it. “The spirit is good, so I think we have to be patient,” said the Dutchman as a warning, even if it is not assumed that the optimism he brought with his arrival has evaporated and the illusion of change has been shattered. The sad sight of empty stands before the end of the match reflects the mood of the Old Trafford fans, who will tonight attend another tough test against Newcastle, in the EFL Cup. The worst of Sunday’s ‘derby’ It’s not a shame, but a sense of defeat has been discovered among United fans. And their vociferous protests are not good.