What Needs To Be Improved At Manchester United?
After two below par performances in the opening games of the season, doubts are already being thrown over the Red Devils.
After last weekends 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, manager Erik Ten Hag said “”I am not concerned with our attacking play but I am by our scoring. We know this, that is why we’ve signed a striker. It is one game, on Monday the performance was not good but the result was there. Today the performance was OK but we have to win here. We take the positives, but also know to keep the belief.”
One big problem with United over the last year has been lack of goals scored. Only Brighton have created more chances than Man Utd so far this season and yet United have only found the back of the net once. New striker Rasmus Højlund is still expected to miss the next few weeks through injury leaving Marcus Rashford to struggle up top in an unfavoured position. This further adds pressure on the likes of Antony and Jadon Sancho who continue to fail to deliver on the goalscoring front for the Manchester club.
Another problem that Erik Ten Hag has is in midfield. New £60 million signing Mason Mount has failed to hit the ground running and picked up an injury against Spurs which will see him out of action until after the international break. Casemiro has also struggled in the two games so far due to a lack of defensive support which has seen Utd’s midfield get overrun against both Wolves and Spurs.
Erik Ten Hag is also struggling to add further players to his squad currently. It is believed that United to sell to be able to fund further signings this summer. Two commonly linked names are Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard and Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. Despite these very possible signings, United are unable to get these deals done as they are struggling to sell some of the players that are surplus to requirements. Both Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay’s moves to West Ham appear to have fallen through and are struggling to attract interest from other clubs. Another out of favour player, Donny van de Beek, has seen a potential move to Real Sociedad stall over recent weeks.
It could become a frustrating summer for United fans if they are unable to move on players and fund new signings and see a vast improvement in quality on the pitch. Erik Ten Hag still appears to have the full support of the United fans, however, results and performances need to improve in order to challenge for the big honours this season.
