West Ham 1-0 Man Utd (Benrahma 27’)
LONDON STADIUM – One day, Manchester United will have a clearer idea of what their ceiling is and what Erik ten Hag can realistically hope to achieve. All that is on hold while the Glazers stall on the club’s potential sale and in the meantime, nobody can say when issues like the ones exposed by West Ham will be fixed.
Loyalty is supposedly rare in football, but there is no other way to explain United’s decision to stick with David de Gea as his fumble gifted Said Benrahma his goal.
It took Tyrell Malacia losing his aerial challenge and Luke Shaw effectively playing the ball into Benrahma’s path to get there, but De Gea’s mistake was some of the most unfortunate goalkeeping you will see at this level.
Last summer the need for a new stopper was overlooked but it should be among United’s priorities. Technically this was only De Gea’s second error leading directly to a goal this season, the same number as Aaron Ramsdale, but how many times is he not tight enough at the near post, or his hands too weak?
Ten Hag cannot legislate for individual errors. His task is to work with that he has and try and make United a little less stagnant, with no idea what kind of budget he will have to do that.
Wout Weghorst started a league match for the first time since the dire defeat to Newcastle last month – once again, it didn’t work and he lasted less than an hour. The argument has always been that Weghorst was not brought in to score goals (he has managed just two) but to replicate Cristiano Ronaldo’s role as the immovable front man who doesn’t move and interferes with the press.
The difficulty is it means Bruno Fernandes out wide and Marcus Rashford in a deeper role. In other words, a lot has to happen to accommodate a striker who is not offering enough.
Rashford at least had some success, having rediscovered his rhythm.
Just as so much of transfer target Harry Kane’s best football comes when he drops into that cusp of the final third to do it all himself, Rashford looked a mix of innovation and exasperation.
Antony hit the post with one of a hatful of United chances. They are always more creative with Christian Eriksen in the XI. What United lacked, apart from the obvious – finishing – was a plan of attack, resorting too often to long balls in the absence of much threat from the full-backs.
Things could have been worse. West Ham looked to have doubled their lead when De Gea came for the ball, missed it, and inexplicably fell to the ground in a mix of bodies around Michail Antonio. Goal disallowed, to the relief of De Gea and bewilderment of everyone else. Tomas Soucek too found the net, this time rightly ruled out for offside.
The London Stadium had already awaited a VAR check that never came when Victor Lindelof appeared to handball Benrahma’s cross.
Denied that time, you cannot help but feel pleased for the winger, who began the evening so lacking in confidence, looking for Antonio when he could have shot from just yards out, but sensed an opportunity to shine. David Moyes deserved it too, whatever his future holds, as West Ham took a leap towards safety.
So the “Glazer Out” chants continued, as they will until the takeover saga is over and the uncertainty ends. The ever-serenaded Declan Rice, playing what may be one of his last games here in claret and blue, showed why he is reportedly a £100m United target. By just one measure, he now has more interceptions than any midfielder in the league this season.
There is not yet any point in dreaming of nine-figure transfers until there is a better picture of whether Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos or Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim will take the reins.
Qualifying for the Champions League, which United are still poised to do even as Liverpool creep up on them, will at least constitute a successful season. Throw in an EFL Cup and the prospect of an FA Cup and Ten Hag will end the season happy – albeit unsure of what the summer will look like.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/8Wotxce
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