OLD TRAFFORD — Manchester United were beaten before a ball was kicked at Old Trafford.
One look at the back four named by Erik ten Hag had supporters and the watching media aghast. How could that rearguard stop Erling Haaland?
In short, they never stood a chance. But not because the Nordic goal machine was at his unplayable best – he didn’t have to be. Haaland’s fellow Scandinavian Rasmus Hojlund must be questioning his life choices – this wasn’t the Manchester United in the brochure.
Going up against the best team in the world with Leicester City’s centre-back pairing from 2018-19, a central defender at left-back and Diogo Dalot sealed the home team’s fate as the teamsheets made their way out of the printer.
Injuries did really restrict Ten Hag’s options, but his decision to leave Raphael Varane on the bench and play 35-year-old Jonny Evans alongside a rejuvenated Harry Maguire was, remarkably, a tactical one, according to the Dutchman. In fairness, he did not stipulate which team’s tactical plan his judgment would benefit.
Instead, Evans made no interceptions, no tackles and no blocks in the entire 90 minutes. The oldest defender to play in the Manchester derby since Laurent Blanc in 2002 cannot shoulder the blame for such an inept display, but he should never have been within 50 miles of Haaland on Sunday. For Manchester City’s game-clinching second goal, he wasn’t much closer.
On another day, this could easily have been a humiliation on par with the famous 6-1 drubbing in 2011 under Roberto Mancini, had Andre Onana not pulled off several stunning stops, with Haaland wondering how on earth he did not add to his bulging collection of hat-trick match balls.
The rotting carcass of a footballing giant left to fester in these parts is not entirely Ten Hag’s fault – the recruitment in the post Sir Alex Ferguson era has been nothing short of catastrophic – but fielding a team this inadequate against the unrelenting noisy neighbours is unfathomable.
Sergio Reguilon was on the bench and came on – was he not fit enough to start in his recognised position over an out-of-form centre-back, up against the fleet-footed wizardry of Phil Foden?
There are further questions of the bodies selected further forward. With Casemiro not fit to make the United squad – Ten Hag went for a pivot of Sofyan Amrabat, who the United boss really pushed to sign, alongside Christian Eriksen, a figure that understandably does not have the engine he once had.
That left Scott McTominay as United’s most advanced midielder, with Bruno Fernandes deployed as a wide forward. Rodri didn’t have to break stride.
Injuries were again the company line after the match. But £55m Mason Mount was on the bench, another player Ten Hag pushed for.
The club have backed the Dutchman to sign the players he wants in the transfer market, a shift from their similarly unsuccessful approach of bringing in household names that could fit into any manager’s system.
Budgets have been tighter than in previous years, it must be said, with the Financial Fair Play inspectors camped in a parked car outside looking through a long camera lens. So why sign Mount, when he isn’t capable of fitting into a midfield in desperate need of a quality upgrade?
A line-up of this mediocre calibre just cannot wash in these parts, not for games of this magnitude. We have known this once great club are a shadow of their former selves for some time. But to not even give United a fighting chance from the off is just unacceptable. The fact the Dutchman does not seem to be learning his lessons is perhaps the most worrying element to a defeat everyone saw coming.
“First half we had a very good game plan and the execution was very good,” Ten Hag said. “When you see the first half it is toe to toe and the penalty changes the game.
“We could have returned in the game with the shot of McTominay just before half-time. From chances it was toe to toe and also in the previous games against them the probability [of winning] was there in all the games.”
It really wasn’t. A humiliating, record-book enshrining scoreline, one that really exposed the gaping chasm between the Manchester rivals, was what Ten Hag and United needed. A real wake-up call.
The gulf in quality in the spines of these rivals tells you all you need to know. Onana, Maguire, Amrabat and a raw Hojlund are playing a different sport to Ederson, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Haaland.
Haaland was lapping up the City celebrations in front of his adorning supporters at the end, and who could blame him. It was the most strenuous activity he had performed all day.
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