More Tik-Tok worries for Erik ten Hag, the sound of a clock counting down towards an inevitable conclusion.
And to think there were some who saw a Ten Hag masterpiece unfolding when Manchester United led at half-time.
Ye gods. Let this be the result, an 11th Premier League defeat this season, that seals his fate as United manager.
Since there were few takers for a United goal, let alone victory before the game, the Ten Hag apologists were perhaps being swept along in a euphoric haze.
The truth was United were under siege, reliant more on City’s failure to outfox a packed defence and a rare bout of profligacy from Erling Haaland, who somehow managed to miss from a yard with the goal gaping.
He would set that right late in the match with a gassed United all over the place. Before that, Phil Foden, the outstanding player on view, matched Marcus Rashford’s epic strike to bring City level and then settle a sense of proportion on the afternoon with a second 10 minutes from time.
Foden did what great players do on the big occasion, forged a result that might have gone against his team, no matter how much of the ball they enjoyed.
This used to be the gift of Manchester United, a team that refused to accept a losing position, and that had, as City do now, the calibre of footballer to do something about it.
And this on a day when City’s headliners failed to shine. Kevin De Bruyne was subdued, Haaland ineffective until he got his mop out in added time, Bernardo Silva unusually quiet and Jeremy Doku underwhelming.
City relied on the systemic rhythms they know by heart and the maturing of Foden into a player who would have found a home in Guardiola’s great Barcelona construct.
City at 60 per cent were too good for a United team that did not believe they were good enough.
With his big coat, bald pate and pipe-cleaner legs, Ten Hag does a passable impression of his opposite number. When it comes to coaching a team, however, the comparison with Guardiola collapses.
City’s dominance of the ball if not the match was absolute. United had led since the eighth minute. Rashford will probably never score a better goal, lashed in from the edge of the box off the underside of the bar. Pure.
But it was United’s only shot on target, and one of just three attempts in the entire match, the fewest by any team against City this season. City rained 27 shots on United’s goal, the consequence of 74 per cent possession.
United, relying on counters, had nil idea what to do with the ball when they broke into City’s half, the man in possession quickly consumed by the light-blue pack scrapping to regain possession. This was the very opposite of the United template identified by new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe: fearful, cowed, panicked.
City worked the ball at will, each pass further stripping United of credibility. United might as well have been Burnley for all the threat they presented.
If a low block is great tactics, Ten Hag got it spot on in a first half during which a mass or red shirts defended their box like firemen frantically pumping water in a flood. When City did find space to shoot, Andre Onana did his job. The one clear opening fell to Haaland, who whacked it over the bar.
Ten Hag complained wildly about Kyle Walker’s challenge on Rashford that immediately preceded Foden’s equaliser. Rashford was locked in a negative attitude that placed a higher premium on taking time out of the game rather than bearing down on City’s goal, which was his other option instead of going down. Walker took possession of the ball and began the sequence that brought City level.
Ten Hag’s tantrum on the touchline was gaslighting, the action of a man looking for excuses instead of solutions. The defeat at home to Fulham a week ago bore the same architectural flaws.
Ten Hag points to the players he has missing when in reality, those he has available have lost all sense of purpose and drive. They came to the Etihad to avoid defeat not to pursue victory, a shameful betrayal of United’s values and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s vision.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/sfj52JK
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