This was actually a progressive Manchester United performance in many ways.
They were missing key players and lost their captain Bruno Fernandes at half-time. Yet in players like Luke Shaw, young centre-half Ayden Heaven, left-back Patrick Dorgu and reborn midfielder Mason Mount, they had some of the best players on the field.
With manager Ruben Amorim asking his two wing-backs to push high, United managed to get bodies in to midfield and play from there. Ultimately, they were beaten by two superb goals from Morgan Rogers and sometimes that happens.
‘Goals can change the narrative and that’s what happened here,’ said Amorim afterwards. ‘Sometimes it’s not about the fact you suffer goals but the kind of goals you suffer. We know Rogers can do what he did today. We were the better team here but sometimes the best team doesn’t win.’
Amorim was right in all of that. His response to this defeat was logical and rationale. But the burning question is why a team capable of playing like this against the Premier League’s form teams has just played West Ham, Everton and Bournemouth at home and not beaten any of them. That is what should trouble the United manager as he heads towards a huge home game with Newcastle on Boxing Day.
The fact is that his team have kept one clean sheet all season – at home to Sunderland in October – has won just seven out of 17 Premier League games and – since what was supposed to be a transformative victory at Liverpool in mid-October – has claimed victory in only three of the eight games that followed.
No matter what happens to performances, those numbers just have to improve.
Ruben Amorim must reverse his team’s uneven fortunes fast ahead of facing Newcastle
A striking problem
With so much money being spent on centre-forwards in the Premier League over the summer, some of the guys with the big price tags are finally starting to show their worth.
Indeed Nick Woltemade at Newcastle, Liverpool pair Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, Chelsea’s Joao Pedro and even Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokores all scored this weekend.
United’s Benjamin Sesko continues to struggle, however. With just two goals to his name so far in his debut United season, the big Slovenian looked miles off it here at Villa Park. The 22-year-old only had a couple of half chances – once he was denied by Emiliano Martinez and once he took a dreadfully heavy touch – but it was Sesko’s general lack of involvement or threat that will have worried Amorim the most.
Some strikers go through bad runs looking as though they will score any moment. Others look like they never will and sadly Sesko is in this latter category at the moment.
Worse still for United, with Bryan Mbeumo now away at AFCON with Cameroon, Sesko is likely going to have to play against Newcastle on Friday.
No panic is the right move
With United short of bodies due to injuries and international absences, the temptation to panic and spend money in January is clearly there. Let’s face it, United have been here before.
Speaking at his post-match press conference at Villa Park, however, Amorim seemed to suggest that wouldn’t be the case.
‘We cant go in to January and try to do everything with urgency,’ said Amorim. ‘Here we could make mistakes so I am not going to sit here and say we will need lots of new players. We have a plan and if we need to suffer in the meantime then so be it. We know we are going to suffer without all these players but I still think we should stick to the plan.’
Some feel that Amorim has a habit of talking too much and saying things that create headlines. Here, though, he struck exactly the right tone.
United’s transfer strategy has been so erratic over the years that it is this that, among other things, that has brought them to where they are now. It can’t go on.
Amorim knows some things at the football club have to change. He mentioned culture yet again at the weekend and another one is how they recruit players. He is right to urge caution and it’s understood that director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada are on the same page.
Academy prospect Jack Fletcher was a bright spot on a difficult afternoon for Man United
A chink of light from the academy
After all the noise around Kobbie Mainoo last week, the young United midfielder may have ended up with some minutes here. When captain Bruno Fernandes didn’t reappear after half-time because of injury, defender Lisandro Martinez was sent on in midfield. Martinez can play there and did a more than decent job but the fact is that Mainoo probably would have played had he had not picked up an injury of his own.
There was some positive news in terms of United’s young players, though, as teenager Jack Fletcher came off the bench for the final 20 minutes to make his first team debut.
The son of former United midfielder Darren, young Fletcher equipped himself well, winning the ball in the tackle two of three times and doing what he could to drive his team forwards.
His father was always a player whose first instinct was to look forwards as soon as he got the ball. Young Jack was very much the same here and actually had his team’s final shot on target of the game, drilling a ball in to Emi Martinez’s midriff from 22 yards in the 90th minute.
One excuse Amorim doesn’t have
United do finally look – at least on occasions like this – like a team that is starting to understand what their manager wants them to do.
This was a pretty well-drilled performance at Villa Park against a team for whom everything is going right.
However, this is how it should be. While other Premier League teams are playing European and Carabao Cup football, United are largely being asked to play just one game a week.
Not in Europe and knocked out of the League Cup at Grimsby back in August, Amorim’s team have only played one game since that humbling on the east coast that hasn’t been on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
This translates in to lots of rest and lots of time on the training field. If Amorim and his coaches aren’t going top get things right this season then it’s reasonable to suggest they maybe never will.
