Manchester United suffered a sobering afternoon at the Etihad yesterday, losing the Manchester derby six goals to three.
Arsene Wenger has singled out some United players for specific criticism, following the heavy defeat.
As reported in The Mirror, speaking to beIN Sports, Wenger named Dalot, Antony and Jadon Sancho as players who didn’t do enough during the game.
Wenger began by saying that he felt United were particularly weak in wide areas, allowing City to control the first half and cause irreversible damage.
“What is unbelievable to me in the first half is that Man United have defended so poorly on the flanks. They were, in the whole half, flooded on the flanks and were always in trouble.
The former Arsenal boss then went on to say that he felt Sancho and Antony did not offer enough help to Dalot after he received a yellow card for a foul on Jack Grealish.
“From the first minute Dalot received a yellow card, and Sancho and Antony did not contribute defensively”.
The Frenchman then said he felt United weren’t good enough in possession when they had the ball, ultimately destroying any chance of them getting back into the game.
“They always wanted to go too fast forward and they lost so many balls and they didn’t have enough possession. They weren’t playing for possession, they just wanted to go on the counterattack.”
United have found success playing on the counterattack this season, using the tactic to good effect in impressive recent wins against Liverpool and Arsenal.
However, it wasn’t enough to get anything out of Manchester City, who blew Erik ten Hag’s side away with a dizzying display in the first half.
Ten Hag will need to dust off himself and his troops quickly, so it’s a cutthroat schedule between now and the next World Cup in November.
United have eight more games to play in October alone, starting with a trip to Cyprus to take on Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday night.
