Conceding four goals before the break: Erik ten Hag’s starting eleven must be questioned.
Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen continued their role as central midfielders in the Manchester United squad today. The pair, perhaps unsurprisingly, were completely outmatched by their opponents.
İlkay Gündoğan, Bernando Silva and Kevin de Bruyne stood out against a mediocre, unfit and unprepared United midfield. The trio’s silky control and flawless passing won over Eriksen and McTominay.
Although Eriksen has been perhaps United’s player of the season so far with his signing on key passes just around the corner, the Dane put in a less than stellar performance; however, these occasional games can be expected throughout the season, if one were any good.
However, Ten Hag’s decision to form McTominay was initially surprising due to the Scotsman’s style of play.
McTominay’s most useful asset is his physicality, a trait Ten Hag likes to utilize given the fairly light nature of attackers.
This physicality, however, was unnecessary.
Manchester City’s midfield today averages 1.78m, hardly the all-conquering giants that McTominay can be useful to go up against, especially given Rodri’s absence on the flank.
Indeed, City score goals against everyone, as evidenced today, but show their dominance against inferior teams to a demeaning degree.
What do the lower teams rely on to compete and fight to stay in the Premier League? Physicality.
Did Ten Hag therefore play into the hands of Guardiola and City?
Casemiro, arguably the best central defensive midfielder in the world for the past decade, was left on the bench once again. The Brazilian is known for his ability to cut passing lanes and dominate La Liga midfields, midfields that are known for their reliance on technical skills and lack of physical presence.
Forgetting the gulf in footballing ability and intelligence between McTominay and Casemiro, Ten Hag preferred a fit player rather than one who had adapted to this specific game.
With Casemiro in the team, Eriksen could have been given more license to move the ball upfield, something he struggled with enormously today, perhaps because he played so deep, was swarmed by the City midfield and positioned closely. in the compact central area of the field. .
Ten Hag’s call to start McTominay on a double pivot with Eriksen should be seen as a lack of foresight, though it should be recognized that he couldn’t have guessed that Eriksen would perform so poorly.
Instead of relying on McTominay’s physicality, Ten Hag may have been smarter in starting Casemiro. He may have been better suited to cancel out this silky control and flawless passing that rules United today.
