MANCHESTER UNITED GAME REVIEW AS RED DEVILS FALL TO DERBY DOUBLE
GAME REVIEW AS UNITED
FALL TO THE CITY DOUBLE
GAME REVIEW FROM
MANCHESTER CITY 4-1 MANCHESTER UNITED
-Samarth Purohit and Mitansh Kagalwala
Sunday night saw Manchester City take on Manchester United
in the much awaited Manchester Derby. No one was really in any doubt about who
the favourites for the Derby were, given City’s recent excellent form, and
United’s recent poor run. The Red Devils were also missing key defenders Luke
Shaw and Raphael Varane, while Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo also weren’t
in the squad. Here’s what we made of it:
United’s Finishing:
United had a good first 45 minutes, going toe-to-toe with
their neighbours. The Red Devils fashioned a few chances at goal with good
passes and crosses into the box, but failed to capitalize, continuing their
worrying trend of being wasteful in front of goal.
Bruno Fernandes:
With both Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani out of the
squad, United were without a striker. This might work well for City, but it
failed miserably for United. This meant that Bruno Fernandes was playing almost
as a false 9, with Paul Pogba taking up creative responsibility in midfield.
For all of Fernandes’s qualities, the Portuguese is not a striker, and it
showed. United lacked a focal point when building from the back, and the move
bit back doubly as Fernandes’s considerable creative and passing qualities were
squashed in a more offensive role. At his best, Fernandes is one of the best
playmakers in the world, and Rangnick needs to figure out how to get the best
out of him and his squad.
United's Right Side:
Ralf Rangnick opted to start Aaron Wan Bissaka over Diogo
Dalot for the Derby, hoping that the Englishman would provide some much-needed
defensive solidity to the United backline. The move backfired, however, with Wan
Bissaka not having his best game: City’s first two goals came from the right
side. While Diogo Dalot is defensively not the greatest fullback, his attacking
instincts and technical skills are an improvement over Wan Bissaka. His exclusion
meant United lacked an attacking outlet down the right side, leaving Elanga as
United’s only right sided attacker, and that City always had an extra man on
the right side to shut down United’s attack. Wan Bissaka didn’t have a good
game defensively either, struggling against the movement of Jack Grealish and
Phil Foden, who got past him too easily on way too many occasions.
United’s Midfield, Centre-Backs and David De Gea:
For another time this season, United were playing with a
non-existent midfield. The McFred double pivot was never meant to be a long
term solution, and they offered no defensive cover, nor exerted any attacking influence
on the game, with City able to pass their way through extremely easily. Paul
Pogba had a game to forget, while Bruno Fernandes’s advanced role meant United
lacked his creative spark in the centre of the pitch. United’s midfield looked
lost, something that isn’t shown better than by the fact that City had over
2/3rds possession, with 92% of the ball in a 15-minute period. Further, United
only complete 16 passes in the final 10 minutes, and one of those was from
kick-off.
Harry Maguire was actually half-decent in the first half, making
some crucial clearances. However, he seemed to give up in the final 20 minutes,
with the City forwards bulldozing past him easily. It is no secret United need
a new centre-back in the summer, but with performances like these, people may
wonder if the captain’s time at Old Trafford is finally up.
Victor Lindelof has probably been United’s best centre-back
this season, with Raphael Varane injured and Harry Maguire out of form, but the
Swede was one of the worst players on the pitch on Sunday. He was nowhere to be
seen for the first goal, while he rushed out of position foolishly, leaving
empty space behind, for the second. Phil Foden looped the ball over with a
delightful, deft touch, before using the space to shoot, leading to De Bruyne
and City’s second from the rebound.
David De Gea has inarguably been United’s best player this
season, with the Spaniard’s shot stopping ability second to none. However, in
the modern game, that is not all that is required of a goalkeeper.
Unfortunately, De Gea’s box command, passing, build-up play, and sweeping abilities
fall short of the mark. This puts extra pressure on United’s already fragile
defense, leading to huge chances and goals conceded. De Gea’s dodgy passes and
clearances put United on the back foot; it was his terrible clearance which led
to City’s fourth on Sunday.
Some positives:
Positives were few and far between on Sunday for United, but
Jadon Sancho was the brightest. The talented Englishman is finally coming into
his own at United, continuing his excellent recent form. The Englishman was
solely responsible for United’s solitary goal, dancing onto his right foot and
then wrapping a curling effort into the far bottom corner for a wonderful goal.
It’s not hard to see why United spent 85 million euros for Sancho, with the
club clearly looking to build around the outrageously talented Englishman in
the future.
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