Well, that didn’t last long.
The sadness and gloom that theoretically arose from the much-maligned departure of Erik ten Hag six days ago hung over Old Trafford during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. In a game that was deadlocked, United’s lead – which was won with a Bruno Fernandes penalty – lasted four minutes before Moises Caicedo volleyed the visitors level.
Lisandro Martinez did well to avoid a red card for a late lunge on Cole Palmer, capturing the frustration seeping from a side still 13th in the Premier League table.
It would not be fair to expect Ruud van Nistelrooy to solve a problem that has plagued him Manchester United for years in less than a week. However, he must have been able to do something to prevent these red-shirted strangers from running aimlessly in the final third of the pitch.
United’s press has not worked for many seasons, if ever, and it was once again a strange mess of performative sprints by individuals that led to nothing. The hosts forced three high turnovers thanks to Chelsea’s sloppiness rather than their energy.
At first glance, Rasmus Hojlund was more involved Sunday than he has been all season. The determined Dane racked up his maximum number of touches for the campaign, but all but one of those involvements went wide. Chelseathe penalty area.
As Van Nistelrooy, a striker who scored 149 of his 150 Manchester United goals from the edge of the penalty area, looked on, Hoijlund was uncharacteristically withdrawn. Carved across the width of the attacking half, United’s number nine kept his game painfully simple, spurning multiple opportunities to play a quick pass to Alejandro Garnacho. Everyone would have liked it if Hojlund had been the end of those passes that never came.
The only time the direct 21-year-old was picked out with a dart forward, he won United a penalty which Fernandes converted.
Van Nistelrooy predicted that Manuel Ugarte would become “a great United player” ahead of Chelsea’s visit. To be fair, the Dutchman never specified exactly when this would happen.
Making just the second Premier League start of his confusing few months in Manchester, Ugarte was unable to keep pace in a competition that was not played at a particularly fast pace. The quality of passing that Van Nistelrooy tentatively described as “very decent” was a far cry from that uncertain representation.
Ugarte’s (relative) strengths lie outside of possession. However, the combative midfielder repeatedly came out on the wrong side of those battles, losing nine of his 11 duels. Ugarte was booked early on and still managed to rack up six fouls – a single-game tally that only one player can top in the Premier League this season.
