The only time Manchester United have suffered a goal-less start to a top-flight season, George Best and Denis Law were two of the club’s only goals.
Erik ten Hag’s unwanted record-breaking streak extends to United’s worst start to Premier League history The toothless Red Devils head into their second international break of the season having fallen to 14th place, already behind Liverpool by double-digit points.
Outside of a transfer window, there is no opportunity to buy more players familiar with the Eredivisie, but there are some tweaks that could be made to avoid reinforcing the long list of historic lows.
Ten Hag’s future has been a thorny topic since losing his second game in charge of the club to Brentford in humiliating fashion. The private whispers that the hierarchy is keen to keep the Dutchman competing for airtime with rumors of The imminent appointment of Thomas Tuchel.
Jonny Evans admitted the vortex of uncertainty swirling around the Ten Hag is “affecting the players”, after he shut out the noise to keep a clean sheet against Aston Villa. Any decision made by INEOS would be better than the deafening silence of continued uncertainty.
Ten Hag had two pictures of Johan Cruyff hanging on the walls of his office at Ajax. “I apply Cruyff’s ideals in my current work,” insisted the proud Dutchman, but his United side’s performance runs counter to everything his compatriot preached.
Cruyff’s footballing philosophy can be summed up in a couple of simple instructions: make the pitch as big as possible when you have the ball and as small as possible without it. Manchester United it somehow conspires to do the exact opposite, offering yawning chasms of open green grass for the opposition to plow through when they mistakenly try to press and drop deep at the same time.
These growing holes appear in midfield, which is why Kobbie Mainoo ages like a president after every 90 minutes spent frantically charging, but they are a consequence of the forwards and defensive backline not working in unison. As the first line presses halfway, a defense not blessed with pace drags more and more, stretching the height of the team like an accordion in full expansion.
United are almost more vulnerable when they have the ball, exposed helplessly as soon as the opposition force the ball to be lost anywhere in their own half. All three Liverpool’s goals in September they came from cheap freebies, while Twente’s Bart van Rooij and Tottenham Hotspur’s Micky van de Ven were able to quickly go through United’s soft center after losing possession.
“We want to be the best transition team in the world,” Ten Hag spectacularly declared during the summer of 2023. “We want to surprise. We want to play dynamic, we want to play with speed, we want to play aggressive, outside. of a very good team spirit, because that’s United.”
The Dutchman’s charges duly delivered during the 2023/24 campaign, becoming the only Premier League club to throw more than 100 direct attacks last season. Almost a quarter of United’s big chances came this way.
This term, only three clubs have attempted fewer shots after quick counter-attacks, with United still waiting for the first goal from such a profitable attack.
The new central role of United’s full-backs, partly dictated by Noussair Mazraoui’s profile and playing with right-winger Diogo Dalot on the left, has contributed to United’s advantage. Luke Shaw’s full recovery can’t come soon enough, but moving Dalot to his natural flank could also help.
Bruno Fernandes he received red cards in back-to-back appearances, but he has much bigger problems than his disciplinary record. The club captain has created just six Premier League chances in the first seven games this season, half of which came in the second weekend of the campaign in a defeat to Brighton. A whopping 68 Premier League players have been more effective in the final third than United’s creator-in-chief, including former team-mate Aaron Wan-Bissaka, for FBRef.
After averaging more than three key passes per game over the previous two campaigns, Fernandes has slumped to a woeful 0.9 ratio. The last time Fernandes created an average of less than one chance per game was almost a decade ago, during his second season at Udinese in 2014/15.
United have been dangerously reliant on Fernandes’ creative powers since his arrival at the start of 2020. In a way, it is remarkable that they are only now suffering the painful consequences of his declining form. Winless Crystal Palace have had more shots than the Red Devils and only slumping Southampton can point to fewer goals than Ten Hag’s rebellious charges this term.
Since the start of last summer, Fernandes has made 75 appearances for club and country, losing just six possible games. The Portugal international is on the move again this month with trips to Poland and Scotland. He will surely have to take some time off to shoulder the burden of all of United’s offensive output.
