Talk about pathetic fallacy, huh? As the clouds darkened and the rain poured down, Erik ten Hag ran out of water onto the Old Trafford turf.
The Theater of Dreams had turned into a pit of misery as the stands emptied and Tottenham fans reveled in their team’s victory. Spurs were very impressive on Sunday afternoon, but there’s no escaping how poor Manchester United were.
Where does Ten Hag go from here? It’s a question that has been asked endlessly over the past two years, and the direction this club is heading under the Dutchman remains ambiguous.
Sunday’s performance was a disgrace and while much of the credit has to be put on the manager, these United players certainly didn’t perform anywhere near the level we did think they are capable of it.
Here were United’s best and worst players in their 3-0 defeat to Tottenham based on our player ratings.
Andre Onana – 6/10
If there is united player who can escape Old Trafford with some credibility, is Onana. Some of his ball work wasn’t great, but the Man Utd keeper ensured the hosts didn’t succumb to a cricket goal.
A rampant Tottenham created NINE great chances and, according to some models, more than five goals expected. Onana could do nothing to deny Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke, but were slightly tricked by a slick finish from Dejan Kulusevski just after the break.
The Cameroon striker hasn’t necessarily made any outstanding saves and has been aided by a couple of terrible finishes from Timo Werner, but he has at least frustrated the visitors by showing some level of competence.
Bruno Fernandes – 1/10
Ten Hag cannot hide behind Fernandes’ red card on the brink of half-time in mitigation of his side’s abject defeat. Man Utd were also widely outplayed when it was 11-v-11.
Fernandes’ rating is of course affected by his red card, which some thought was harsh as he slipped, but nevertheless caught James Maddison with a bit of a lunge. The video assistant referee was never going to overrule Chris Kavanagh’s decision on the pitch.
When on the pitch, the United skipper had little or no positive influence. Passes were often overmatched, ball retention seemed beyond his reach, and his work off the ball was quite deplorable. Rodrigo Bentancur joined him at the base of the midfield.
On the bright side, this might be the last time I have to play with Ten Hag.
Dishonorable mentions
Diogo Dalot – 2/10
The afternoon might have looked a little different at least if Diogo Dalot had bothered to follow Johnson’s run for the opener.
no no If Dalot bothered to get within 50 feet of Johnson.
The Portugal international set the tone for an awful afternoon with his woeful defending.
Manuel Ugarte & Noussair Mazraoui – 3/10
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham are relentless in their desire to create central overloads and access their playmakers between the lines. This made Ten Hag’s United the perfect opposition given the space they give up in the middle of the park, and Manuel Ugarte struggled in his first Premier League start
He is a midfielder who excels in duels, but he is not a supreme athlete who can cover large spaces and his eagerness can get him into trouble at times. Kulusevski and Maddison went their separate ways with the new arrival. His positioning left Ugarte constantly in a state of reaction, with the United midfielder often too slow to keep up with his brilliant interplay. The Uruguayan offered nothing in possession and was booked in the second half for bringing down Kulusevski.
United’s fielders struggled everywhere and none of the full-backs were covered in glory.
In addition to Dalot, Mazraoui was also woeful, and Werner had continuously made him wander.
