What Ten Hag needs to address as United prepare for Spurs test
Casemiro needs some midfield help, Marcus Rashford must be involved more and Andre Onana should be careful! What Erik ten Hag has to address as Man United prepare for tough Tottenham test
- Manchester United head to Tottenham in a tough fixture on Saturday night
- Their fortuitous win over Wolves will have given Erik ten Hag lots to think about
- WATCH: ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ – Episode 1 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show
The last time Ange Postecoglou came up against Manchester United was in drastically different circumstances.
Back in 2000, European champions United had sparked outrage by withdrawing from the FA Cup to travel to Brazil and compete in the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup.
It didn’t go well. After a disappointing draw with Mexican team Necaxa, in which David Beckham got himself sent off, they were beaten 3-1 in the Maracana by South America’s best team Vasco da Gama and pretty much knocked out.
But there was still one match to play and that was against Oceania champions South Melbourne, led by a 35-year-old Postecoglou who was in his first coaching job.
The Aussie coach was realistic about his team’s chances pre-match: ‘Obviously we’re coming from worlds apart. It’s hard to know how you’re going to go out there and compete.’
Ange Postecoglou and Erik ten Hag will go head-to-head at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Quinton Fortune celebrates scoring for Manchester United against Ange Postecoglou’s South Melbourne in the 2000 FIFA Club World Cup in Brazil
David Beckham in action against the Australian side in a match United won 2-0 in Rio
Postecoglou is pictured lifting the National Soccer League trophy in Australia as a South Melbourne player (left) and as their coach (right)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xJt4IR08c0U%3Frel%3D0
In the end, they didn’t do too badly, losing 2-0 to a much-rotated United side. South African Quinton Fortune scored both goals.
United required Vasco to beat Necaxa by three clear goals in order to squeeze into the third-place play-off but the Brazilians only won 2-1 so Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were jetting home.
Twenty-three years on and Postecoglou has come a long way – both geographically and in terms of coaching – as he prepares to lead Tottenham into battle against United this Saturday evening.
While last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Brentford showed up a few Spurs deficiencies to work on, it’s his counterpart Erik ten Hag who has much more to ponder ahead of the contest.
Although United scraped a 1-0 win, their performance against Wolves on Monday night was a long way off the standards expected if they’re to challenge this season.
We take a look at some of the issues Ten Hag urgently needs to address ahead of United’s trip to north London.
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GET A GRIP IN MIDFIELD!
The one startling revelation about Monday night’s game was just how wide open United were in midfield.
Wolves were allowed 23 shots on the United goal – the most in a Premier League game at Old Trafford since Chelsea had 25 in November 2005.
The pace and directness of Matheus Nunes and Matheus Cunha, in particular, gave United all manner of problems with Casemiro left to try and cover enormous swathes of pitch.
Ten Hag started with new signing Mason Mount but his priority was in supporting No 10 Bruno Fernandes and the front line rather than breaking up Wolves attacks.
It all left United unbalanced in midfield and lacking the necessary bite to stop Wolves attacks at source.
The introduction of Christian Eriksen for Mount in the second-half settled things a little but they were still clinging on for dear life at the end with Wolves coming away unfortunate to lose.
Mason Mount (left) and Casemiro (right) are given the runaround by Wolves’ Nelson Semedo
The Brazilian, struggling here to keep pace with Matheus Nunes, needs more help in midfield
Christian Eriksen replaced Mount during the second-half and helped provide some stability
WATCHING BRIEF
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs MANCHESTER UNITED
Premier League; Saturday 5.30pm UK
Live on Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and Ultra HDR
Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live
Spurs’ speedy and creative players like Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski will be licking their lips reviewing footage from that last game given all the gaps to exploit.
Ten Hag has a decision to make. It seems quite early to demote £60m Mount to the bench but he will need to take on a greater share of defensive duties if he plays at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Eriksen could offer more balance, given he worked well in tandem with Casemiro last season, or the manager could opt for Scott McTominay, who came off the bench very late on against Wolves.
Whatever the decision, United must get a handle on midfield or they’ll be punished given Postecoglou will set Spurs up to attack at every opportunity.
GET RASHFORD MORE INVOLVED
Moved into a central position with Rasmus Hojlund not yet ready to play, Marcus Rashford had one of his quieter evenings on Monday.
United’s 30-goal leading scorer from last season had just 31 touches of the ball and only eight of those were inside the Wolves box.
He looked frustrated to be involved so infrequently, especially as Alejandro Garnacho, playing in Rashford’s usual position on the left, had several opportunities to run at the Wolves back line – with mixed results.
Marcus Rashford struggled to make much impact in United’s fortuitous 1-0 win over Wolves
Rashford played as a centre forward on Monday, as opposed to his customary left-sided role
His goal put United 2-0 up at Tottenham last season before they chucked away the lead to draw
United typically channelled the ball out to the wings, rather than through the centre and Rashford wasn’t quite able to influence proceedings as he often does.
He may well return to his left-sided role this Saturday but that means finding someone else to play through the middle, with £72m Hojlund still a few weeks away from action as his back issue is managed.
Jadon Sancho, who came on for Garnacho, played through the centre in some of the pre-season games and his pace could cause Spurs issues.
Both Sancho and Rashford netted in the corresponding fixture last season, which saw United toss away a 2-0 lead, so potentially this set up could trouble Spurs again.
STOP GIVING THE BALL AWAY
United gave the ball away 81 times against Wolves, which is absolutely shocking.
Fair enough, a lot of these came from Garnacho and Antony trying to take on defenders and make something happen, which should be encouraged.
But sloppiness crept in all over the pitch and it would have driven control freak Ten Hag mad.
Wolves should have punished United but Tottenham certainly will and there needs to be more care going when in possession as it’ll be tougher to get it back.
Jadon Sancho could take up a central role at Spurs, allowing Rashford to return to the left side
Alejandro Garnacho was full of intent – if not always execution – during the win over Wolves
There were nascent signs of the way Ten Hag wants United to build out from the back, with new goalkeeper Andre Onana trusting his defenders with the ball in confined spaces.
That led to some hairy moments when Wolves pressed but it’s going to be a work in progress and Onana offers the ability to bypass the press with a long diagonal, or low zipped pass to Casemiro or Mount centrally, in a way David de Gea couldn’t.
Get boxed in too many times against Spurs, however, and United will be asking for trouble.
ONANA AND MARTINEZ NEED TO BE CAREFUL
Wolves were rightly annoyed not to be awarded a late penalty when Onana, having totally misjudged a cross, clattered their giant Austrian striker Sasa Kalajdzic.
It led to recognition from referees’ chief Howard Webb that on-field official Simon Hooper and VAR Michael Salisbury got the call wrong even after reviewing all the replays.
It tainted an otherwise encouraging Premier League debut for Onana but he will need to be careful when it comes to charging off his line to take charge of high balls.
Man United ‘keeper Andre Onana (middle black shirt) clatters Wolves’ Sasa Kalajdzic (right)
Onana wasn’t penalised despite a clear contact with Kalajdzic during stoppage time
Given the events of the other night, it’s unlikely he will get away with charging into an opponent again.
It’s a balance, though, because United explicitly wanted a keeper willing to come off his line and take command of such situations, in a way De Gea was reticent to do.
A similar caution needs to come from Lisandro Martinez. Playing competitively for the first time since he fractured his metatarsal against Sevilla in April, the man nicknamed ‘the Butcher’ was booked for a reckless tackle on Pedro Neto.
Ten Hag took him off at half-time but said afterwards it was because the Argentine was suffering with an ankle tendon issue.
Injury or not, given the way Wolves were charging at the heart of United’s defence, Martinez’s 17th-minute booking left him walking a tightrope and Ten Hag doesn’t need that worry.
Lisandro Martinez picked up an early booking against Wolves before being subbed off
PATIENCE NEEDED IF SPURS DICTATE
United barely shaded the possession stakes against Wolves – 51 per cent to 49 per cent – which was not quite the control Ten Hag would have demanded.
Spurs, by contrast, saw 70 per cent of the ball at Brentford, albeit they were unable to take all three points.
Having averaged 50 per cent possession under Antonio Conte last season, this was a clear indication of how Postecoglou wants them to play.
It means United might not see much of the ball on Saturday, with Spurs looking to dominate in front of their own fans.
They work well on the transition and the counter with their rapid wide attackers but they’ll also probably be required to soak up a lot of pressure as well and be patient in waiting for gaps to appear.
Let’s not forget that Spurs have just been neutered of their main attacking threat in Harry Kane but there will still be danger with Richarlison, Son, Maddison and others working even harder to fill that void.
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