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Rob Dawson, reporter
MANCHESTER, England – Many teams have already outdone Manchester United this season, and it’s easy to see why. Tottenham Hotspur has been revitalized under Ange Postecoglou, Arsenal are genuine title contenders, Roberto De Zerbe’s Brighton & Hove Albion are one of the best-coached teams in the Premier League, and Bayern Munich are in contention for the Champions League. However, last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace is almost inexplicable.
Of all the setbacks Erik ten Hag’s side has suffered this season, this is the biggest red flag of all. Now they are running out of excuses.
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Palace arrived at Old Trafford having won just three of their 14 away games in the Premier League, yet still found a way to inflict United’s fifth defeat of the season and fourth in the league. The loss represents United’s worst start to a league season in 34 years, and any hope of building on Ten Hag’s positive first year as manager appears already in tatters.
With time running out, substitute Harry Maguire sent an aimless pass through the legs of Alejandro Garnacho and out for a Palace throw-in, a remarkable twist in a United performance that lacked any structure or cohesion. As the final whistle blew, announcing a 1-0 win for the visiting team, and 76-year-old coach Roy Hodgson took to the pitch in the Manchester rain to congratulate his players, boos rang out across Old Trafford.
“I understand that,” Ten Hag said when asked about the reaction. “When we play at home or away and we face Crystal Palace, we have to win. With all respect, I know that every match in the English Premier League is very difficult, you have to play your best, and I understand that the fans expect to win and we did not win, we lost.”
This was supposed to be the point at which United’s season began to turn. Back-to-back wins over Burnley and Palace (in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday) were the perfect start to a run of seven home games before November 1, but Old Trafford is no longer the fortress it was last season. . Brighton inflicted their first home league defeat in more than a year when they won 3-1, but Palace repeated the trick just two weeks later, and there will be plenty of anxiety among fans who turn up here for the match against Galatasaray on Tuesday and against Brentford in the Premier League next week. four days.
He added: “We have now lost two matches in a row in the Premier League [at home] “We have to do better, that is definitely the case,” Ten Hag said. “We have to show it with our body language that Old Trafford is a castle and you can’t get anything here and the only thing you can get away with is.” With loss.
“I think I can’t blame the players and say they didn’t run. They did everything they could, but in the last part, in both boxes, we didn’t do a good job.”
What worries Ten Hag is that nothing seems to be going right. United did not score enough goals last season but appear to have made up for it by keeping a clean sheet. So far this season, they have managed just three out of nine matches in all competitions, while the problems at the other end remain the same.
Marcus Rashford, who scored 30 goals last season, has scored just one goal this season – the same number as he was signed in the summer for £72m. Rasmus Hoglund. Rashford was substituted with United still desperately searching for an equaliser, having already been outclassed by 19-year-old Jarnacho, who came off the bench on the hour mark.
“I suspect [Rashford] “He can do better and I’m sure he will come,” Ten Hag added. “He works hard and that’s what he does. He will score and he will come, but it won’t be automatic. The team has to invest a lot around him. Today, the decision-making wasn’t good enough.”
Ten Hag are still without key defenders Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and the Dutchman may be saddened that referee Chris Kavanagh did not spot a handball on Joel Ward in the second half against Palace, but more of a pass. Mention would only cover up the cracks that occurred during United’s season.
We’ve been here before. In recent history, both former managers Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suffered disastrous starts, were unable to stop the rot, and paid the price with their jobs. Ten Hag faces a similar problem and has to extract a tone from his players quickly or – inevitably – his head will be on the line.
And he can be happy that, after the booing had subsided throughout the match, the fans at the Stratford End, who had stayed until the end, applauded him in the tunnel. Ten Hag still retains the support of the majority of fans and club presidents who try to break the cycle of sacking managers when things get tough. But the results will not be allowed to decline forever, and the time for excuses is over.
