United In Focus - Manchester United FC News

Manchester United slumped to another damaging home defeat on Sunday afternoon, losing 3-0 at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

Erik ten Hag needed a statement performance and result on Sunday, having only managed to draw 1-1 with FC Twente on Wednesday night.

Tottenham Hotspur visited Old Trafford and fans were looking for a major improvement with almost a full-strength squad for Ten Hag to choose from.

Instead, we saw a dismal display as Manchester United lost 3-0 without even really laying a glove on Spurs.

Bruno Fernandes’ straight red card didn’t help matters but United were comfortably second best even before his dismissal.

United have managed just one goal in three home Premier League games this season and another defeat leaves Ten Hag under pressure.

Rio Ferdinand on Andre Onana

Few United players came out of Sunday’s defeat with any credit.

Only one United player managed a rating higher than 6 out of 10 in the United in Focus player ratings against Tottenham.

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That player was goalkeeper Andre Onana as the United stopper at least attempted to provide some resistance.

Onana racked up seven saves and it’s fair to say that United’s fate would have been much, much worse without him.

Rio Ferdinand has now moved to praise Onana whilst speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

Ferdinand noted that Onana received a lot of criticism last season but has really ‘stepped up’ this term.

The former United defender feels that Onana is now turning in performances expected of him after his big move from Inter Milan.

Ferdinand added that Onana is the only player who deserves credit from Sunday’s game, praising him for a strong start to the season.

“Do you know how I’ve got to give a shout out to? He took a lot of stick last season – Onana,” said Ferdinand.

“Without him, it’s six or seven today. Onana has been good this season, he’s stepped up, he’s made some big saves.

“Yes, there’s been the odd thing here and there, but he’s been what you’d want to see, what I expected to see from Onana is what I’m seeing this season.

“He’s the only one today who comes out of the game with any sort of credit, any sort of positivity. He can walk with his head high,” he added.

Onana could have new competition

United invested big money in Onana, paying up to £47million to lure him to Old Trafford.

Onana was the top choice for boss Ten Hag after working together at Ajax and he has cemented himself as United’s first-choice stopper.

United also signed Altay Bayindir just weeks after signing Onana, snapping up the Fenerbahce stopper as backup to Onana.

Bayindir has barely featured for United though and reports suggest that United are looking to sign Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.

Onana would still be first choice though and has proven that he can be relied upon in the long term, even if Ten Hag – the man who signed him – meets his end this season.

Manchester United were beaten 3-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur to pile the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag.

Even before Bruno Fernandes’ red card, Manchester United were serving up a rancid performance at home to Spurs.

Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke scored the goals, with Manchester United once again failing to get on the scoresheet.

Wherever you look, in defence, midfield or attack, United were second best. Only goalkeeper Andre Onana really emerged with any credit.

Dejan Kulusevski tore Man Utd apart

Manchester United conceded a goal early in the second half, just like the first. Dejan Kulusevski was the player who took advantage of sloppy defending to score at the near post.

Kulusevski did more damage beyond his goal, his array of passing helped to cut Manchester United’s defence apart, choosing the right time to make his passes and executing perfectly.

The Sweden international created nine goalscoring chances during Tottenham’s 3-0 victory, the highest on record for a visiting player at Old Trafford.

According to Opta, who began tracking chance created statistics in the 2003/04 season, no away player has created nine chances against Manchester United.

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That is how good Kulusevski was – and conversely, just how bad Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United were.

Cristiano Ronaldo tipped Kulusevski for greatness

Dejan Kulusevski is a former protege of former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo, whose career at the club came to an abrupt end under Erik ten Hag.

Kulusevski played alongside Ronaldo in Serie A at Juventus, before the Portugal international rejoined United in 2021.

Ronaldo backed the winger, quoted by The MEN: “He is a great talent. He will help us to win and achieve incredible things.

“I really like to see him, he has a great potential, and he’s an excellent player.”

Now playing for Tottenham, you could argue Kulusevski has not realised his ‘greatness’ yet – but against Manchester United at the weekend he looked like a world-beater.

Whether that says more about the winger, or more about Erik ten Hag’s United, is open to debate.

Manchester United put in their worst performance of the season as they lost 3-0 to Tottenham.

There was a growing hope around Old Trafford that Manchester United would finally form an identity and style of play this season now that a footballing structure behind the scenes has been put in place.

There were certainly signs that United’s defence was improving this season after adding the likes of Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt to the back four.

But after being cut through for Twente’s equaliser midweek, the same happened against Spurs after just three minutes when Micky van de Ven dribbled half of the pitch before setting up Brennan Johnson.

Diogo Dalot was slammed for his “criminal” defending in the lead-up to the goal after he failed to follow Johnson’s run into the box.

The Portuguese full-back, who was signed by United for £19m in 2018, has been one of United’s best and most consistent performers this season but it all fell apart against Spurs.

Erik ten Hag ignored Diogo Dalot warning signs

United have thankfully managed to avoid the injury problems that plagued last season, but the one position which has been a problem is at left-back.

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When Luke Shaw returns from injury, he will likely slot back into United’s back four, but with Tyrell Malacia also injured Erik ten Hag has had to be inventive.

Diogo Dalot has filled in at left-back, but he has been relied on too often this season. Ahead of United’s clash against Twente, Ten Hag was urged to rest Dalot as he had started every match of the 2024/25 season.

However, Ten Hag ignored the warning signs and started the 25-year-old against Twente and Spurs, meaning he has still started every game this season and played 783 minutes of football.

That is more than any other United player this season, and it showed on Sunday.

Dalot was caught jogging back to mark Johnson which led to Tottenham’s opener. He has one of the most demanding jobs on the pitch with Ten Hag asking him to drift into midfield while also overlapping on the left and tracking back.

Not resting Dalot against Twente was a huge mistake and it came back to haunt Ten Hag against Tottenham.

Erik ten Hag is at fault

Over the summer, Ineos ensured that Ten Hag had two quality options in every position heading into the new season.

It is clear that the Dutchman is trying to manage minutes to avoid an injury crisis like last season, but there has been a huge oversight at left-back.

Even with Shaw and Malacia injured, Ten Hag experimented with Toby Collyer at left-back against Barnsley and the academy star impressed.

But Dalot was shifted to right-back for that game so he was still not given a rest.

Manchester United would perhaps be thankful that their next game is in just three days because this one can’t get out of their memory soon enough.

A 0-3 defeat, a red card for the captain, and a performance where even that scoreline feels unfair for the winning team sum up a terrible day at the office.

Coming off of two encouraging performances, if not results, this was marked as the game where the team needed to put it all together.

Only the ruthless edge was missing, as everyone stressed, but the whole machine was blunt was Tottenham as they succumbed to bad habits of last season.

There’s plenty of blame to go around, as is the case with every defeat, especially one as heavy as this, but not all is doom and gloom.

The one who never gives up

So bad was the performance from United that nobody really needed to have a blinder of a day to be recognised as the “best of the rest”.

At its core, football fans demand just one thing from their team- relentless determination to try and succeed.

Of course, the result will not always fall in their favour, but lack of effort antagonises more than lack of results which is why Christian Eriksen’s claim after the draw vs FC Twente that the opponents wanted it more was so remarkable.

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One player epitomised this relentless drive to succeed vs Tottenham, and in turn, fans repaid his effort, singing passionately for him and standing on their feet even when all was lost.

That player was Alejandro Garnacho, as the youngest member of the attack on the day was the only one outfield player who could come off the field knowing he tried his best.

It won’t show up in stats, and his name is obviously absent from the goals and assists column, but the intangible qualities like determination, drive, not giving up, and starting from scratch repeatedly were clear in his game.

He became United’s only outlet, especially in the second half when the game stretched in United’s favour.

Garnacho constantly tried to make things happen, running at the defence or prompting one-twos with teammates to get behind the opposition.

On another day, something might have come off and he would have dragged United back into the game but nothing was going to be positive for United on the day.

Old Trafford serenades Alejandro Garnacho

It happened around the 65th minute when United were actually in the ascendancy and looking semi-threatening as Spurs started dawdling on the ball.

United’s gameplan was simple- win the ball back, pass to Garnacho and see him try to take on his defender and create chances.

He won a corner through a dribble and then a few minutes later was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Cristian Romero as he tried to run past him.

The Old Trafford faithful like the “Viva Garnacho” song as one of their favourites anyway but that little passage of play had the fans belting it out at the top of their voice.

His fearlessness and relentless drive to attack had won over the fans on a day when Old Trafford was as restless as many had seen for a while.

Passes backwards were met with groans, a player being on the ball for too long was treated with jeers, and the team was roundly booed at half-time.

On such a harsh day, Garnacho won over the fans by doing the basics right. After all, that’s what the fans want at the end of the day. Results follow automatically.

Manchester United’s woeful performance against Tottenham showed a team which was simply second best, even before the sending off.

If there is one thing that sets you up for a defeat, then conceding at the start of each half will do it.

Tottenham went 1-0 up three minutes into the game, and then doubled their lead two minutes after half-time. Spurs eventually went 3-0 up in the 77th minute.

Between the second and third goals, 10-man Manchester United actually enjoyed a positive spell of possession and put Spurs under pressure, failing to take advantage.

Christian Eriksen’s poor set pieces

The icing on the cake on a terrible performance was Christian Eriksen’s woeful set piece taking.

The Dane came on as a second half substitute, and rather than helping United to get back into the game, he managed to harm the attempting fightback.

Eriksen took one corner, and one free-kick near the touchline, and completely wasted both set pieces, with his deliveries failing to beat the first man.

While set pieces have been part of Eriksen’s strengths through the years, they have also been a flaw too.

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His failure to beat the first man from corners was a persistent annoyance to Tottenham fans during his time at the club.

A conversation on X between two former Tottenham players back in 2020 spelt this out, with Micky Hazard writing after a match: “yes we scored from a corner, anything can happen when you miss the first man.”

Former Spurs defender Graham Roberts wrote in response: “You right @1MickyHazard we haven’t got Eriksen taken them.”

Eriksen’s poor set piece delivery will have given Tottenham fans flashbacks, albeit this time they benefitted from them.

In Sunday’s game, Eriksen’s poor crosses into the penalty box came at just the wrong time, killing Manchester United’s momentum at a time when one goal could have shaken the game up a little.

Minutes later Tottenham went onto score the third goal and truly kill the game off once and for all.

Eriksen could have expanded role

Christian Eriksen had started four games in a row prior to this match, coming back into favour for manager Erik ten Hag.

And he could end up with an expanded role over the next few weeks, with Bruno Fernandes receiving a red card against Tottenham.

Fernandes will miss United’s next three Premier League matches, and it is possible Eriksen is selected in an advanced role.

If he is selected to do so, then the veteran midfielder needs to start improving his set piece deliveries – anybody but the first man.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is under enormous pressure once again after Sunday’s 3-0 humiliation at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

After a disappointing 1-1 draw with FC Twente on Wednesday night, Erik ten Hag needed a big performance against Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United fans simply needed to see some improvement against a side who could be considered a direct rival for European qualification.

What we saw was nothing short of a disaster as United slumped to a 3-0 defeat against Spurs.

Brennan Johnson opened the scoring early on before Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke sealed the win.

Some may point to Bruno Fernandes’ straight red card as a key factor but United were dire before he was given his marching orders anyway.

Erik ten Hag on Manchester United message

Ten Hag will now be without Fernandes for three games and the pressure is really ramping up on the Dutchman once again.

United aren’t really showing signs of improvement and Sunday’s display was a real low point.

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Ten Hag must now pick his players up quickly ahead of a potentially tough game at Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.

The United boss spoke to Sky Sports after Sunday’s defeat and shared what he told a rather downbeat squad of players in the dressing room.

Ten Hag claims to have told the players to leave Sunday’s display in the past and focus on a ‘new day’ on Monday.

It’s clear that Ten Hag doesn’t want players lingering on this defeat but urged them to improve in many aspects of the game.

“It’s always a new day,” said Ten Hag.

“I told them just in the dressing room ‘come on, tomorrow is a new day’. But definitely, we have to learn, we have to do things better, we have to be better in the pressing, especially also better on the ball because there were situations where we could have played better, to find the spare man or to play over the press, to keep the ball and play from there and we didn’t do it, and of course that’s disappointing,” he added.

Ineos should not be afraid to axe Ten Hag

We are not expecting to wake up on this Monday morning and see Ten Hag on his way out of Old Trafford.

The pressure is certainly mounting though and poor results against Porto and Aston Villa over the next week could prove pivotal.

Ineos backed Ten Hag over the summer, deciding to keep him in place in the Old Trafford dugout despite a dismal Premier League campaign.

Results have yet to materialise and Ineos should not be afraid of sacking Ten Hag if they don’t feel performances will improve.

Allowing Ten Hag to continue whilst making absolutely no progress would be much more damaging to United’s prospects than keeping him in charge just to save face.

Ten Hag needs results quickly and the likes of Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be monitoring his situation very, very closely.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is under huge pressure again after a dismal 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

Erik ten Hag really needed a result on Sunday afternoon as Manchester United welcomed Tottenham Hotspur to Old Trafford.

United squandered a win against FC Twente on Wednesday night, starting the Europa League campaign with a 1-1 draw.

That result left fans concerned as progress still wasn’t really on show after Ten Hag was backed with summer signings.

Sunday turned into a nightmare too as Tottenham ran riot at Old Trafford.

Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke were all on the scoresheet as Spurs produced a 3-0 victory.

Gary Neville on Manchester United squad

United were dreadful with 11 men but the task only became harder when Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a foul on James Maddison.

Fernandes will now miss games against Aston Villa, Brentford and West Ham United after his red card.

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United have now scored just one goal in three home league games this season and have suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats in home Premier League outings.

Ten Hag is already under pressure and that will only ramp up after another dire performance at Old Trafford.

Pundit and former United full back Gary Neville has now shared his verdict on United’s latest disaster.

Neville told Sky Sports (29/09, 7:10pm) that he felt Sunday’s game was an ‘important’ one for United.

Neville believed that United could get the better of Tottenham but was subjected to a truly ‘awful’ performance.

The former United ace added that he believes that the United squad must hold a players-only meeting on Monday morning.

Neville feels that Ten Hag must ‘get a grip’ of the United dressing room and attempt to steady the ship after a dreadful display.

“I felt like today was an important moment in the season for United,” said Neville. “I naively thought that Spurs might be good opponents because of the high line and because of the fact they give you a chance.

“I just thought… they’ve got all their players fit apart from Luke Shaw, it’s Tottenham at home, where Manchester United historically have had a good record over the last 20, 30 years, and yet they were absolutely awful and they were as bad as it gets.

“He’s got to get a hold of it and a grip of it very quickly, and I would suggest the players, to be honest with you, have got that within their control. I’d be suggesting the players probably go and have a meeting themselves tomorrow morning without the manager, because they’ve got to decide first what they want to do.

“Erik ten Hag has got a lot of friends in that dressing room, that have worked with him previously at other clubs, they need to get a grip of that dressing room very quickly because it doesn’t look that great out there in that first half today,” he added.

Enormous week ahead for Ten Hag

Ten Hag will have no time for a breather after this terrible defeat.

United head to Portugal on Thursday night and will take on Porto in the Europa League.

Porto smashed Arouca 4-0 on Sunday and have lost just one of their first seven league games this season.

The trip to Portugal is a really tricky one for United and that is followed by a trip to Aston Villa.

United won at Villa Park last season but Unai Emery’s men are a Champions League side who will go into that game believing they can win.

This is a tricky week for Ten Hag with two difficult away games hardly what he needs right now.

Losing at Old Trafford always piles the pressure on but two more defeats at Porto and Aston Villa would surely leave Ten Hag on the brink – especially with the international break looming.

It was an afternoon to forget for Manchester United as they lost 3-0 to Tottenham in the Premier League.

The Red Devils were looking to return to winning ways after frustrating draws to Crystal Palace and Twente, but Erik ten Hag‘s side slumped to an extremely disappointing defeat at Old Trafford.

Spurs took the lead after just three minutes when Micky van de Ven cut through United’s whole team with a devastating run before setting up Brennan Johnson for a simple tap-in.

United had no answer for Tottenham and continued to make frustrating mistakes in every area of the pitch. Things went from bad to worse when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for what was deemed a reckless challenge.

Tottenham doubled their lead just minutes into the second half through Dejan Kulusevksi before Dominic Solanke added a third late on.

Here are five things we learned from the dismal defeat.

Erik ten Hag is under huge pressure

It is now two wins from the first six Premier League matches. Simply unacceptable.

Erik ten Hag was handed a new contract by the hierarchy at Old Trafford after the FA Cup success last season, but there was always a feeling that his role was still very much under threat.

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It was an open secret that Ineos held talks with several managerial candidates over the summer. If Ten Hag does not turn things around quickly, one of those candidates could soon be getting a call.

It would be frustrating to see Ten Hag sacked given that there have been some signs of promise this season, but the performance against Spurs was nothing short of rotten and a big cause for concern.

Bruno Fernandes hits rock bottom

Bruno Fernandes has struggled this season. He has been at the centre of everything good about Manchester United in recent years, but his recent form has been worrying.

Some Manchester United fans called for Fernandes to be dropped against Tottenham, but Ten Hag kept faith in his captain and named him in the starting lineup.

However, not only did his abysmal form continue in the first 40 minutes, but he then received a red card for a reckless challenge on James Maddison.

Fernandes is now set to miss three matches for United. Hopefully the break will allow him to rest up and return to top form.

Diogo Dalot needs a rest

Diogo Dalot has been one of United’s best and most consistent performers this season, but it all went wrong for the Portuguese full-back against Tottenham.

He was caught completely out of position for the opener and struggled in possession with far too many sloppy passes.

Ten Hag should have rested Dalot against Twente but he persevered and, as a result, Dalot looked leggy and tired.

Luke Shaw’s return from injury cannot come soon enough so that Dalot can have a much-needed rest.

Manchester United must start games better

There should have been a fire in the belly of United’s squad as they looked to bounce back from the Twente draw, but Ten Hag’s side started awfully against Spurs.

United’s sleepy defence was immediately caught out and Tottenham opened the scoring after three minutes.

The same happened immediately after the half-time break. Ten Hag had brought on Casemiro to try and keep things tight at the back, but United started slowly again and were punished by Kulusevski.

There are some glaring problems with this United squad, and their inability to start a game on the front foot is one of them.

Manuel Ugarte cannot solve everything

For the first time this season, Ten Hag was able to field what many would deem to be United’s first-choice midfield.

Manuel Ugarte made his first Premier League start alongside Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes, and the Uruguayan ended the first half with a 100 percent passing accuracy.

The problem was that too many players around him were playing poorly and Ugarte cannot be expected to cover for everyone.

Manchester United went 1-0 down against Tottenham Hotspur with Brennan Johnson putting the visitors ahead.

In midweek Manchester United conceded an equaliser against Twente, when one player ran through the entire team.

You would think there would be a little extra focus on trying to avoid the same thing happening again.

But in the early minutes of Manchester United’s match at Old Trafford against Spurs, an opposition player waltzed through the entire Red Devils midfield and defence.

Tottenham take lead

Marcus Rashford lost the ball inside the Tottenham half and did not chase the ball behind him as Micky van de Ven carried the ball upfield.

Van de Ven’s blistering pace saw him slalom right through United’s midfield with an open gap appearing, into the penalty box.

The Dutchman then crossed the ball low for Brennan Johnson to tap it in, having lost his marker at the back post, with Diogo Dalot appealing desperately for offside.

Neville slams Rashford

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville made his feelings clear on commentary for Sky Sports, hitting out at the way Marcus Rashford did not chase up the ball he lost.

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Neville initially said: “Rashford just keeps on running. Rubbish from him,” pointing to the way the forward ran in the opposite direction to Van de Ven.

He then elaborated: “Rashford, it’s poor. His first touch was heavy and awful. I think he’s got to do better than that. Even if he dives in and gives a foul away.”

Manchester United supporters have been getting restless amid the team’s poor form, with just seven points gained from the opening five matches.

Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon but will have to do it without Harry Maguire.

Premier League football is the focus once again for Manchester United after a frustrating European outing.

United went 1-0 up against FC Twente but could only draw 1-1 with the Dutch side at Old Trafford.

This was another disappointing evening for Erik ten Hag and his future is under the microscope once again.

United must get back on track and Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to Old Trafford today.

Ten Hag will be looking to take advantage of Son Heung-min’s absence for Tottenham, but United have been dealt a late injury blow too.

Harry Maguire absence explained

United’s lineup against Tottenham sees Matthijs de Ligt partner Lisandro Martinez in the heart of the back four.

There is no place for Harry Maguire in the starting lineup or even on the bench as Victor Lindelof serves as United’s backup defender.

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Maguire’s absence has now been explained with Manchester World reporter Rich Fay highlighting a ‘knock’ suffered in training.

The 31-year-old started against Twente on Wednesday night and managed to play the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw.

Maguire’s issue has only materialised in the last couple of days and that means he will now miss out against Spurs.

United face a trip to Porto on Thursday night and Ten Hag will be hopeful of having Maguire back involved again by then.

Manchester United lineup v Tottenham Hotspur

Ten Hag has gone with Andre Onana in goal behind a back four of Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot.

Four of that back five played under Ten Hag at Ajax and will be looking to form a strong back line at United.

Manuel Ugarte starts alongside Kobbie Mainoo in midfield, operating behind Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho.

Joshua Zirkzee leads the line up top with Rasmus Hojlund among the substitutes.

Altay Bayindir, Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount, Christian Eriksen, Amad Diallo, Casemiro, Antony and Jonny Evans make up the rest of the bench.

Manchester United starting XI: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Ugarte, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee.