After putting faith in Erik ten Hag following Manchester United’s FA Cup success at the back end of last season, this was not the start that the new INEOS ownership group were hoping for.
United have three points from their opening two games of the campaign, tasting defeat to Brighton in last-gasp fashion and leaving it late themselves to beat Fulham. They do have a new hero though in Dutchman Joshua Zirkzee.
Whether he starts against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon remains to be seen but there should be some changes to the starting XI if they are to have any chance of defeating Arne Slot’s men.
Mason Mount has been ruled out through injury but even without his blow, a change in system was surely required. To put it politely, Bruno Fernandes playing as a false 9 has not worked.
Fernandes will likely move back into a deeper role today where Mount was playing. That would then potentially mean a first start for the aforementioned Zirkzee.
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That may not be the only change with Marcus Rashford surely fighting for his place in the side.
Rashford's season so far
The last year has been a tough one for the poster boy of this great football club. Throughout the 2022/23 campaign, the forward was simply electric as he helped himself to 30 goals and ten assists in all competitions.
The regression we saw last season was quite something then, as Rashford found the net just eight times in 43 outings. Left out of the England squad for Euro 2024, it was deserved for a torrid season in front of goal.
Sadly, his form hasn’t improved much during the new campaign. Excluded from Lee Carsley’s first Three Lions squad, the 26-year-old is yet to find himself on the scoresheet after a rough couple of games.
Against Fulham on the Premier League’s opening night, he failed with all five dribble attempts and won just two of his eight duels. Things didn’t get a whole lot better in the loss against Brighton either
Passes completed
13/18 (72%)
Touches
23
Dribbles
1/3
Possession lost
7
Offsides
2
He was handed a dismal 4/10 match rating by MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst at full-time, with the reporting slating the Englishman as ‘United’s weakest player’.
The best replacement for Rashford
With Amad scoring against Brighton last weekend it is unlikely that Ten Hag withdraws the Ivorian from his starting XI. As a result, it’s Rashford who must be replaced when they face their most daunting task of the season to date, Liverpool.
Alejandro Garnacho is yet to start in the league this term but deserves to at Old Trafford on Sunday. The scorer of that goal against Everton last season, he was one of United’s standout players, bagging ten times in all competitions. It’s certainly an impressive tally for someone who was still only 19 at the time.
Now 20, Garnacho is of course wiser and is ready to take the league by storm again. That must start against Liverpool this weekend.
Goals
7
7
Assists
7
4
Progressive passes *
2.58
2.18
Progressive carries *
3.77
6.25
Shot-creating actions *
3.45
4.18
Key passes *
0.91
1.61
Successful take-ons *
1.90
1.68
Why? Well, with an out-of-form Rashford, Ten Hag must be wise to any weakness he can find in this Liverpool team. Trent Alexander-Arnold will no doubt gallivant forward and we know he’s susceptible defensively, so Garnacho should be the man to expose him.
Ranking in the top 5% of positionally similar players in Europe’s big leagues for progressive carries per 90, there aren’t many more dribblers on the continent as relentless as the Argentine youngster. That statistic perfectly backs up praise from Paul Ince, who once said of the young wide player: “He’s always trying to get past people, which is a great asset to have. He’s like Ryan Giggs.”
Couple that with Alexander-Arnold’s culpability in one-on-one situations, ranking in the very bottom 1% for percentage of dribblers tackled among full-backs in Europe, and this seems like a recipe for success for United.
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