The Red Devils suffered an embarrassing 6-1 loss to José Mourinho’s team, raising even more questions about their transfer policy.
With no fans in the stands at Old Trafford, the TV commentators can be clearly heard inside the Theater of Dreams at this time.
“Ed Woodward has just over 24 hours left,” an announcer said into his microphone as Tottenham’s fourth goal in the first half hit the net on Sunday. Manchester United’s executive vice president was within earshot and he will have had no doubts as to what activity was being hinted at.
While former coach José Mourinho and his ever-improving Spurs team attacked United, the Red Devils’ latest addition was landing in Manchester.
Edinson Cavani, who will arrive as a free agent after a surprise deal was struck with the former Paris Saint-Germain star, headed to the club’s Carrington training base to undergo a medical examination before becoming the second signing. of the United of the summer. .
Hopefully the Uruguayan international hasn’t been paying attention to what’s going on at Old Trafford so far this season, and the 6-1 loss here only confirms what many had feared seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team this season. .
While the club is trying to get fans excited about Cavani’s arrival, the problem is that unless the 33-year-old can suddenly play as a central defender, he won’t do much to improve United’s performances.
His performance against Tottenham was as bad as in recent times; a chaotic effort that cannot be attributed to a soft red card handed to Anthony Martial for a slap to Erik Lamela in the 27th minute.
United were already 2-1 down at that point thanks to goals from Tanguy Ndombele and Son Heung-min following a series of comical defenses by Solskjaer.
Despite all the emphasis and effort that has gone into trying to secure an attacker on the right side before Monday’s deadline, the real problems for this team lie in their defense.
In their day, United’s three forwards, Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, are among the best attacking threats in the world, and the possible arrival of Jadon Sancho would only have increased that belief.
But that might mean nothing when his defense, in its current form, wouldn’t look bad on a team that is fighting a relegation battle.
United have now conceded 11 goals in their first three league games for the second time in their history: they conceded 13 in 1930-31 and went on to be relegated.
And while they are far from relegation meat this time around, they can say goodbye to any chance of competing for the title after two losses in their first three games.
With Victor Lindelof facing criticism during the first weeks of the season, Solskjaer finally relented to the Spurs and opened up Eric Bailly alongside Harry Maguire.
But, after United took the lead in two minutes via a Bruno Fernandes penalty, both members of the new center-back pair were to blame for Ndombele’s draw, with Bailly and Maguire heading the ball into the air before they hit. the latter. collided with Luke Shaw to allow the Spurs midfielder to shoot home.
Bailly was then caught by a quick free kick from Harry Kane that allowed Son to make it 2-1 three minutes later.
These were not isolated incidents, with United’s defense on all sides every time the visitors launched attacks. Things only got worse after Martial was sent off, but there were signs of a beating in the cards long before the French international received his marching orders.
The alarming problem for Solskjaer is that this performance was not unique. It wasn’t a lack of focus and a bad day at the office like when Manchester City won by the same score here in 2011.
This was a continuation of a theme that has been plaguing United for some time. His defense, despite spending £ 80 million ($ 97 million) to bring in Maguire in the summer of 2019, has continued to look unconvincing.
Bailly was to blame for Spurs’ third when Kane leapt on his terrible pass on the edge of the box, and even the extra man United was missing would not have helped make up for the way the visitors opened them with ease.
Fred and Scott McTominay were hired at halftime to provide added security to United’s dripping bottom line. but even that couldn’t help prevent an excellent pass from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from finding Serge Aurier for the Spurs’ fifth of the night.
A ridiculous sliding tackle from Paul Pogba, who had another bad game, ensured that Kane got on the scoreboard for the second time when he scored Tottenham’s sixth goal from the penalty spot. Meanwhile, in the stands, Woodward could be seen checking his phone as the embarrassment continued.
In just 16 days, United will face an attack from PSG that will likely feature Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, among others. He can’t bear to think of the carnage that could ensue if Woodward doesn’t deliver a new plant in the next 24 hours.
That, however, does not seem likely. Cavani and new left-back Alex Telles will arrive, for whom a deal has been agreed with Porto, but a central defender is not a priority for the 20-time English champions.
If that doesn’t change quickly, then a long season awaits those who follow Manchester United.
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