“So often we have to change the team. You don’t get the routines. We know football is about solid performance and consistency and we know we have to make a step there, but I’m sure when we have more players available in the key positions we will get more consistency.”
Erik ten Hag cut a forlorn figure leaving the City Ground in late December. A 2-1 defeat to the newly installed Nuno Espirito Santos brought a deflating end to an odd year, leaving the United manager pleading for patience.
In the Dutchman’s eyes, his team would turn things around once senior players returned from injury. The brief returns of Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez brought some reprieve in January and February, but another spate of injuries have decimated this side’s ability to play at their maximum.
Compare the starting line-up from their December defeat to Nottingham Forest…
… to the starting XI for this rematch in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday night.
Casemiro’s clean bill of health meant the injury list “only” featured seven players, and a late header from the Brazilian was enough for his team to eke out a bitty, unconvincing 1-0 win.
The same front four that toiled against Forest in December repeated their struggles in February. Marcus Rashford would spend the majority of the game as an unconvincing target man, possessing neither the back-to-goal game to adequately tussle with Forest defenders Murillo and Felipe, nor the sharpness when attempting runs into the penalty area.
It is a difficult period for the 26-year-old, whose body language and defensive application came into further question from Alan Shearer on BBC commentary. Rashford ideally wants to play on the left wing, ahead of a full-back who can offer overlapping runs and where he has extra space to run in behind and stretch defences.
Against Forest that position was taken by Alejandro Garancho, whose hard running have made him a vital outlet for his team when they wish to gain territory out wide. He finished the game with only one successful dribble (from three attempts) across the 90 minutes, but having won five of his eight one-on-one duels. On a left flank with Sofyan Amrabat attempting to invert from full-back into central areas whenever United crossed the halfway line, it fell to Garancho to be a presence on both sides of the ball.
Marcus Rashford lies stricken at Nottingham Forest (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Antony’s return to the right wing saw him hit the crossbar after a well-worked corner kick routine inside the first three minutes but spend the next 70 recycling possession either backwards or sideways before being substituted for Amad Diallo. Forest fans serenaded the Brazilian with a “What a waste of money” chant as he left the field, yet his replacement did not enjoy an entirely comfortable evening, at one point earning a dressing down from Bruno Fernandes for failing to track one of Forest’s multiple runners through midfield.
The Portuguese himself had a busy night: his every touch was booed by Forest fans, and at one point Felipe grabbed him by the throat, but he finished the game having won more tackles and created more chances than anyone else on the field, and having earned an assist for his delivery on a free-kick for Casemiro’s headed goal.
It was enough to beat a stubborn home side that – somehow – managed to have 16 shots on United’s goal and earn a home quarter final draw against Liverpool in mid-March, a tie Ten Hag described as “a great challenge”.
GO DEEPER
Ten Hag is imagining bad faith from Carragher. Perhaps he senses the ground shaking
United will need to be better than they were here, certainly from an attacking perspective, and fans will hope Rasmus Hojlund can return from his calf injury to lessen the dread.
It was little surprise that a starting XI with multiple square pegs in round holes was so uneven in shape. Still, for large sections of Wednesday’s game, they were ponderous on the ball and porous when defending without it.
Barring a minor miracle in the club’s medical room, they will repeat this front four in the Manchester derby on Sunday. If Ten Hag is to come away from the Etihad Stadium with a positive result, it will likely come not from the “rules” and “routines” he often speaks of, but from the resilience of a handful of key players.
Felipe grabs Bruno Fernandes (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
“It was not easy,” he said. “Especially in the back four where we had serious problems. I’m very happy that Rapha (Varane) could play this game. Also Bruno, he fought to be a part of this game. I am very pleased for him to get an assist and how important he was to our game.”
The United manager has cut a more combative figure in recent weeks, going in to bat for his players in press conferences while dubbing critics “naive” for their analysis. After defeat to Fulham last weekend, he made clear that the underlying principles of his play would not change between now and the end of the season. They will remain a team that is dangerous on the counter-attack while struggling to contain them.
And so it falls onto the team’s most important players to make the moments count and affect things as best they can. Casemiro is not the defensive shield that made him so important last season, but he remains deceptively good in the air and a threat on set pieces.
Fernandes may not be the perpetual motion machine of old, but he can still make line-breaking passes better than nearly anyone else in the squad. Ten Hag revealed his captain recovered from “a serious injury” to play this FA Cup game. He is one of many players running on fumes, but is still dedicated to getting his team over the line. When good team performances are beyond you, individual moments good enough to win games become a necessity.
United’s most stubborn-minded individuals got the team over the line against Forest. They will have to dig deep once again to get Ten Hag positive results against City and Liverpool in the days and weeks to come.
(Top photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
