Man Utd are now so sh*t that defeat to Copenhagen is praiseworthy | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes looks dejected after conceding a goal.

Erik ten Hag’s side lost 4-3 to Copenhagen having been 2-0 up and the Red Devil pundits were full of praise. Where’s the ‘This Is Manchester United’ rhetoric now?

The Copenhagen tifosi must have felt a bit silly. Less than three minutes after they refurled their ‘Your Theatre Of Nightmares’ banner featuring a sleeping Red Devil, Manchester United scored a superb opener.

It really was brilliant. 29 passes in total, featuring some atmosphere-dampening keep ball at the back followed by collective and individual excellence the likes of which United have got nowhere close to this season.

Diogo Dalot zipped a pass into the feet of Bruno Fernandes, who switched for Marcus Rashford to control impeccably on the right. Aaron Wan-Bissaka displayed great vision having been found down the line, playing a perfect inside pass for the on-rushing Scott McTominay, who squared the ball for Rasmus Hojlund to tap the ball home from a yard.

If Erik ten Hag was to move his red magnets around to play out his ideal goal – combining his philosophy and the “direct” Manchester United DNA – it would look something like that.

That was Hojlund’s fourth in four Champions League games this season, and he became the quickest ever United player to five 25 minutes later, again tapping the ball home from inside the six-yard box, after Alejandro Garnacho’s shot on the break was parried by the goalkeeper.

They were in complete control, to the point where the sadists tuning in in the hope of the United shenanigans we’ve become accustomed to this season may well have given up in the hope their Red Devil blood lust may instead be sated by the visit of Luton Town to Old Trafford on Saturday. For their sakes, we hope they didn’t.

Marcus Rashford was shown a red card in the 42nd minute and by half-time it was 2-2. That suggests more of a whirlwind change than was actually the case – there were 13 minutes of stoppage time – but in narrative terms it was much more like it from Ten Hag’s side.

The defence looked nervy and poorly protected by a suspect central midfield and absent wingers. Yes, much more like it. There was no marking of any kind for Mohamed Elyounoussi’s goal. Nice. Then Harry Maguire conceded a penalty. Perfect.

The momentum had swung entirely in Copenhagen’s favour for the last 15 minutes of the first half, but the hosts were strangely passive after the break as United kept them at arm’s length.

United went 3-2 up through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty and looked comfortable. The introduction of Sofyan Amrabat for Christian Eriksen wrestled back some of the control they had ceded and chances for the home side were few and far between as United sat back and defended with relatively few problems.

Harry Maguire looks dejected as Manchester United lose to Copenhagen.

But the narrative is all powerful and Diogo Dalot can’t defend. The full-back didn’t even look at Lukas Lerager, the man he was supposed to be marking, who wandered in off his shoulder to force the ball past Andre Onana.

And when United concede one, they always look like conceding another. They panicked, again. Raphael Varane gave the ball away and 17-year-old Roony Bardghji scored a goal his Red Devil namesake would have been proud of.

Ten Hag’s side didn’t play terribly, they even played well at times, brilliantly in moments. But isn’t that more concerning? Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves spent most of the time in the studio after the game praising a United side that lost to Copenhagen.

Where’s the ‘This Is Manchester United’ rhetoric now? Are we so numb now to Manchester United defeats that we’re weirdly accepting of them when they’re not embarrassingly bad? They were 2-0 up. They were 3-2 up in the 82nd minute. Yes, they were down to ten men, but they conceded four goals. That’s sh*t, no?

Saiba mais sobre o veículo