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Manchester United put in one of their worst performances of the season in the first half of yesterday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool, as they had zero shots on goal and allowed the visitors to have 14 of their own.
Fortunately, the Red Devils only found themselves one goal down due to the Merseysiders’ poor finishing and a good performance from goalkeeper Andre Onana.
However, after Bruno Fernandes was able to spectacularly pounce on an error by the Liverpool defence early in the second half, this gave the Old Trafford outfit the lift to take the lead, before conceding a late penalty to ensure the match finished all square.
Speaking to Sky Sports, pundit and former United captain Gary Neville was less than impressed by the defensive and off the ball work of Erik ten Hag’s team.
Commenting on the performance he claimed, “some of the things you see out there, you wouldn’t see at schoolboy level. Their structure at times defensively goes from, right they’re in their shape now, they’re OK and then, they can go to, all of a sudden, empty in the whole of the midfield”.
The former defender went into detail on why this was happening by stating, “players press on their own without the rest of their teammates going with them. You have players in front of the ball at throw ins, so the ball gets thrown towards the back four”.
“The easiest things in football to do, Manchester United do really badly. They’re so easy to play against”.
The comments will resonate with the majority of United fans, as the supporters are sick of teams time and time again hurting their side without having to exert too much pressure or really do anything that special.
It feels like the Old Trafford side never really learn from their mistakes and are experts at shooting themselves in the foot.
Delving into the matter in more detail Neville explained, “Liverpool had 15 or 16 shots in that first half and you can’t really coach that type of performance, you’re just relying on individual moments and luck, keepers making saves, defenders making blocks and that is what we have seen from Manchester United today”.
The Sky Sports commentator did have one kind thing to say about his old team and that was the effort they put in.
Despite the numerous negatives from Sunday’s performance, the players must be praised for their refusal to let their heads drop and fight their way to an imperfect draw against the side from Anfield.
“There is no lack of endeavour. There is no lack of desire in the team. There is just no sense to their actual performance levels”.
United will aim to get back to winning ways when they take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium next Saturday evening.
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