A one-nil thrashing
United were much better than the score suggested – thanks to their two on-field managers
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 1, Villa 0
Never mind the scoreline, this was a cracking game. I was there and it was well worth getting wet for. As entertainment, it deserved far better than to be held back until an hour into Match Of The Day 2. As a United performance, it deserved at least three goals. Casemiro hit the bar and curled a shot round the post, Marcel Sabitzer blazed a volley just over, Marcus Rashford hit the keeper and could have had a penalty. Villa, who had been on a great run, were barely there. United thrashed them one-nil.
After messing up the second half at Tottenham, Erik ten Hag got his strategy right here. United exploited Villa’s high line by playing 99 through balls. This kept not quite paying off, because the shooting wasn’t sharp enough – tiredness telling, perhaps, after a 64-hour turnaround (Villa had had 112 hours). But the ploy bore fruit in the end, even if the decisive through ball was a header. It was launched forward by Casemiro and latched on to by Rashford, whose awareness had been shining out in the murk. His shot was another middling one, but it was good enough to draw a parry from Emi Martinez, and Bruno Fernandes was there to follow up, helped by a deflection – a case of fortune favouring the shrewd. The way Fernandes just glared at the Villa fans, who had been busy calling him a wanker, was masterly. If only he could say so much by doing so little when dealing with the ref.
No Antony, no messing about. United’s passing was as slick as the turf. And there was a clear reason for that: Erik ten Hag finally dropped one of his favourite sons, Antony, brought in Sabitzer and sent Fernandes over to the right. Out went Antony’s exhibitionist dithering and in came Sabitzer’s quick wits. United had all their midfield creators on the field at once – Casemiro, Fernandes, Sabitzer and Christian Eriksen – and none of the journeymen (McFred and Wout Weghorst), who are barely needed at home. In his first four games at Old Trafford, Ten Hag had two wins and two defeats; since then he’s been unbeaten, with 22 wins and four draws. In the home league table United are third, ahead of Liverpool, with exactly the same results as Arsenal (P16, W12, D3, L1).
The best players on the pitch were Casemiro and Fernandes. They were together at the end, not celebrating but chuntering about something, just like at the League Cup final. At half-time here, Fernandes had walked off in animated discussion with Rashford. He and Casemiro are a pair of managers waiting to happen, both Klopp types rather than Ten Hags – driven, obsessed, wild-eyes and sometimes one-eyed but always fully alive and alert and busting a gut to make their team better. They are the real captain and vice-captain of this United. Harry Maguire did come on for a few minutes at the end, but with Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw defusing the electric Ollie Watkins, the number 5 on Maguire’s back now stands for fifth-choice centre-back. It’s hard on him but good for United, who now need just three wins out of six to see off Liverpool’s late surge for the top four.
High up in the Fergie stand, you can see the formation as clearly as Ten Hag seems to see it from ground level. It was officially 4-1-4-1, with Eriksen and Sabitzer as a pair of No 8s, but in spirit it was the 4-D-2 that seems a natural fit for United’s array of talent. Casemiro and Eriksen were not the only box-to-box midfielders, as Sabitzer showed by getting a double block in towards the end. And the front six could be about to go up another notch, even before the transfer window. On the left wing, Alejandro Garnacho is back from injury to give Jadon Sancho a mazy run for his money. On the right, Antony (who came on to take a toothless shot with his hopeless right foot) will soon have yet another younger rival, on top of Facundo Pellistri and Amad, and this one has only just turned 16. If the name of Shea Lacey is an unfamiliar one, a treat awaits you here.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. If you’re on Twitter, do follow him and United Writing. If you received this piece by email, please feel free to forward it to the nearest Red.