Front four, top four
Throwing on centre-forwards looked like a case of too much, too late – but it worked
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 1, West Ham 0
Ralf Rangnick's United are going to be amazing if they ever perform for 90 minutes. After managing a good first half at Villa and a good second half at Brentford, they laid on two mediocre halves against West Ham, followed by an excellent last minute. All’s well that ends well? Maybe. Not many other teams will take six points off West Ham this season.
Rangnick carried on with his unexpected Solskjaer tribute act. He delayed his second and third substitutions, then went hell for leather, switching to 4-2-4 and sending in the cavalry. With four United centre-forwards on the field – Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial – it looked like a case of too much, too late. But then Alex Telles launched the ball upfield and Ryan Fredericks could only head it over his shoulder, whereupon all four horsemen sprang into action. Ronaldo took four quick touches and laid the ball off to Martial in the inside-left channel. Martial took four touches too before handing the baton to Cavani, who stayed level with the last defender for just long enough to satisfy the VAR, then raced to the byline and whipped in a low cross. That was his sole touch in the move and only his fifth in the match, but it was good enough to bag the three points. All Marcus Rashford had to do was be at the far post for a tap-in – a simple task that he hasn’t always found easy. Somewhere in Norway, an amiable figure punched the air, turned to his family and said ‘That’s what I kept telling him to do!’
United had to win both games last week and somehow they did. At Brentford they were saved by David de Gea and their superior finishing – on expected goals at fbref.com, it was basically a draw (2.2-2.3). Against West Ham they were six times better than their opponents on xG (1.8-0.3), which showed how well they defended. The back seven, including McFred, all received higher ratings on WhoScored.com than the front four. Harry Maguire, who only played because poor Victor Lindelof’s home had been burgled, did a decent imitation of his assured England self. In the space of four days two of Rangnick’s biggest problems, Maguire and Rashford, turned into solutions. Rangnick gets plenty of credit for showing them some tough love. In that respect, he’s not so Solskjaeresque.
Home and away now makes little difference to United. In the league they have 19 points from 11 home games with 18 goals scored and 15 conceded. And they have 19 points from 11 away games with… you can guess the rest. They’re sixth in the home table and, yes, sixth in the away table. The only variation lies in the way the points have been acquired: at home, six wins and a draw; away, five wins and four draws. They are paying the price for those four home defeats – two of them to Villa and Wolves, two to some other clubs whose names I forget.
It’s great to see them back in the top four after a 14-week exile. Realistically, though, they’re still sixth, behind Spurs and Arsenal, who have games in hand. Spurs are finding life easy unless facing Chelsea, while Arsenal have veered off the road and landed in a ditch. Both have been consistently better at home than United and worse away. Whether these patterns will persist is anyone’s guess: thanks to the winter break, they all get a fresh start in February. See you then.