It all starts with the team sheet

Ten Hag got the selection wrong and paid a heavy price

FIVE ASIDES Premier League: Villa 3, United 1

As he railed at the players for their mistakes, Erik ten Hag somehow forgot to add that he messed up the selection. With Bruno Fernandes suspended (for picking up needless yellow cards), Ten Hag turned to Donny van de Beek, who is still off the pace after being out injured. More than that, he lacks the chutzpah to be Fernandes, who may no longer reel off the goals and assists but always brings energy. Van de Beek wasn’t really there, completing only 13 passes in 65 minutes. Villa’s goals, as the Match of the Day analysis showed, sprang from the gaping holes in United’s midfield. Fernandes’ presence does a lot to fill them.

Marcus Rashford was banished to the right, a blunder from the Ralf Rangnick playbook. Ten Hag forgot to keep it simple and play your best players in their best positions, instead giving precedence to Alejandro Garnacho, who is highly promising but had never actually started a league game. Ten Hag’s resistance to rotation came back to bite him: after a taxing game in Spain, and a Friday flight back (surely unnecessary, as the Sociedad game was over by 8pm UK time), he made only one change when the midfield could have done with fresh legs – McTominay or Fred, or even both. No offence, but Villa are about their level. 

Cristiano Ronaldo played 90 minutes twice in four days and stayed true to recent form. He’s just good enough in the Europa, not good enough in the Premier League. With Anthony Martial fit at last, Ronaldo was only worth an hour at most. And he was a peculiar pick as captain, so soon after refusing to take the field. Ten Hag’s candid explanation made clear that Ronaldo was his fifth choice, after Maguire (not picked), Fernandes (suspended), de Gea (too far from the action, though not as far as he would have expected) and Casemiro (not great at English). It felt as if Ten Hag was forgetting that the captain has to embody his team. He would have done better to pick Christian Eriksen, who would make it much less about him than Ronaldo did.

Even with the holes in midfield, it was hard to work out how United lost this game. Their xG was only fractionally behind Villa’s (0.4 to 0.6). It was just that Villa made fast starts to both halves and took their few chances well. Plus, they had Unai sodding Emery, who had worked out how to beat United with Villarreal – and had the whole week to instil his ideas in this Villa.   

If United Writing ran the world, sports clubs would not be drawn together in the cups within, say, a fortnight of meeting in the league. There are few things less appetising than back-to-back matches between the same opponents. It happened to United last year with West Ham and it’s happening again now with Villa, who visit Old Trafford tomorrow in the Carabao Cup. In the West Ham games, the team that lost in the league (them) bounced back to win the knock-out. Now United have to make sure they do the same. Even Ten Hag will surely ring the changes now, when Casemiro has started ten games in 32 days, Eriksen is looking leggy, and Rashford is carrying a niggle. The boss can play a young side, have some big guns on the bench and keep Casemiro and Eriksen fresh for Fulham, which threatens to be all too similar to Villa (away). United will be without Diogo Dalot, who is suspended. Fulham will have had the mid-week off, just like Villa. Unlike Villa, they’re already in good form. They’ve even got the best out of Andreas Pereira.