One bit gets better, another worse
Rashford and Hojlund had their best day as a duo, but United's midfielders were outplayed by Spurs – just as they were in August
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 2, Spurs 2
The forwards are clicking. After firing blanks five times running (from Newcastle to West Ham), they have now scored six goals in the last three league games. And, just as crucially, they are feeding off each other. Rasmus Hojlund, after finally getting his first league goal to cap the comeback against Villa, finally has his first assist in all comps thanks to his one-two with Marcus Rashford. He also has his second league goal, which came along like a London bus. He still doesn’t get enough touches – just 16 against Spurs – but he’s working out how to make better use of them.
Rashford continues to wiggle his way back to form. He’s still easily stumped when defenders double up on him, but his end product has come back with a bang. After five goal involvements in 22 games this season, he now has four in four – assists against Villa and Wigan, goals against Forest and Spurs, both clinical finishes. For all his struggles this season, Rashford’s G+A per 90 minutes in all comps is now 0.45, higher than any other United player bar Casemiro (0.47). Alejandro Garnacho may have floundered against the formidable Destiny Udogie yesterday, but he scored twice against Villa and assisted Rashford with his alertness at Forest. After managing one goal in the first 12 league games, the front three have nine in the past nine, even including a drought that lasted as long as their Advent calendars.
The trouble is … the midfielders have stopped scoring. Bruno Fernandes has only a penalty at Wigan to show for the past two months (perhaps he let himself take it to boost his confidence). His shooting yesterday was mostly into Row Z. Kobbie Mainoo will be a great player, but he has yet to supply a goal or assist, because, like a teenager borrowing their parents’ car, he doesn’t feel entitled to take risks. Scott McTominay hardly ever gets an assist either, and as that hapless late header confirmed, his purple patch as a goal-scorer has faded to grey. So although the forwards have found their cutting edge, the rest of the knife has gone blunt. It’s the story of United’s season: when one bit of the machine gets better, another gets worse.
More than this, the midfield still isn’t working as a midfield. Back in August United’s engine room was no match for Spurs’. This time, the personnel were all different on both sides apart from Fernandes. And the consequence was exactly the same. Spurs brought only a second-string midfield – Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur – but they found facing United in midwinter just as easy as their superiors (Pape Sarr, Yves Bissouma and James Maddison) had in high summer. Erik ten Hag’s latest makeshift pivot, Kobbied together from Mainoo and Christian Eriksen, was outgunned just like the one he started the season with, Casemiro and Mason Mount. And this was no surprise. Of those four players, only one is a proper holding midfielder – Casemiro. (Mainoo and Eriksen are both No 8s, Mount a No 10.) Yesterday’s game was crying out for Casemiro, who was warming up, to the crowd’s delight, after only 35 minutes. But he never came on. Why the hell not?
A draw against Spurs, even at home, is not a bad result in itself. It’s the same as Man City and Arsenal have managed this season. United’s problem is that they have squandered so many points that they can barely afford a draw, even against teams higher up the table. After taking only one point off Spurs home and away, they now badly need to win their next two games, away at Wolves and home to West Ham. They could then just about afford to draw at Villa, as long as they bounce back to beat Luton and Fulham. They will surely lose at the Etihad, even if Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez are fully rehabilitated, but could then see off Everton, Sheffield United and Brentford. The target should be 70 points, which means collecting 38 more than they have now – winning 12 games, drawing two and losing only three (say City away, Brighton away and one banana skin). It’s probably beyond them, isn’t it? Still, one other thing got better yesterday, apart from the forwards: Jim Ratcliffe turned up and spoke to the media when he didn’t have to. He has already shown that he is neither a Glazer nor a blazer.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter on The Guardian, where he live-blogged this match.