They turned the boos into roars
Christian Eriksen is back in business, and so are Ten Hag's United
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 3, Villa 2
Patrice Evra saw it coming. ‘If they play the same way, [but] more focused on set-pieces,’ he said at half-time, ‘I won’t be surprised if they win 3-2.’ He had spotted that United were doing most things well apart from seeing off those set-pieces (and, he might have added, remembering the offside rule). Going 2-0 down was a nightmare for the fans – in the as-it-stands table, if you could bear to look, United were 14 points adrift of Villa – but it did the players a favour as it injected the urgency that they find so mysteriously elusive. Their passes were suddenly more direct, their pressing more committed, their runs more liberated. They heard the boos and turned them into roars. If they’d played like this at home in the Champions League, they would still be in it.
You wait seven hours for a United goal, then three come in 25 minutes. You wait 1000 minutes for a goal from Rasmus Hojlund, then he goes and grabs the winner. It was a smart finish, a volley with just enough of a hook on it to find the inside of the post. As Eni Aluko pointed out, he was probably helped by having no time to think about it. It was not just the first time Hojlund had scored in the Premier League, but the first time he had had any goal involvement in a United victory. His face was a picture that was worth a thousand words, going almost as red as his shirt and expressing several emotions at once – pride, joy, relief, and all the frustration that had piled up in his first 15 league games. ‘I’m the happiest man alive,’ he said afterwards, and his team-mates looked almost as delighted as he did.
The front five had their best game of the season. Marcus Rashford, restored to the left wing after a spell in purgatory, was himself again, delivering classy crosses as well as bombing into the box. Alejandro Garnacho, moved to the right as he should have been ages ago, was brighter than he had been on the left apart from that one moment of magic at Everton. Bruno Fernandes, though still useless with the ref and guilty of the foul that led to the first goal, was calmer on the ball, remembering to keep it simple.
The key to all this was Erik ten Hag’s decision to bench Scott McTominay, who brings passion without vision, in favour of Christian Eriksen, who adds composure as well as creativity. Eriksen has the knack of raising the tone: he’s the kind of person who, if he came to your Christmas dinner, would bring the best out of your trickiest customers. Here, making his first start since the game against Luton on 11 November, he was a bit rusty – one corner was hopelessly low – but his intent was admirable. His average position was actually ahead of Fernandes’, which meant that Kobbie Mainoo, an 18-year-old making his full home debut, was being asked to be Rodri (with no John Stones to keep him company). This was not a 4-2-3-1 formation, it was a 4-1-2-3 or even a 4-1-4-1. Mainoo coped because he has a wonderful temperament and he was surrounded by experience, with Eriksen and Fernandes in front of him and Rapha Varane and the outstanding Jonny Evans behind. If United were flaky on their left flank, with Leon Bailey enjoying himself in the absence of Luke Shaw, they were rock-solid through the middle, in open play at least. Ollie Watkins, who arrived as the third best centre-forward in England behind Erling Haaland and Dominic Solanke, was barely there.
This performance was a clear step forward. What was once the Big Six is now the Big Nine, embracing Villa, Newcastle and Brighton, and after losing their first five games against other members of that club, United have now taken seven points from the past three. They have beaten Chelsea (who had drawn with Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City), got a point at Anfield (which almost counts as a win) and now toppled Villa (who had won five big games in a row, seeing off City and Arsenal). On all the evidence of this season, United are quite capable of taking an equally big step back. But they have found a template that will work in most away games and at home against stronger opponents such as their next visitors, Spurs. The forwards finally pick themselves: we’ve been saying for ages that Antony was only United’s third-best right-winger, behind the energetic Facundo Pellistri and the exciting Amad Diallo, and it seems we were being too generous. Now that Garnacho has taken to the right wing, Antony doesn’t even make the top three. Ten Hag’s perplexing faith in him, like Eriksen’s injury, has been part of the reason for Hojlund’s struggles. Dave Brailsford may well be a mixed blessing but he can play a vital role in holding the manager to account.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter at The Guardian. If you’re still on the medium formerly known as Twitter, do follow him and United Writing.