Forget De Gea, Ten Hag blunting Rashford is KILLING Man Utd

Sam McGuire

• 12 May 2023 13:41 BST
• 5 min read

Heading into March, Manchester United were just six points behind Manchester City and they had a game in hand on their neighbours. The Red Devils had lifted the first piece of silverware of the Erik ten Hag era, they were still in Europe and had a favourable FA Cup tie against Fulham on the horizon. Michael Owen even tipped them as an outsider for the title.

“Nobody is mentioning Manchester United,” Owen told Premier League Productions.

“Manchester City are involved. But if Manchester United win their game in hand, they are only three points behind City. So you cannot rule anything out at the moment, but you have to say that Arsenal are in the driver’s seat.”

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Now in May, Manchester United have an FA Cup final to look forward to but their European adventure came to an abrupt end against Sevilla. Ten Hag’s men had a 2-0 lead over the LaLiga side heading into the final 10 minutes of the first leg. The Spanish team, courtesy of two own goals, levelled things up before romping to a 3-0 win in Seville.

United now find themselves 19 points behind City after picking up just 14 points from a possible 30. They lost to Liverpool, Newcastle United, Brighton and West Ham United while only managing draws against bottom-of-the-table Southampton and out-of-sorts Spurs. In the latter, Ten Hag watched on as his side allowed another 2-0 lead to slip.

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Rashford's form has collapsed

The worrying thing for United is that they have failed to score in five of their last 10 Premier League games. They have scored just eight goals during this period and have been breached on 13 occasions.

This run of form has seen them dragged into a battle for a top-four place. Earlier on in the campaign, they were a shoo-in for Champions League football but now find themselves just a point clear of Liverpool, albeit with a game in hand.

However, the Reds are on a six-match winning streak and unbeaten in eight while the Red Devils have one win in their last four and have lost back-to-back matches. They have scored just three goals and have blanked in their last two outings.

The goals have dried up for Marcus Rashford.

After returning from the World Cup, the United No.10 scored 17 times and chipped in with four assists in 19 matches. He was single-handedly carrying the attack for his boyhood team. What many missed at the time was that he was also papering over a lot of cracks.

In the top 10 of the Premier League, only Aston Villa (46) have scored fewer goals than United (49). Ten Hag’s side are averaging just 1.44 goals per 90. For context, every other team in the top seven, with the exception of United, have scored a minimum of 61 goals this season.

Rashford was doing a lot of heavy lifting in attack.

Across his last 10 matches in all competitions, he’s found the back of the net on just two occasions. It is interesting that he’s stopped scoring and United have stopped winning. It does, however, back up the idea that United’s post-World Cup run was specifically tied to his hot streak and that it wasn’t necessarily sustainable.

The England international looked to have finally found his groove on the left side of attack for United only for Ten Hag to deploy him as a centre-forward over recent weeks. This positional change has disrupted his form. The Red Devils found a way to blunt their biggest threat.

With goals now a rare commodity for this season, the defensive unit is under much more pressure. They are without injured duo Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, and this has forced Ten Hag into a reshuffle. Luke Shaw is at centre-back alongside Victor Lindelof with Tyrell Malacia at left-back.

Despite these enforced changes, United have done pretty well. Brighton required a 99th-minute penalty to break the deadlock while the Red Devils kept three successive clean sheets prior to the 2-2 draw with Spurs.

Against West Ham though, another goalkeeping error cost United. David de Gea has been inconsistent this season. He could well win the Golden Glove having kept 15 clean sheets this term and yet he’s been in goal in matches United have conceded four to Brentford, six to City and seven to Liverpool.

He’s also been at fault for a number of goals. He allowed a tame Said Benrahma effort to beat him on Sunday in the 1-0 loss to West Ham. His errors have cost United points. The 32-year-old played his part in the 3-0 defeat to Sevilla. Forget De Gea, Ten Hag blunting Rashford is KILLING Man Utd

At both ends of the pitch, Ten Hag has problems to solve and time is running out for him to do it. United have four Premier League matches left and then an FA Cup final.