British newspaper: 'Man Utd has not changed compared to last season'

According to journalist Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail, the 1-3 loss to Arsenal continues to show Man Utd's problems, especially poor away form and lack of squad depth.

"Optimistic Man Utd fans – and their numbers are certainly dwindling – can tell themselves that their team almost won," Ladyman's article stated. "With two minutes of normal time remaining, substitute Alejandro Garnacho fired home against Arsenal. A lot of terrible things happened in the next 10 minutes or so, but had that narrow offside call not been called, the outcome of this game could have been very different. However, the statistics don't lie."

New signing Rasmus Hojlund (left) and his teammates thank fans after losing to Arsenal on September 3. Photo: AFP

Yesterday, Man Utd were under pressure, but took the lead thanks to Marcus Rashford's curling shot in a quick counter-attack in the 27th minute. But shortly after kick-off, Arsenal equalized with a one-touch shot from captain Martin Odegaard outside the box. After Alejandro Garnacho's goal was ruled out for offside in the 89th minute, Man Utd conceded two goals in injury time. First was Declan Rice's shot from inside the box in the 6th minute of injury time, and finally Gabriel Jesus' solo shot into the far corner in the 11th minute of injury time.

The result continues a poor run of form for United away from home under Ten Hag. This season, before their defeat at the Emirates, they lost 2-0 at Tottenham. Last season, when visiting top-eight opponents, United lost six times, against Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton and Aston Villa. Their best results were a 2-2 draw at Tottenham and a 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

"Look at the starting lineup of Man Utd. Is this a stronger team than the last time they visited the Emirates, losing 3-2 in January? The answer is no," Ladyman wrote, adding that Man Utd may have only improved slightly in goal thanks to Andre Onana's ability with his feet, even better than some players playing at the back like Victor Lindelof.

Coach Ten Hag (left) complained to referee Anthony Taylor during the Arsenal match. Photo: AFP

The injuries have somewhat "punched a hole in Man Utd's spine", with Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, $76 million new recruit Mason Mount absent, and $94 million striker Rasmus Hojlund having just recovered and only coming on in the second half. This makes Man Utd's squad too thin to face stronger teams, which is partly reflected in Ten Hag's decision to make substitutions. At the end of yesterday's match, when Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof showed signs of fatigue, the Dutch coach could only replace them with Harry Maguire - a player who had just been stripped of the captaincy and put on the transfer market - and 35-year-old center-back who returned to Man Utd on a short-term contract Jonny Evans.

"But is that enough? Man Utd have not been able to compete for the Premier League title since their last championship more than 10 years ago. That was once considered the club's reason for living," the article continued. "Last season, Man Utd were 14 points behind champions Man City. Therefore, this season requires big steps, not small steps. This is a sign that problems are lurking at Man Utd."

Man Utd also faces instability at the top. Last week, British media reported that the Glazers ended the sale of Man Utd when they could not agree on a fee with two candidates: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Britain's richest man, Jim Ratcliffe. Previously, Al Thani was said to be close to owning Man Utd for 6 billion pounds (7.2 billion USD), but the Glazers did not agree and raised the selling price.

However, the British journalist believes that Man Utd are unlikely to "collapse" this season, because they have enough good players to win matches, especially at home at Old Trafford. "Top 4 is not out of their reach," he wrote.

Hong Duy

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