The loss of momentum and confidence had affected the way Manchester United played against Huddersfield Town. The main reason for this loss was due to the way United played at Anfield.
Huddersfield Town’s shock win over Manchester United has shocked and left many speechless because no one saw this coming at all.
While it’s very difficult, it’s also very possible for teams like Huddersfield to beat Manchester United.
I guess that’s the beauty of the Premier League.
There were so many things that went wrong for the Reds that you could use any of them as a reason for this loss.
In my opinion, one of the main reason for our loss was parking the bus at Anfield.
Momentum
Playing really defensively against Liverpool has completely changed the way we play.
Manchester United had completely lost the momentum they had before when they were scoring goals for fun week in week out.
Signs of the lost momentum was seen in United’s Champions League game against S.L. Benfica.
A rather lucky goal by Marcus Rashford helped United earn the full three points.
It seemed like United did not know what to do with the ball in the final third of the pitch.
Manchester United had loads of possession but created very few chances. The players lacked alot of creativity.
It felt like I was watching another one of Louis Van Gaal’s game!
Confidence
It was so clear that the confidence level of most players had dropped after that Liverpool game.
One example of a player that has completely lost his confidence is Ander Herrera.
Herrera neither disappointed nor impressed me early in the season. However, after the Liverpool game, he has been pretty disappointing and it’s very concerning.
Pressing, intercepting and passing were main parts of his game. Because he did all of these pretty well last season, Ander Herrera was awarded Manchester United’s 2016/17 Player Of The Year.
Sadly, he’s not doing any of these well right now. Herrera attempted 0 tackles and intercepted once throughout the whole game against Huddersfield. It’s not like him at all!
Herrera used to be the one to play risky passes out to his fellow midfielders and to the forwards and Fellaini used to be the one to play safe passes.
How times have changed! Both of the players are the complete opposite right now.
With a pass success rate of 92%, Herrera was seen playing safe and sideways passes for the most part of the game.
It was almost as if he was doing it just to improve his pass success statistics.
Next: Twitter reacts to Manchester United’s performance against Huddersfield
I’m more than prepared to give Herrera just a tad bit more time before starting to judge him. Despite his recent performances, I’m sure that the “old” Ander Herrera that everyone loved will be back!