The combination in the midfield
A lot of questions have been asked about Fred in recent times but it is not just the Brazilian midfielder who has struggled.
It just does not look like Manchester United have found their best combination in the middle of the park till now. There is no doubt that Bruno Fernandes will continue to play as the club’s playmaker. And behind him, there are two midfielders who need to provide protection to the backline while also linking play between the defence and the attack at the same time.
Till now, they have not done that consistently, whatever combination has been on the pitch. Other than Fred, Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic, Donny van de Beek and Paul Pogba are also capable of playing there.
But just the number of goals that the club have conceded this season, keeping just one clean sheet till now despite the incredible performances of David de Gea in goal, just shows that things need to improve.
The form of the defenders
All things considered, the Manchester United defenders did very well last season and were expected to perform even better this time around with the arrival of Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.
It is safe to say that that has not been the case though. The Frenchman himself is currently on the sidelines with an injury while the likes of Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have struggled to replicate the form that they showed last season.
As mentioned earlier, the club have been able to keep just one clean sheet till now. And even that game, against Wolverhampton Wanderers, could have gone very differently if not for a combination of great goalkeeping from De Gea and poor finishing from Wolves in front of goal.
Thus, one has to wonder, are the Manchester United defenders going through a bad phase of form or did they just overperform last season?