Newcastle United vs Manchester United – A Much Needed Reality Check?

Manchester United continue their woeful run of form as Eddie Howe’s men pick up an important three points in their European campaign charge.

Yet another performance completely devoid of any passion and aggression has cost Erik Ten Hag away from home – this being their sixth away loss.

The team lacked the ambition and the energy to deal with Newcastle United from the get-go.

St. James’ Park has always been a tough stadium to travel but never have the Red Devils looked so devoid of ideas and creativity in a long time.

https://twitter.com/UtdPlug/status/1642602881923653632

David De Gea, despite making two to three impressive saves had a game to forget. His inability to come across the lines to claim crosses and ping passes is a real cause of concern at the moment.

Manchester United have missed Casemiro dearly and it shows, with the club relying on Scott Mctominay and Marcel Sabitzer as the two in midfield.

Mctominay has come off a brilliant international showing scoring three goals against Cyprus and Spain in the Euro qualifiers. However, the Scottish international was a relatively quiet figure and lacked the attributes to deal with Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff.

Raphael Varane and Diogo Dalot certainly looked off the pace which is pretty concerning considering the amount of games Manchester United have to play from now until the end of the season.

Having penned a new four-year deal with the Red Devils, fans were expecting Luke Shaw to return to his current form which has been pretty good.

However, the former Southampton player just wasn’t involved in the game, being at fault for the first goal and being completely marked out of the game by his English counterpart Kieran Trippier.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes yet again failed to make any sort of impact in the game which is a real cause for concern going into the business end of the season.

The Portuguese international has been underwhelming to say the least over the past few games despite having an excellent outing on the international front.

Wout Weghorst’s spell at the club has been nothing short of disappointing. Having made the least touches out of any outfield player, the Dutch international was rightfully subbed off after yet another poor performance as the target man upfront.

He wasn’t however, the sole one to blame as Antony and Marcus Rashford failed to provide any sort of chances for the Dutchman.

Erik Ten Hag shouldn’t be absolved of any criticism however.

His sheer reluctance to make some much-needed rotations before the game and substitutions during are a huge cause of concern.

Manchester United do have few players such as Tyrell Malacia, Facundo Pellistri , Victor Lindelof, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial who could play an important role for the upcoming fixtures.

A few positives from this game however, could be Anthony Martial coming back from injury and hopefully staying injury-free till the end of the season if used effectively and Jadon Sancho who hopefully starts featuring more in the upcoming fixtures.