Lessons Learned From Manchester United's Goalless Draw at Villa Park Last Sunday
Manchester United fans are in for another rollercoaster season: United supporters are already accepting the emotional rollercoaster they are likely to be on throughout the season. The 0-0 draw away at Aston Villa showed several positives as well as negatives, leaving United fans at a crossroads between loudening 'Ten Hag out' chants or begrudgingly accepting the reality that the best projects have proven to take time. The 3-3 draw at Porto and the 7-0 thrashing of Barnsley at Old Trafford both point to the unarguable fact that United's season will be filled with goals; whether or not those goals will be to their detriment is completely in their hands.
READ ALSO: United 0-0 Aston Villa Player Ratings: Ten Hag's troops take uninspiring point.
United are in dire need of a goal scorer: Rasmus Hojlund started the game on Sunday against the Villans but could not register a shot on target in the 64 minutes he spent on the pitch. He was then substituted for Dutchman Joshua Zirkzee, who equally failed to test World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez between the sticks. Marcus Rashford has shown flashes of brilliance this season, scoring two goals away at Barnsley in the Carabao Cup. He, however, failed to display his trademark direct play in the tie at the weekend, yet again pointing toward the academy graduate's inconsistency.
Sometimes you've just got to go back to some good ol' Brexit football: The pairing of Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez was left exposed time and time again at Porto in the Europa League, understandably leaving the Red Devils boss questioning his choices ahead of the game at Villa Park. The former Eredivisie title-winning coach decided to drop his ex-Ajax duo in favour of veteran pair Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans; the latter was United's best player at Villa Park, proving to be an unlikely source of hope for Erik ten Hag's men. Evans was eye-catching, and Ten Hag's trust in the Northern Irishman was repaid handsomely with such a commanding display.
United's defense will be their saving grace this season. Erik ten Hag was quick to highlight the positives from the draw in his post-match interview, reminding the fans that this was their fourth clean sheet in seven games. The Red Devils have been dogged defensively so far this season—the stats show this with Andre Onana the leader in the Golden Glove race. He has been a key aspect of his side's good defensive displays.
Bruno may be slowing down a bit: The Portuguese playmaker has only managed to register one assist to his name all season and, in addition to his below-standard performances so far this season, the Red Devils Skipper was only able to put in a mediocre shift at Villa Park. Fernandes turned 30 on Tuesday (September 8) and is showing early signs that he may not be able to continue at the pace fans are so used to seeing him play.