As Erik ten Hag walked around the Wembley outfield holding the FA Cup aloft he was chuffed at proving his doubters wrong. Still, the Manchester United boss could not rest.
Instead of receiving much praise the focus was once again on his future. Are you going to stay at Old Trafford, Erik? Is this enough to keep you in the dug-out, Mr Ten Hag?
It seemingly was enough. United’s new hierarchy, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, kept him at Carrington but the results haven’t changed too much.
Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui look like great captures but their new star of the future, Leny Yoro, still sits on the sideline with an injury.
Once they have a full complement of players, it’s likely they’ll be a far better outfit. Will that be with or without Ten Hag? Only time will tell.
After drawing with FC Twente in midweek, the spotlight fell not just on him but the club’s captain, Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese is off the pace and searching for his best form.
Bruno Fernandes’ season in numbers – 2024/25
The attacking midfielder is so often the beating heart of this Manchester United team. Last term, he scored 15 goals and registered 13 assists in all competitions.
This season may only be in its embryonic stages but he’s not hit anywhere near the levels we’ve become accustomed to seeing. Fernandes is yet to score and he’s supplied just three assists, of which none have come in league action.
The nadir of his campaign to date has come over the last couple of games. Manchester Evening News reporter Samuel Luckhurst handed the Portugal international a dismal 4/10 rating for his performance in the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace last week. Over the course of the match Fernandes did register a whopping 113 touches but ceded possession a remarkable 34 times.
Of his mega touch hall, he could only supply two key passes to his teammates as well.
|
Fernandes vs Crystal Palace |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Number |
|
Touches |
113 |
|
Passes completed |
60/83 |
|
Pass accuracy |
72% |
|
Number of times possession lost |
34 |
|
Ground duels won |
7/9 |
|
Tackles won |
4/4 |
|
Key passes |
2 |
|
Stats from Sofascore |
|
It didn’t get much better against Twente in the Europa League. Handed another 4/10 rating by Luckhurst he created just one chance of note, lost the ball 19 times and won just seven of his 13 duels.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
So, what can United do to get more of a tune from their skipper?
Rasmus Hojlund to the rescue
Since signing from Bologna over the summer, Joshua Zirkzee has been employed as United’s leading man in attack.
He’s showed flashes of brilliance – scoring on his debut against Fulham on the Premier League’s opening night.
However, since that magical introduction to life at Old Trafford the Dutchman has found life difficult in England, failing to score across his next six games which includes that draw with Twente a few days ago and a League Cup thrasing against Barnsley.
So, some time out of the team might be good, yes? Rasmus Hojlund earned his first 14 minutes of the season against Palace last weekend and must now start a league game for the first time this term.
In the words of Gary Neville, he’s “the real deal”, in the words of Ruben Selles – Hojlund’s assistant coach at FC Copenhagen – he is a “monster” profile. It’s one that could just help return Fernandes to his best.
Why? Well Zirkzee has tended to operate in the pockets of space the United captain thrives in, dropping deep to try and help create like a Harry Kane might do. Hojlund on the other hand, runs the channels more often and acts as a man searching for those fluid through balls from the club’s chief creator. The use of their heat maps helps to showcase this very fact.
The image above on the left-hand side is Zirkzee’s heat map from this season which shows that his warmest areas are where you’d typically associate someone like Fernandes to work his magic in. On the flip side (right image), Hojlund is far warmer closer go goal, either on the edge of the area or inside the penalty box on a more regular basis. So, the theory is he’d provide more space for the Portuguese in the final third.
Like United’s summer signing, the £85k-per-week Dane is still raw, he’s still young and far from prolific but he did grow into his skin under Ten Hag last term, eventually ending 2023/24 with 16 goals to his name, ten of which came in league action.
There is no guarantee he’ll revive Fernandes but it’s a combination that worked pretty well last season. It’s time to utilise it again.
