Man Utd must drop 4/10 star who Neville thought was “awful”

Not since 2022 has a higher expected goals figure – 4.67 in this instance – been registered by an away team. Of course, it had to happen against Manchester United.

The last time it occurred was when rivals Manchester City defeated Norwich City. It was David against Goliath in that instance.

So, for it to happen against a great institution like United just about sums up the direction the club has been driven in by Erik ten Hag.

It’s slightly staggering that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co kept the faith with him over the summer if truth be told. For now, though, they are stuck with a man who evidently looks incredibly out of his depth.

It’s been another torrid start to the season for the Red Devils who are all the way down in 12th having already dropped points in four of their half-a-dozen matches.

Where do you go from here? It’s a question that no doubt sparks plenty of debate.

Man United’s biggest underperformers against Spurs

Tottenham have hardly been a pillar of positivity this season either but they rocked up at Old Trafford and meant business. Within minutes they opened the scoring and eventually surged to a 3-0 victory.

How did they get there? Well, the tone was set early doors. Micky van de Ven, a centre-back by trade, galloped forward like Ryan Giggs against Arsenal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final, darting down the left-hand side.

He nabbed the ball from Marcus Rashford and then surged forward to put the ball on a plate for in-form man Brennan Johnson.

The defending was dismal. Matthijs de Ligt was shown a clean pair of heals by his fellow countryman and then left-back Diogo Dalot was nowhere to be seen at the back stick as Johnson was left with an empty net.

Those two were much to blame for the loss. Dalot certainly doesn’t look like he’s up to the task of playing out of position on the left and De Ligt – who has actually been a solid signing since arriving from Bayern Munich – showed shades of Harry Maguire and Co in his lack of ability to keep up with some of the quickest around.

It was incredibly worrying. Then, there was the red card for Bruno Fernandes. Oh, Bruno, it simply isn’t your season, is it?

To be truthful, it was a harsh red. The club’s captain clearly slipped but in doing so raised a stud too high on James Maddison who collapsed to the ground. He was sent for an early bath and will now miss United’s next three games. Talk about compiling your misery.

The aforementioned Rashford hardly covered himself in glory either and must be dropped. He isn’t at the races.

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Rashford’s performance in numbers

Are we really watching the same player as we saw throughout the 2022/23 season? The Englishman was absolutely incredible during that term, bagging 30 goals in all competitions.

Since then he’s been one of the most disappointing players in the Premier League. Rashford only netted eight times last season and was left out of England’s squad for Euro 2024 as a result.

You’d think he’d come back with a point to prove but he has been equally as dismal during the current campaign, scoring just once. His performance against Spurs – like the rest of his colleagues in all fairness – was one of the worst we’ve seen in recent times.

He was at fault for the opener, a moment that Gary Neville criticised as “awful” from the England international. United looked to break through Rashford but in doing so the winger took a horrific touch that landed right at the feet of Van de Ven. The wide man appeared to pull out of any sort of duel that might have taken place and up the other end went Spurs’ central defender to create the opening goal.

Beyond that, it didn’t get much better for the 26-year-old who looked so out of sorts and lacking any sort of confidence. In his 73 minutes on the field, he completed just 70% of his passes, had fewer touches (32) than goalkeeper Andre Onana (45) and failed to have a single shot. It’s pretty dismal stuff.

It wasn’t just Neville who slammed the academy graduate with Manchester Evening News’ Samuel Luckhurst particularly scathing.

Writing in his post-match thoughts, the journalist handed the United man a 4/10 rating, saying that he ‘was often on the back foot’.

These are the games that Rashford so often asserted himself in a few years back. Now he’s an anonymous figure. He’s a full-back’s dream. Watch him collect the ball and do nothing with it. It’s rinse and repeat right now.

There is hope that perhaps under a new manager the attacker can relive past glories but right now he is sinking without a trace, just as his employers are.