Manchester United enter this week on the backfoot after failing to get all three points in the clash with Brentford.
Whenever Manchester United fail to win, like the recent 1-1 draw with Brentford, there is attention paid to the manager. Did he make the right decisions? Were his tactics right? How did he react to dropping points?
Erik ten Hag‘s post-match comments, in which he was dismissive of the high volume of chances United gave up, was reason for some alarm among fans.
The consistent theme of United’s struggle has been giving up too many chances, and Ten Hag must bear some blame for that. Some criticism should also come the players’ way too.
‘Manchester United lack warriors’
Speaking to ESPN, former Premier League defender Frank Leboeuf pointed Manchester United’s woes at a lack of fighting spirit.
Admitting that the same issues blight his former club, Chelsea, who United play later this week, Leboeuf said that the make-up of players in the squad currently lack fight.
He explained: “I want to talk about the players. The players I played against when I played against Manchester United, in the middle of the park, for example Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, they were warriors.
“I didn’t see any warriors at Manchester United (v Brentford). What made United so strong was because they were warriors, yeah it’s nice to have artists, its nice to have a Cantona, and some others, but at first you need warriors, and I don’t see that.
“You can blame the coach, you can blame the medical staff, the physical staff, whoever you want to blame, but at the end of the day, the players are on the field.”
Manchester United must sign players with right profile
Leboeuf raises a valid point in that Manchester United do need to sign players with the right mental attributes as well as possessing the desired technical skills.
But simply saying, let’s sign another Roy Keane and Paul Scholes is not exactly easy. These are two generational players who Manchester United were blessed to have at the same time. Now we would be fortunate to get one of these.
However, where Leboeuf is wrong is that pointing simply to the players should not absolve the manager from blame either – he signed many of them, and has been provided ample funds to build his squad.
Manchester United’s top ‘warriors’
Manchester United do have players who can be referred to as ‘warrior’ types. Sure, there are no Roy Keane or Paul Scholes, but there are some fighters in the squad, who you would back to put everything on the line for the team.
Concerningly, our selected ‘top three’ were all on the pitch as Manchester United conceded the late equalising goal against Brentford.
Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, and Harry Maguire are all players who United can usually depend on. The trouble is, all three were making their returns as substitutes, and are lacking sharpness.
The trio could be in contention for starts against Chelsea, fitness permitting, and will need to raise their game.