Notts Forest 1
Man Utd 0
We did not deserve to lose this one, but we did! And when push comes to shove, the results will count more than performances. United were the better team in the first half after conceding early on. The goal conceded was purely down to bad decision making – someone should have tackled Elanga at some point after Ugarte had failed to keep up with Elanga’s pace. One could argue that the keeper should have been better positioned as well but let’s not go there for this one!
Fact is, we had a whole 90 minutes left to score and we did not. 20 attempts are a lot, especially for this United side, but we had 20 attempts in this match – and zero goals. Bruno seems the only United player who can score more or less regularly as the others have a very complicated relationship with goalscoring. Garnacho blew hot and cold, more cold than hot. Zirkzee had some good touches but was overwhelmed by the pace of the match and the defensive wall set up by Forest after the lead.
The back 3 struggled with the fast counter attacks of the home side at times, Dalot and Dorgu did put in some crosses but it was simply not good enough…also because we do not have a proper striker up front. I am convinced that if we had a Zlatan up front yesterday (the first year with us version) we would have won the match. Hojlund does not get a lot of service, true, but his positioning and decision making are simply not good enough. Will he score goals? Yes…but sporadically, just like any other average player.
I would play Obi up front for the rest of the EPL matches and see if he has the potential or not. In any case, I will keep repeating that a striker (20 goals per season quality) and a keeper are critical for United next season. If they do not get this one right, Ruben Amorim will be meeting the same fate as his predecessors, as much as I like the guy!
It’s derby day on Sunday, and I am hoping that we can bounce back. It will be so sweet if we can make a double over them – it has not happened recently so about time…Numquam Moribimur!
