Martin Keown questions Erik ten Hag tactics - 'Why does the pitch look huge when Manchester United play?'
Published 02/10/2024 at 12:53 GMT+1
Manchester United face two pivotal away fixtures which could determine the future of current manager Erik ten Hag. The Red Devils return to European action with a trip to Porto before a tough Premier League clash at Aston Villa on Sunday. They need to claim positive results after their abject display against Tottenham on the weekend and Martin Keown believes there are still "issues" at the club.
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Manchester United players lack "belief" under manager Erik ten Hag, according to TNT Sports pundit Martin Keown, who also questioned the Dutchman's tactics.
The Red Devils suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday and now face a tough trip to Porto in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, which will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
United's European campaign also started in disappointing fashion after they were held to a 1-1 home draw against FC Twente, with midfielder Christian Eriksen admitting the Dutch side "wanted it more" following the game.
Keown believes that Porto will present a tough challenge for United after they came close to shocking Arsenal in last season's UEFA Champions League before the Gunners defeated them on penalties.
"Last season, Porto represented a really tough game for Arsenal so this won’t be an easy game for Manchester United," he told TNT Sports.
"Certainly not with the form they are in. And then they have Aston Villa to follow so everywhere you look, there’s tough games for Manchester United. Particularly in the last round when Eriksen said that the FC Twente players wanted it more than his team-mates, that’s worrying."
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Ten Hag has urged for more patience at the start of the season with the club looking to bed in new signings Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte.
Despite the new arrivals, Keown says that there are still "issues" with the way Ten Hag sets up his team tactically.
"You’ve got so many people new to the shirt, new to the club and you’ve got to quickly form a core group that love the club. It doesn’t happen overnight," he added.
"Ugarte would have been thinking to himself [against Spurs] ‘what on earth have I joined?’. Halfway through the game, he’s up and down journeying through midfield and the pitch is massive. Why does the pitch always look huge when Manchester United play?
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"They can never really press the play. Tactically there’s issues for how they play. When you press, everybody has to be up and compact and then the midfield doesn’t have the huge areas that it has to cover. I always look at the midfield players and feel sorry for them.
"You’re trying to press with [Marcus] Rashford who doesn’t look completely engaged right now. You’re trying to press with [Bruno] Fernandes and that doesn’t look like it’s part of his skillset, he doesn’t look as if he’s hungry to win it back.
"Zirkzee up front, I wouldn’t say he’s a runner so it’s what they do with the ball - if they don’t look after the ball, which they didn’t against Spurs, they don’t really have a lot to offer.
"You need to find character first of all. You have to look at the manager because he creates the belief but it doesn’t look like people are playing with a great deal of belief. Are they really believing in what he’s asking them to do? It doesn’t look like it.
"It’s a results business and we can talk and talk but they have to do their talking on the pitch and that means nothing but a win in their next match. If they lose this one then it is a huge crisis and then they’ve got Villa away. Villa represents one of the toughest away games of the season these days."
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