When Porto scored their third goal in a row to make it 3-2, the entire Man United squad was stunned. Off the pitch, coach Erik ten Hag also seemed motionless. They had led 2-0 very quickly but this bad scenario, although familiar, came too quickly.
For neutral fans, the match between Man United and Porto was crazy and full of emotions. However, for the "Red Devils" fans, it was an unacceptable performance from the defense. It showed how chaotic Ten Hag's team is. A team with a frustrating lack of organization and more than 20 times since Ten Hag's arrival, Man United have conceded at least 3 goals in a match.
In the last 5 matches in the European arena, The Red Devils have not won any. In the last 10 matches, they have only won once. The draw against Porto was also the 31st time (since the beginning of last season) that the Old Trafford team has conceded 2 goals or more, the most among the 20 teams participating in the Premier League this season.
"Maybe it all comes from our bad spirit, the whole team needs to fix that. When leading 2-0 and then conceding goals continuously like that, I don't know if my teammates will lose faith in a victory or not" - Harry Maguire shared after the match.
Ten Hag also shared Maguire's lack of belief after last weekend's 3-0 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford. However, the 54-year-old does not think things are being taken too far. Ten Hag cited the 0-0 draw with Palace and the 1-0 win over Fulham earlier in the season as evidence of the team's good defensive organisation.
"This team can do that but we need to be more consistent and more regular. We are in the early stages of the season and need to improve this quickly, we cannot wait any longer. The players also need to take responsibility for such sloppy defending" - Ten Hag shared.
Last summer, Ten Hag talked a lot about upgrading the quality of the defense. The result of this was the two contracts Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui. This duo both started against Porto but played quite poorly. Above them is the midfield of Bruno Fernandes - Casemiro - Christian Eriksen. Of these 3, Eriksen and Casemiro are both 32 years old. In Ten Hag's first season with M.U, when this trio appeared together, M.U only lost 1 match.
Ten Hag cited "match pattern" and "fitness" as reasons for not starting Manuel Ugarte. Although Marcus Rashford had a goal and an assist, the left wing was the Dutch tactician's weakest point in the team's overall defence. When he brought on Alejandro Garnacho, Ten Hag said it was not because of Rashford's performance.
The defensive cracks have only become more apparent since the moment captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. It was the second red card in two consecutive matches for the Portuguese star. Before that, since making his Man United debut under Ole Solskjaer, Bruno had played 241 matches and had not been sent off once.
The defense was already weak but became even more passive when losing a man. It would be lame to compare Man United with the current Arsenal, but the 10-man Gunners only needed a few more seconds to stand firm against Man City. The defense system is too luxurious a concept for Ten Hag when even the slightest pressure can cause it to crumble.
There has been much praise for the way INEOS’s owners are improving the way Manchester United are run overall. However, things are slowing down with games like Tottenham and Porto. No team can win, or at least survive, a season if they are conceding goals like that.
