Just like the match in May (last season), Erik ten Hag and his students failed to score a single goal at Selhurst Park. However, the biggest difference was the score, instead of 0-4, it was 0-0. Besides improving the score when playing away at Crystal Palace, everything seemed not too negative for the Dutch strategist.
The first half of the match against Palace was considered to be Manchester United's best performance in over two years. They ended the first 45 minutes with a possession rate of up to 68%, launched 9 shots and had 5 big chances. If it weren't for the brilliance of former player Dean Henderson, the away team could have had 3 celebrations after the shots of Alejandro Garnacho, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez.
One example of how good Man United's first half was in the 35th minute. Martinez passed the ball well to Bruno Fernandes in midfield. The Man United captain then turned and immediately created a 4v3 situation. Ten Hag always needs Bruno to be able to create quick counter-attacks like that.
If Andre Onana had not been as good as Henderson in the first half, Palace could have beaten Man United at home for the second time in a row. There is no such thing as "if" in football. However, the numbers don't lie and it shows that Man United only need to improve their finishing, and everything will be much better.
According to Opta, since the beginning of the Premier League season, Man United's expected goals are 9.53, second only to Liverpool (10.1). Man City is also behind their big city rivals with 9.28. After 5 rounds, The Red Devils have missed 17 big chances (the most in the league). From the next round, when Rasmus Hojlund returns, there is no reason why Man United cannot score more goals if they continue to create such regular chances.
One of the negative points but with a positive tendency is the way Ten Hag uses Marcus Rashford. The English striker has scored 3 goals in the previous 2 matches and is very excited. However, he was left on the bench by his coach. Explaining this, Ten Hag said he wanted to rotate the squad. For the first time in more than 2 years, Man United has such a strong squad to have many options. It's just a pity that when Rashford is gradually regaining his form, he sat out the entire first half and did not have the necessary warmth in the second half.
Speaking of the squad, in the recent match against Palace, there were 9 players from the first team on the bench for Man United. Recalling the match 5 months ago also at Selhurst Park, Ten Hag had to put 5 players from the Carrington academy, 2 goalkeepers on the reserve list to make up the squad, along with two veterans Jonny Evans and Casemiro.
Seeing Manuel Ugarte, Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund come on in the second half, the Red Devils' squad depth is improving significantly. They have players of equal quality in both the starting lineup and on the bench. For the long haul and to play in many arenas, this is the best way.
With such positive signs, the only thing Man United need to do now is improve their scoring ability. The race for a top position is not over yet and Ten Hag needs to do that from the next round.
