Manchester United suffered a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford as the pressure continues to build on Erik ten Hag.
Dominic Solanke netted the only goal of the game for Andoni Iraola’s men as Manchester United have suffered their 11th defeat of the season in all competitions.
Here are five things we learned from United’s rather emphatic defeat to the Cherries.
Solanke’s goal
Solanke scored just five minutes into the game at Old Trafford and it was the goal that kickstarted the massacre and it was yet another cutback goal that the Red Devils conceded.
The defensive issues for United continue but the structural issues that lead to the Red Devils conceding goals in such a similar manner are a major cause of concern.
Erik ten Hag has to address these issues and the chances that opposition sides create regularly, from those pesky wide areas, has to be addressed sooner rather than later.
McTominay’s struggles
He was the hero during the midweek win over Chelsea but Scott McTominay was so poor for the Red Devils on a frustrating afternoon for the Scottish midfielder.
Unlike on Wednesday night, against a Chelsea side who were so poor defensively, the 26-year-old was rather ineffective as a stubborn Bournemouth kept the Red Devils midfielder out.
In possession, the midfielder was poor and the goals he has scored has hidden this issue but the question that will be posed to Ten Hag is, is the midfielder’s goals worth the lack of control in the middle of the park, in today’s game, the answer was an emphatic no.
United’s awful defending
Philip Billing doubled the Cherries’ lead which was just yet another example of United’s porous defending. The tall midfielder was free on his own in the middle of the box after poor defending from Luke Shaw and headed past the hapless Andre Onana.
It was a goal that occurred just seconds after Diogo Dalot selfishly fired the ball into the side netting rather than cutting it back for Rasmus Hojlund.
United’s defensive struggles were there for all to see, bar Harry Maguire, the Red Devils’ defence were poor for the second goal and were even worse for the third and the fourth.
A Marcos Senesi header made the game safe but the defending was atrocious from the corner as the defender was unmarked.
Ten Hag’s future
The Dutchman looked to be a defeated figure and Ten Hag certainly looked desperate when he made three changes all in one go, one of those being Jonny Evans.
Ten Hag’s future looks bleak to say the least, losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth is inexcusable for any United side but for a side who had aspirations for a Premier League title challenge this season, it’s disastrous.
The question about the Dutchman’s future will reemerge with more dressing room leaks to come but these queries that fans have is certainly warranted.
What next for United
The Red Devils have the small matter of Bayern Munich at Old Trafford and then a trip to Anfield to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
If the Dutchman was under pressure already then two more heavy losses, including one against the club’s biggest rivals, would surely be the end.
A season without Champions League football looks to be on the cards for the Red Devils and this could be the beginning of the end for Ten Hag.
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