Manchester United were collectively atrocious against Fulham on Saturday afternoon, but here are the three worst on a disappointing day.
On a day when Manchester United could’ve drawn level on points with Tottenham Hotspurs in fifth, the performance took us back to some of this season’s lowest moments.
A run of four consecutive wins had begun to give Old Trafford fans some belief that a corner had been turned.
But on Saturday this proved to be yet another false horizon with an awful performance from the Erik ten Hag and also the players.
Here are the three worst performers from United’s 2-1 loss to Fulham…
Raphael Varane
Manchester United’s most experienced and successful player, Raphael Varane, was very poor on Saturday as he failed to impact the game.
The World Cup-winning centre-half won 0 duels – as per SofaScore – as he made little difference to the waves of attacks Fulham subjected United to.
When compared with his defensive partner, Harry Maguire, it’s hard to understand just how he was so uninvolved while Maguire was rock solid and gave his all.
Marcus Rashford
Replacing the seven goals in six games Rasmus Hojlund up front was never going to be easy for Marcus Rashford but he offered practically nothing upfront with just one shot on target.
He didn’t hold the ball up or offer a focal point to the team which left us looking lost.
He should be a leader in the team yet was irking his responsibility often with 19-year-old Alejandro Garnacho the only attacker to show some interest in playing.
Ten Hag must find a new solution to his Hojlund problem for the upcoming games, as Rashford can’t play there. Perhaps Scott McTominay can though…
Bruno Fernandes
The third name on the list is one which is rarely even considered for one of these lists, United captain Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes lost the ball a whopping 28 times in the game – as per SofaScore – which explains exactly why United had practically no control leading to an open end-to-end game.
Above this, he failed in his primary job which is to create chances, with just two key passes made. In this regard, he was outperformed by Christian Eriksen who made four and also created a big chance, despite playing less than half the minutes.
Finally, Fernandes also missed a handful of chances late in the game which a player who is believed to be top-tier should be finishing.
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