Three things we learnt as toothless United fall to narrow defeat to Tottenham

Manchester United took on Tottenham Hotspur today looking to climb up to 12th in the Premier League table.

Andre Onana started in nets while Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui started as the back three.

Diogo Dalot began in the right wing-back position while Patrick Dorgu made his first Premier League start on the left hand side.

Bruno Fernandes started alongside Casemiro in the centre of the park while Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee began as the number tens.

Rasmus Hojlund was charged with leading the line, looking to break his long goal drought.

Here are three things we learnt from the match.

Andre Onana fails again

One of the most disappointing aspects of this season has been the decline of Onana.

The Cameroonian started the season in fine form but his overall play has fallen off a cliff in the last few months when his team have needed him most.

He had a disaster of a game against Brighton and Hove Albion
and he was once again to blame for Spurs’ opener.

A long range shot should have been dealt with better, as he just palmed the ball to James Maddison, who had the easiest of tasks to slot it in and put the home side ahead.

United now have a massive headache as they enter a summer with limited funds, many holes to fix and now for many supporters, there is an obvious need to bring in a new first choice keeper.

Garnacho’s wastefulness won’t end

The Argentine was one of the stars of the team last season and started well this year again.

This form has completely abandoned him lately, as he has not scored a goal since the end of November against Bodo/Glimt.

In fact, you must go back to the first half of November the last time he scored against English opposition in the form of Leicester City.

Garnacho was given a golden chance to score midway through the first half but he inexplicably ballooned his effort well over the net when it looked easier to score than miss. He also missed another one-on-one opportunity early on in the second half.

Of course he is only 20 years old but United desperately need players to stand up now that Amad is likely to be out the rest of the season and at present, they cannot currently count on their number 17.

Joshua Zirkzee slowly growing into his role

The Dutchman has divided opinion since joining the Red Devils in the summer.

It certainly took him time to adapt to English football but without Amad, he proved to be the team’s most consistent attacking threat this evening.

The 23 year old showed some nice touches and linked up the play quite well, playing as one of the number 10s.

Zirkzee was guilty of a bad miss with a poor unmarked headed attempt but he was just one of a number of offenders on a frustrating evening in front of goal for United.

Nonetheless, he is certainly growing in confidence and due to injuries decimating the forward line, he will certainly now have the chance to put together numerous games and prove he should be at a club the size of United.

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

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