Manchester United have suffered a woeful season to this point with the team now on their second manager and still languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Having struggled since the opening fixtures, United have been on the backfoot for the majority of the campaign and found themselves on the wrong side of too many disappointing results to date.
The poor performances have resulted in some desperate defensive moments under both Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim with the team failing to adapt to the methods of both coaches.
This is backed up by a recent statistic that has revealed two United players feature in the top 10 of full-backs across Europe who have made sliding tackles since the start of the season.
Sliding tackles from full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues so far this season: pic.twitter.com/yuySilwiiW
— Central (@WestHam_Central) January 8, 2025
Summer signing Noussair Mazraoui joins Diogo Dalot on the list with the former Bayern Munich man tied in 3rd place and Dalot in joint 7th along side Dennis Appiah of Saint-Étienne and Sevilla’s José Ángel Carmona with 12 apiece.
Mazraoui is joined by Premier League colleague Yukinari Sugawara of Southampton and La Liga duo Nahuel Tenaglia and Jon Aramburu, who play for Alaves and Real Sociedad, respectively, on 13 slide tackles each.
Interestingly, former United man Aaron Wan-Bissaka leads the charts with a massive 21 slide tackles this term, with Leganés Valentin Rosier in second on 14.
Despite featuring high in the table, the statistic might not be viewed by many as an impressive one with defenders typically told to stay on their feet when faced with attackers.
In fact, both United players have given away penalties through mistimed slide tackles this season with Mazraoui’s mishap particularly damaging.
The Moroccan gifted Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert a chance to double the away side’s advantage against United last month which resulted in Andoni Irialo’s men cruising to an eye-catching 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
Dalot’s desperate hack on Southampton’s young prodigy, Tyler Dibling, early in season wasn’t quite as fatal with Andre Onana thwarting Cameron Archer from the spot when the scoreline was still goalless at St. Mary’s.
Fortunately, United went on to win the game on the South Coast thanks to Matthjis de Ligt’s first goal for the club added to by Marcus Rashford before a late Alejandro Garnacho goal wrapped up the three points.
Amorim will be hoping for more controlled defensive showings from his players moving forward as United attempt to build on their best performance under the new head coach at Anfield last weekend.
United travel to Arsenal on Sunday as they begin the defence of their FA Cup crown before returning to Premier League action against Southampton the following midweek.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Conner Botterill
Conner Botterill has been with The Peoples Person for two years. A keen match-going red with degrees in Sport and Journalism and Philosophy and Psychology, Conner still believes he has a chance of making United’s first team through his 5-a-side career.
