Many of the players Man Utd relied upon last season have been well below par and must arrest their slumping form when the season resumes.
Scott McTominay described the feeling of scoring the winning goal against Brentford as “a cathartic experience” but many of his Man Utd teammates have played like ghosts this season.
Rashford and Onana played poorly at Man Utd
The most blatant of these, perhaps, is Marcus Rashford. The attacker has scored just once in his 10 matches so far and showed where his confidence levels were at when he tried to square the ball for Bruno Fernandes when one-on-one with the Galatasaray goalkeeper last week.
Man Utd almost exclusively relied on the England star for goals last season in what was his most prolific campaign. He would have to produce a remarkable U-turn to reach his 30-goal haul again, it seems.
While Rasmus Hojlund has been one of the few to impress with his three goals so far, it is Casemiro who leads the goal-scoring chart with four strikes. It’s no surprise that both he and Rashford were the goal scorers in the 2-0 League Cup final win over Newcastle.
Yet the pivot is another who has failed to live up to last season’s levels. The Brazilian has so often been bypassed by opposition attackers and midfielders this time around and seems to lack the energy that carried Man Utd through so much last season.
Rasmus Højlund and Casemiro are two bright spots
Casemiro may be more vocal but he and Rashford lead best by their actions and this has looked wayward to say the least so far. Both will still be integral for United this season and a turnaround in their form would almost certainly pull the rest of the squad in the right direction.
Meanwhile, Andre Onana has been less than convincing. The goalkeeper has made a catalogue of errors already this season and not all of them have been punished. His start to life at Old Trafford could have been much worse.
But his form has been so alarming that club legend Peter Schmeichel has spoken to him twice recently about compartmentalising his mistakes during matches. The test for Onana will be to bounce back, because there is no other option if Man Utd are to have a successful season.
A secure goalkeeper builds confidence within the defence. He himself even admitted in pre-season: “They [teammates] play a lot of balls back to me, so I have to give them confidence and I want my players to give them to me to give me confidence.”
Onana and Rashford have ‘must do better’ on their first term report cards
His awful pass against Galatasaray means Casemiro – who was forced to commit a second bookable challenge – will miss the next Champions League match. Onana is keeping his teammates on tenterhooks for the wrong reasons.
To achieve any kind of success, a team needs a solid goalkeeper. The scale of Man Utd’s scope this season will depend on Onana’s ability to turn his season around.
In the absence of Lisandro Martinez, who is sidelined possibly until 2024 with a recurring metatarsal injury, Raphael Varane has been less than sturdy. He missed his 35th United match on Saturday due to injury in what has become a theme of the defender’s stay at Old Trafford.
But even when fit this term, he has looked half the centre-back that helped Real Madrid win four Champions League titles. He may have experience but his leadership skills have been left wanting up to this point.
More starkly, he may be fighting for his future role at United. A centre-back will be needed this summer, possibly at his expense. The 30-year-old has a responsibility, and the capability, of commanding the back line with Martinez sidelined, and he must soon take the reins when back from injury.
Scott McTominay is the savior of Man Utd
Fernandes has been below par but has been more at-the-races than any of his four teammates this season. He cannot do it on his own though. Hojlund has shown his pedigree but will need help.
Rashford needs to support the Dane while Casemiro, Onana and Varane must keep the door shut at the other end if United are to get their season back on the rails. The spine is currently brittle and needs to re-stabilise quickly before this season turns fatal.
