Where does Manchester United go from here?
A glut of injuries has forced Erik ten Hag’s side to field Casemiro and Jonny Evans in central defense, but the manner of this defeat will be profound. They were second to the field and Palace could and should have won more comfortably.
Michael Olise made Casemiro look ridiculous in the 13th minute before stepping forward, unchallenged, to open the scoring. Jean-Philippe Mateta made it 2-0 five minutes before the break when 36-year-old Jonny Evans was exposed.
Tyrick Mitchell added a third after 58 minutes before Olise scored his second superb goal of the evening eight minutes later.
There is plenty to think about for Ten Hag and INEOS, now in charge of football operations at United, as the summer approaches.
Athleticism analyzes another depressing match for United.
What happened to United’s centre-backs?
Jonny Evans and Casemiro have become United’s 14th centre-back pairing of the Premier League season. Evans only returned to training last week after recovering from a short-term muscle injury and started the match in central defense alongside Casemiro, dropping back from his usual midfield position.
Harry Maguire suffered a muscle injury in training last week and is expected to be out for the remainder of the Premier League campaign, and his absence was notable.
It took Crystal Palace 13 minutes to exploit Ten Hag’s makeshift defense, with Olise getting past Casemiro, who rushed over and was left on the ground, before opening the scoring.
Michael Olise does it again against Manchester United at Selhurst Park.
The French winger scores his eighth goal of the season to give Crystal Palace the lead.#CRYMUN
— Athletics | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 6, 2024
Shortly before half-time it was Evans’ turn to fall victim to another Palace attack as Mateta burst past him before doubling the home side’s lead.
The inconsistency at the back this season stands in stark contrast to last year, with Ten Hag needing just six different centre-back partnerships for the club to keep 18 top-flight clean sheets, which was more than any other team.
Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have started 16 times in 2022-23. United’s most prolific partnership this campaign has been that of Evans and Varane, who have played alongside each other six times.
United have now conceded 81 goals in all competitions, the most since the 1976-77 season.
A record United didn’t need
The defeat was United’s 13th defeat this season in the Premier League, which is a record. It is also the first time that Crystal Palace have completed the double against United in the league.
They lost 12 league matches during the 2013–14 campaign, their first of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, which began with David Moyes in charge and ended with Ryan Giggs taking over. after Moyes’ dismissal.
That record was matched in 2021-22, which saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked and Ralf Rangnick brought in on an interim basis.
However, he has now been beaten by Ten Hag, who will no doubt cite the injuries suffered by United as the reason for their struggles, but it is a damning indictment on a season which failed to qualify for the Premier League. Champions.
United still have to face Arsenal and Newcastle United at Old Trafford before traveling to Brighton & Hove Albion, so there is every chance they extend the record beyond 13 defeats.
What future for Ten Hag?
With every defeat United suffer between now and the end of the season, the pressure on Ten Hag will only increase.
In a season littered with low moments, they somehow managed to reach a new low with their performance at Selhurst Park – but it could still get worse. The prospect of facing Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 25 is not exciting.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s new co-owner, has a decision to make this summer when it comes to Ten Hag, and the Dutchman is doing himself no favors when it comes to making his case for staying forward.
As Olise scored his second of the match and Palace’s fourth of the evening, the United manager stood there with his hands in his pockets and shook his head. It was an air of resignation.
United were outplayed, beaten and humiliated by a team in the bottom half of the Premier League table. Jean-Claude Blanc, United’s interim CEO, was at Selhurst Park and will no doubt report back to Ratcliffe on the shambolic performance he witnessed.
If the end of the season wasn’t so close, it would be fair to speculate whether any United manager would survive this form.
Time must surely be running out on Ten Hag’s tenure in charge at Old Trafford.
What did Erik ten Hag say?
Asked if he was the right man to lead United next season, he told Sky Sports: “Absolutely. The good players are there and when we have them available, we have a good team. We are missing almost an entire line of defense and then we have problems.
“This is by far not enough, so we are very disappointed. The fans were behind us the whole game and we should have kept fighting like they did.
On the terrible defending of the first goal, he said: “We had five players, it’s a goal that shouldn’t happen because we’re really giving clear instructions on how we have to defend this goal. They didn’t They didn’t bring it on the field and we got hammered.
“It was a team performance that was not correct, making big mistakes. Not following the plan or script. We made individual mistakes but we have to cover for each other, we let each other down. Not all players are in their preferred position because we have huge problems but we have to help each other.
What future for United?
Sunday May 12: Arsenal (M), Premier League, 4:30 p.m. BST, 11:30 a.m. ET
Historically, this Premier League match has usually seen two title favorites go head-to-head in a combustible clash. But these days, only the north Londoners are hoping to bolster their title hopes.
Although United lost the reverse fixture at the Emirates (two injury time goals gave the home side a 3-1 win), they have an excellent record against Arsenal at Old Trafford, winning 18 out of 31 games, drawing nine and losing only four. times.
Despite the speculation surrounding Marcus Rashford, don’t be surprised to see him on the scoresheet. The Englishman has scored four Premier League goals against Arsenal at Old Trafford, with only Wayne Rooney (six) scoring more.
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(Top photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)