For the first time since before the pandemic, United travelled to face Norwich at Carrow Road in the league after the Canaries' year out of the top-flight. Recently-appointed manager Dean Smith has already faced United this season, overcoming the reds with his Aston Villa side at Old Trafford. It has to be admitted that the new boss has provided an upturn in fortunes, though Norwich still sit at the very foot of the table.
"There was no reason to change anything", said Ralf Rangnick as he named the same side that beat Crystal Palace the weekend prior - the side that also defeated Arsenal prior to the German taking charge. In hand, it was wholesale changes from the experimental midweek draw against Young Boys.
David de Gea was recalled in place of Dean Henderson, with Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire restoring their spots in the continued absence of Raphael Varane. Diogo Dalot started for the third consecutive league match in the absence of Aaron Wan-Bissaka due to the reoccurrence of his recent hand injury in addition to a knock to his knee, both sustained in a collision with the advertising boards at the death in midweek. On the opposite side, Alex Telles came back into the side in place of Luke Shaw, who managed 60 minutes against Young Boys on his return from concussion.
Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata both dropped out through illness, with Donny van de Beek also back on the bench as Scott McTominay and Fred partnered one another in a bid for more balance in the midfield. Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes were poised to operate as the two number tens within Rangnick's 4222 system, tucked inside of the attacking fullback pair. The match came too soon for Edinson Cavani, with Marcus Rashford partnering Cristiano Ronaldo - favoured to Mason Greenwood despite his stellar Champions League display.
It was a first away trip for Rangnick as United manager, with the German joined by two new coaching additions - psychologist Sascha Lense and theoretical Michael Carrick coaching replacement Chris Armas.
Those who have worked with Armas regard him as a “f*****g competitor” and “a winner with an infectious positivity about him”. He is said to share many of Rangnick’s tactical philosophies as a coach, whilst being able to “relate to and engage with any type of person and any type of player”.
In his only full season as a head coach in the MLS, Armas’ New York Red Bulls side had the fastest ball recoveries in the league in conjunction with the highest press and most direct attacking style. Stats suggest that he boosted the side’s expected goals output by as much as 0.24 per game. His most recent post at Toronto was admittedly unsuccessful and saw him sacked after only six months, though he accompanied Jesse Marsch to a pair of regular season MLS titles with New York - finishing one off himself after Marsch departed the club.
Bolstered by the pair of fresh faces, with a couple more staff members possibly still to arrive, United started with energy again. There was some brisk, direct passing conjunct with more high volume work off the ball. However, Norwich did occasionally manage to break through the reds' rather frantic system, with excessive commitment often leading to some disorganisation.
United found themselves caught out on a few occasions, inviting pressure with quite a deep-lying defensive line - something that Rangnick was displeased with from his much-changed midweek side. Some sloppy passes in risky areas almost cost United, with both McTominay and Fred forced to crucially intervene in the early exchanges.
When attacking, things didn't really materialise further after the energetic start either. The visitors were often lacking width, proving too reliant on the fullbacks being able to bomb up and down the pitch on a non-stop basis. Rangnick's side were having a troublesome opening 10 minute spell, with his men unable to fully readopt the system deployed the weekend prior.
United did come the closest to taking the lead early on, with Telles striking the crossbar from a freekick which took a deflection off the Norwich wall. The near miss for the visitors marked the first time they had properly placed their opposition under the cosh for a remotely sustained passage, though still the foothold wasn't really prolonged. The midfield found themselves isolated at times, lacking support thus struggling to maintain masses of control. On the whole, too many passes were being played passively sideways and backwards. Rangnick was severely discontent as bad habits creeped back in amidst those on the pitch.
United's flaws continued to take prevalence as the half progressed, with the side at the very foot of the table actually proving the dominant force during extended phases. Any early signs of a United press had diminished, at least in terms of a collective assertion of duress. In possession, creation remained wholly limited for the away side. They continued to play at a rather minimal tempo combined with some poor decision making, thus further accentuating the lack of control on the game. There was none of Rangnick's trademark proactive football on display.
It will undoubtedly have been greatly received from the United contingent that Norwich regressed after their own phase of some dominance, though the reds were still overall scruffy. However, they did grow more impactful after Norwich lost some organisation as a result of captain and centrepoint of their team Grant Hanley being replaced with a shoulder injury after a collision with Ronaldo.
United's biggest chance from open play soon followed, with positive signs from the showing against Palace creeping back in as Fred won possession in the final third. McTominay subsequently received possession and pristinely slotted Ronaldo through on goal, with the Portuguese great producing a sharp turn to shift the ball onto his left foot - Tim Krul denied the eventual unleashing from the United striker. It was wasteful from Ronaldo, but his side were beginning to move the ball with more poise.
Having said that, United were almost caught out in procession, allowing excessive space for a Norwich surge. Dalot was forced to intervene twice during the passage, with Telles doing enough to deal with the final cross of the bombardment.
Alarms still sounded as the half reached its climax. United had endured improved phases, though they were not at peak sharpness by any stretch of the imagination. The contrast from the quality on display in the first half against Palace was stark, with opportunities growing but Rangnick's side unable to capitalise on a slightly developing number of openings. Krul was tested by a looping Maguire header on the brink of the break, but it had been a quiet half for the Dutch goalkeeper for the most-part.
It was blatant that the new manager's learning phase was in full force. As aforementioned, his job to banish some of the personnel's bad habits would be considerable. The team clearly were in need of being moulded further, because something was not clicking.
Despite calls for Mason Greenwood to be introduced at the break, there were no halftime alterations. Rashford was one player singled out as being underwhelming throughout the first half, lacking the final ball and end product into the final third. He looked dramatically short on confidence.
United commenced the second half with a theme that had been recurring over the course of the season - a sense of hopefulness was at the forefront as opposed to any real organised buildup play. As a consequence, there were a plethora of misplaced long balls, and a multitude of passes in general. Patience was lacking.
Norwich had a huge chance at the start of the second period, with Maguire easily turned and evaded inside the penalty area. To the relief of the United captain after the basic defensive mishap, the eventual effort was simple for De Gea to gather.
It was becoming more and more of a classic modern United showing. A goal looked likely at both ends. The final ball still lacked from a United standpoint, with their general poise far from that desired by Rangnick. Despite a week of recovery, there was a major absence of energy both offensively and defensively.
United were nearly made to pay the price again, once more consequent of being far too open during a defensive segment. Lindelof allowed Teemu Pukki to shift the ball, only for the Finnish forward to be denied spectacularly by De Gea. From the resultant corner, a header skimmed the Spaniard's crossbar. There was lots going for Norwich, who again had United under quite an extreme constraint.
Continually, the reds looked hesitant when attacking. The epitome of United's indecisiveness in the attacking areas again came through Rashford's insufficient final third quality, with the United man receiving a Fred through ball, only to halt as he neared the danger area. His ball to Ronaldo was dubious, with the striker unable to shift effectively to his compatriot Fernandes - who himself was in disarray.
It took until the halfway mark of the period for the first United alteration to be made: it was Greenwood to be introduced but, for the second week on the bounce, it was Sancho who was replaced as opposed to a seemingly noticeably underperforming Rashford. It was a strange decision for many, with a real issue at the forefront of proceedings the coordination between the front two - they were losing the ball far too much. Instead, Greenwood slotted in the middle line of two.
Around the 70 minute mark, United had a breakthrough. McTominay guided a cross towards Ronaldo, who was essentially manhandled in the penalty area by Max Aarons. A penalty was awarded, no matter how dramatised Ronaldo's fall was.
Krul attempted to play mind games, but this was Cristiano Ronaldo. As against Arsenal, it was the number seven to taken. Power was the approach again, though this time into the corner as the goalkeeper was sent the wrong way. It took a spot kick to do it, but United were finally ahead against the side sitting bottom of the league.
Ronaldo has now scored against 120 of the 160 club opposition he has faced, with Norwich becoming the 165th side he has scored against including national teams. He has also equalled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Premier League account of 91 goals.
The second United change followed promptly, and was a concerning enforced substitution. Lindelof was spotted clutching his chest shortly prior to the penalty being awarded, with absolutely no risks being taken by the United medical staff as Bailly limbered up immediately.
There was rightful concern given recent heart issues within the sport, with De Gea expressing, "We saw Eriksen and Aguero. It’s difficult to see a player like this. I hope he is completely fine - it doesn't matter the game, or football. It’s life, we have to be safe."
Rangnick reassured post-match that, "He had a collision, he can't even remember what it was. He was struggling to breathe. For more than ten minutes his heart rate was higher than normal - he was shocked and didn’t know how to deal with it. They did all the tests, and he seems to be ok."
The go-ahead goal didn't really spark any more proactivity in proportion to the momentum gained, with De Gea forced into another colossal save from an Ozan Kabak header - it was a trademark firm hand to deny the Turk on the stretch. Moments later, Bailly got himself into trouble, forcing Maguire into making a significant intervening challenge.
Norwich had enjoyed some positive phases, but they were approaching the culmination of the match by working the ball as well as they had done. Smith's side were not looking like one severely in danger of relegation. The game was still wide open for the hosts, with further blocks from Bailly and Dalot denying Billy Gilmour amidst the sustained onslaught. United were not seeing the game out with much defensive control.
Rangnick's side really should have killed the game off on the break, with Rashford unleashed to beat his man, but was again cost by his final ball. On this occasion, his cutback to Ronaldo was behind his strike partner, with the Portuguese unable to adjust his feet in time and hitting over the crossbar from close range.
A chance for Ronaldo's countryman Fernandes was then squandered too, with Fred playing a good pass through the lines, only for his teammate to wildly strike wide having initially taken the ball well. That was the last action for Fernandes, who was withdrawn to facilitate Donny van de Beek's introduction at the death.
There was still time for De Gea to make the difference in the game once more into injury time, denying a back post header right on his goalline. Given the amount the Spaniard was tested, you couldn't exactly suggest the defence was totally firm. Nonetheless, the clean sheet (De Gea's career 200th) was preserved to make it successive shutouts under Rangnick in the league - the first time United had managed this since the opening months of the year. Again, it wasn't the best reflection on United that their standout player was their goalkeeper. It certainly emphasises scope for improvement.
Ultimately, the match finished with the single goal margin, with United admittedly bailed out by a penalty and some De Gea magic. Without a lack of quality from Norwich in the final third - somewhat reflected by United - the result could have been majorly different.
Rangnick's verdict was again impressively intellectual: "We need to improve and get better - that is for sure. It's about intensity of the game, physicality, body language. On this kind of level you need to be physically present, we need to raise our level of intensity.”
"Some of our players are technical players, today there was not so much space for technical solutions and then you need to be physically brave and compete on that kind of level."
“The body language, intensity, aggressiveness, especially in our offensive department - by that I don't mean the strikers, I mean the two number 10s - we didn't play at the same kind of intensity level as we did against Crystal Palace.”
"From the start, we controlled the game but didn’t always have the best possible solutions. Defensively we did well, tactically in the first half we didn’t allow them to have too many shots or chances."
"At half-time I told the boys we needed to increase the speed and intensity of the game. The second half was a little bit better but at the end we were lucky to have a clean sheet and there were two or three saves by David de Gea."
"We have conceded the highest amount of goals in the top ten. Now we have two clean sheets which is good but we still need to improve on that away, especially against physical teams or teams that attack high like Norwich did."
"It's another clean sheet but still a lot of work to do."
The match undoubtedly showed the magnitude of the job that Rangnick has on his hands. Bad habits were creeping back in, with minimal compliance to the proactive, high energy ethos that the German wishes to instil in the players. United failed to establish much control on the game through the aforementioned lack of quality and that absence of much intensity. Nonetheless, it’s still clear he has grasped some control over the structure - helping to keep the clean sheet amidst De Gea’s heroics. Regardless, there is certainly lots of rectification work for Rangnick.
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