Disappointment and overwhelming dissatisfaction were two of the overriding emotions following the weekend draw with Southampton at St Mary's. There were once again some positive signs, but those were nullified by the inadequacy of the overall showing.
I'll start with the few positives that can be taken, starting with a man I raved about in last week's debrief - Paul Pogba. Amongst the sub-par team that ultimately showed up to drop points on the South Coast, the Frenchman was once again a shining light. With another assist provided at the end of a move which he controlled, Paul has become the first player to supply five assists within the opening two matches of a Premier League season. Adding to his total of four assists against Leeds, he is now a single assist off his combined total of six over the previous two league campaigns. The single season assist record in the Premier League is 20, so he's already a quarter of the way to reaching that feat!
In terms of his performance on Sunday, he was the only player who definitively obtained a proper grasp on the game for United in the middle of the park. As is typical of Paul, he acted as a controlling figurehead within a seemingly timid team. The 100% take-on success (completing a healthy five) shows the renewed confidence he has within his game, with the three fouls he won epitomising the sense of threat he gives opposing defenders. This ability to win freekicks could become pivotal given the set-piece joy United endured at the weekend (I'll speak more about that). Speaking of belief, he attempted four shots during the match - he's undoubtedly thriving with the license to freely progress into advanced areas. As it is, he is clearly determined to succeed.
He completed 33 passes (80%), seven of which were played into the final third. He created only the single chance, but is undoubtedly adding an extra creative element to this side. Five of his completed passes were long, misplacing only one of those attempted. His passing range was exacerbated by the three switches he completed, emphasising his ability to control the flow from midfield. Meanwhile, he displayed his aptitude in less spoken about elements: he made eight ball recoveries amongst the nine duels he came out on top in.
Continuing on a positive note, Mason Greenwood prolonged his stellar run of incredibly sharp form with another goal at St Mary's. He has had a substantial 53 touches in the opposition box over his last 10 Premier League appearances, proving what an utter nuisance and immense threat he is. Over that same period, he has attempted 35 shots (17 on target) resulting in eight goals - a huge total of attempts which really presents the faith he has in his own game at the moment. He is also beginning to attempt more take-ons, with 33 dribbles attempted during these 10 matches. Over his last 11 domestic appearances, he has provided nine goals in addition to an assist. His output is becoming more and more consistent, and he is constantly playing with less fear.
I mentioned it in relation to Pogba's ability to win freekicks, but United really were menacing from set pieces. In fact, the expected goals stats from set-pieces read as 1.07 - the third best under Solskjaer's reign; last season, the highest non-penalty total was 0.62xG from set-pieces. Having recently welcomed specialist set-piece coach Eric Ramsay from Chelsea, the trajectory only seems to be going upwards.
Against Southampton, it can't be disputed that United's gained the most joy from set-pieces (especially in the first half). Whether it was freekicks or corners, United were immensely troubling. Greenwood proved he is able on corner duty from the right hand side, with Shaw's delivery from the left equally as threatening; Fernandes is similarly technically sensational when called upon for the majority of freekicks and some corners.
The setups for the set-pieces were varied, but they certainly didn't vary by way of quality. Each delivery consisted of differing runs and positioning, confusing The Saints' defence. Late runs - often from Pogba - caused Southampton to descend into defensive disarray. The number of runs made from various areas usually meant that markers were lost, with such an overload for the opposing defence to deal with. The sheer quantity of movement allowed plenty of space to attack, and helped to engineers opportunities. Everything was successful on the set-piece front aside from the end product, which was disappointing given the aerial and physical presence that United provide. Regardless, there have been substantial developments.
Now, I'm going to move onto some of the flaws of Sunday's showing - there were certainly a fair few to come away with only a point against a rather defensively weak Southampton outfit. Unfortunately, the quality shown against Leeds was almost entirely diminished. Aside from sporadic spells, United were loose on the ball and therefore ceded possession far too cheaply on too many occasions. The stats show exactly how careless we were in possession, losing the ball 156 times within the 90 minutes.
After going behind, we initially really lacked the composure that has been shown in the past after conceding. After eventually equalising, we unforgivably allowed Southampton to regain a foothold after only a short spell of dominance. When it came to attacking, the reds really struggled to maintain momentum and prolong the dangerous phases. Even though possession was dominated for the most part, the lack of creative edge to dismantle Southampton from open play cost us three points. It has once again been made clear that there is still work to do when it comes to breaking teams down; we had 64% possession last weekend and struggled, whereas we thrived when allowed to catch Leeds on the break the weekend prior when we only held 49% possession.
By way of quality in front of goal, we were not up to scratch. The 15 shots attempted showed some sort of confidence, but the fact only four were on target is simply not good enough (especially considering that 11 were from inside the box). The stats read that United had three 'big chances', all of which we failed to score from.
The next downside to the performance on Saturday was the blatant weakness within the midfield unit - a recurring theme which reiterates the requirement for the acquirement of a defensive midfielder in this squad. Fred and Matic were obscenely limited in an overly passive pivot, technically offering so little with a real inability to control from the centre. The amount the pair gave the ball away was criminal given the importance of consistent distribution from their position. Fred lost possession 16 times, whilst Matic lost it on a staggering 22 occasions - the totals combined accounted for 25% of the times United lost possession. From an area where you're relied on to dictate the game with quality distribution into varying areas, to be that off the pace is essentially unacceptable. They should hold the team together and help to find the dangermen, but they barely ever found Sancho when he was introduced (so he wasn't able to have the desired impact in the final third). With the pairing deployed on Sunday - both withdrawn in the latter stages - it was so tricky to establish and kind of stable flow.
I mentioned that the duo were off the pace - that was a major reason why the United tempo and momentum was continually killed. Urgency is key in midfield, but Fred and Matic were just overwhelmingly pedestrian. There was a noticable difference when an injured Scott McTominay was added to the helm late on, proving considerably more proactive both defensively and facing forward. It's a big shame that he faces around a month on the sidelines having undergone a minor groin operation on a long-standing issue. It will be a blessing if we only have to play with a single defensive-minded midfield body when Varane is integrated into the side.
I'd like to finish by looking at another extremely frustrating individual at our disposal - a player full of talent who rarely manages to display his plethora of skill. Playing within the number nine role, Anthony Martial offered literally nothing against Southampton. Nothing. Rightly, he was axed around the hour mark and replaced by Jadon Sancho.
In 59 minutes, the Frenchman touched the ball only 13 times. In contrast, over 90 minutes against Leeds from majorly the same position, Greenwood touched the ball 46 times - some difference. The latter was keen to move all over the place when operating through the middle: he was shifting deep, whilst running in behind and into the channels. Conversely, Martial was typically static and covered pretty much no ground when starting against Southampton - it almost seemed he wasn't entirely bothered about receiving the ball at all. When he attempted to make runs, he was twice caught offside. Yes, the service wasn't marvellous, but he has to show more desire to make things happen.
It wasn't even the lack of endeavour that was irritating, but also the lack of quality. From his 13 touches, he managed to lose the ball five times and missed a big chance. He displayed real indecisiveness on the ball, not attempting a single dribble which sets him back from Greenwood. He doesn't really create masses either, offering little presence compared to other options as it is at the moment. As is always the conversation surrounding Martial, harder workers prove more effective. When he was brimming with confidence, he was full of effort and end product - hopefully he can regain that.
As a team, consistency of results is now integral.
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