After being eliminated from the Europa League by Sevilla, Savage hit the nail on the head: "Can some of the players really play for Manchester United? "After such a disastrous game, it may be difficult for De Gea and Maguire to remain at the Theatre of Dreams.
Catastrophic performance
Let's review United's two goals conceded, just eight minutes into the opening game, Harry Maguire returned the pass, De Gea did not save with a big foot, but passed the ball to Maguire, who tried to split the ball to the wing but was easily scored by the opponent.
It was clear that Harry Maguire was responsible for the conceded goal, and he reached out to De Gea for the ball. However, Savage pointed out that "United try to organise from the back, Maguire can do better, but why didn't De Gea pass the ball to Wan-Bissaka?" Harry Maguire, who is clearly surrounded by three players, did make mistakes, but De Gea's mistakes were even more obvious. ”
Trailing 4-2 on aggregate, De Gea made another mistake in the 81st minute and stepped on the cart during the clearance, and Ennesri broke the ball and sent the ball into an empty net. Goal.net commented: "He saved his worst performance for the end and passed the ball directly to Ennesri, which was one of the worst performances in his 12 years at United. ”
Compared to Ten Hag, who insisted on his own tactical system, Sevilla manager Mendiliba clearly studied the characteristics of Manchester United's defenders carefully, adopted a high-pressure pressing tactic from the beginning, and thus scored early, laying the foundation for the eventual victory and promotion.
This raises another question: Should De Gea still occupy the main position in Tenhach's tactical system?
After 12 years, De Gea should be gone
De Gea is undoubtedly one of United's all-time greatest goalkeepers, winning five major trophies and keeping a record number of clean sheets in his 12 years at United. Even in 48 games this season, De Gea has kept 21 clean sheets.
However, modern football no longer demands goalkeepers from clean sheets, and the best goalkeepers at present, Ederson, Allison and Neuer, are all goalkeepers with excellent skills in goal and excellent passing skills.
De Gea is not this type of goalkeeper and Ten Hach knows that. In the Premier League this season, De Gea is 12th in passing success per game and 18th in touches.
The passing technique is not too hard, allowing De Gea to make mistakes when facing tight opponents, and in a 4-0 defeat to Brentford, De Gea also made low-level mistakes. In fact, since last season, De Gea has scored five times due to low-level mistakes, second only to Lowry in the Premier League goalkeepers.
De Gea has never been a passer-adept goalkeeper and this weakness is not evident thanks to two points: firstly, most of the United managers who coached him did not emphasize the playmaking from the back, and secondly, he still has excellent technique inside the goal.
However, the situation at Manchester United has changed. Ten Hag's tactics emphasise passing from the back, and his goalkeeper Onana was very good at possession when he was in charge of Ajax. "Goal.com" commented, "De Gea simply does not meet the requirements of modern football and does not have the technology that top goalkeepers will need in 2023." ”
Now, it's time for Manchester United to make a decision. De Gea's contract expires at the end of the season and United have offered him a contract, but De Gea is hoping for a higher annual salary. At the same time, Manchester United are also looking at young goalkeepers such as Raya and Diogo Costa, all of whom are goalkeepers who are good at passing.
If they continue to support Ten Hag, then Manchester United should send away the old goalkeeper who has played for 12 years but does not meet the requirements of modern football.
Maguire missed his last chance
After Varane and Lisandro Martinez were injured, the media pinched the Manchester United defence because Ten Hach could only use the combination of Harry Maguire and Lindelof. The media's fears proved unwarranted, with Maguire not seizing the opportunity to prove himself.
Manchester United conceded five goals in Sevilla's two games, four of which were direct mistakes from the defence. The fact that Harry Maguire conceded five goals in 135 minutes against Sevilla after Lisandro Martinez's injury speaks for itself.
In addition to the two goals conceded, Harry Maguire and De Gea also had a spat. In the 18th minute of the game, Maguire chose to kick the ball off the line when De Gea was already on the line, which made De Gea very upset and angrily cursed Maguire, who made a gesture to shut up.
Anthony, who was celebrating a goal with Dalot in the game against Nottingham Forest, saw Maguire's face change in the moment, and these two shots were enough to reflect the status of the Manchester United captain in the dressing room.
Goal.com commented, "There is such a feeling that no Manchester United teammate still believes in Maguire. If you want to fight for the title, United can't keep a player who keeps making mistakes. ”