While the rest of the teams were struggling at this time, United were still out of strength.
Maguire's injury ahead of the game against Crystal Palace meant that United's situation at the back line had worsened, and the centre-back combination of Casemiro + Amrabat must have been on the minds of Ten Hag and many United fans.
This situation is terrifying just thinking about it.
Thankfully, Evans' return has allowed United to produce a slightly decent centre-back combination on the road, but only slightly presentable, so Gary Neville's question about Ten Hag is all the more interesting:
"It's already at this point, haven't you thought about taking a more conservative defensive approach?"
Ten Hag's answer in the interview was Manchester United's performance in this game.
Ten Hag feels that the injured players will always return, so he prefers to stick with it rather than switch to other defensive ideas, because if you change your thinking and don't get a good result, "everyone" will lose confidence.
In fact, the most important point is that Manchester United chose Ten Hag because of his style of play when he was in charge of Ajax, and this style made him favored by Manchester United, so how can he change his flag when he encounters a setback?
As a result, everyone can only continue to rise and fall in the sea of suffering, and they don't know what awaits you in front of them.
Playing Crystal Palace away, the intensity must not be low, and in the first minute of the game, Manchester United can feel it:
In this goal, Hjlen was cut off from behind, and Crystal Palace's nominal right winger Olise entered the middle and directly linked up to the left wing-back's cross.
If you put the personnel and positions of Crystal Palace in the framework of 343, then Olise is of course a right winger, but a more accurate description should be 3421, after all, Glasner's coaching style is also quite modern, he does not want wingers, but wingers to be adducted in, forming a box-shaped position, creating a sufficient numerical advantage.
It was this distinction that led to the collapse of Manchester United's game.
United were able to make some presence away from home in the opening stages, but as a key player linking the two sides, Mason Mount showed his technical roughness in midfield today:
In less than a minute, two misguided passes, one with one left foot and one with a right foot, left United unfazed in positional battles and counter-attacking battles.
In a way, this is a foreshadowing of the outcome of this game, because United can only win games today by attacking, and you can't count on the quality of the defense in the heart of the back.
So in the 12th minute of the game, the more likely outcome was kicked off:
Note that in this process, Olise won the ball in the middle again, Eriksen failed to chase back and destroy, and Casemiro failed to break the ball in front of him, so at that time, Manchester United was already 3 defenses and 4 at the back:
Behind Olise, Maynu has no speed advantage, no physical advantage, no interference at all, Evans and Dalot also have their own defensive responsibilities, no one can come over to help defend, can only be taken by the opponent all the way to the front of the penalty area, and then score.
So looking at this round alone, you can put the blame on Eriksen and Casemiro, both of whom failed at the same time, and the others had to suffer, but it should be noted that a more proactive defensive strategy is what Ten Hag is asking for, with the centre-backs pushing forward as early as possible to quickly regain the ball is also what Ten Hag is asking for, and everyone is just following the manager's instructions.
So, the problem is not so simple.
After conceding the goal, United tried to pull up the intensity and equalise on the road, but when on the ball, Mount again lowered his attacking efficiency:
In the transition of possession, United also made a large number of mistakes, which allowed Palace to launch an attack on the spot:
As a result, the successive set-pieces in the middle of the first half were both Manchester United's efforts to try to equalise and a window for the backline to breathe:
However, as soon as the set-piece was over, United made another mistake:
It was at this time that United's real defensive problems began to be exposed.
In the 28th minute of the game, Manchester United pounced on the ball in front, but while not interfering with the opponent, their own space on the weak side was also exposed, allowing the two wing-backs of Crystal Palace to complete the connection:
In the 31st minute, the weak side was still exposed:
In the 33rd minute, the weak side changed to the right and allowed Palace to complete the advance:
Defensively, United had no countermeasures to deal with Crystal Palace's wing-backs, with the back four narrowed by the opposition's positioning, but none of the wingers had a strict defensive duty to complement the width.
As a result, United's defence has become neither able to affect the opposition's passing efficiency in the central area, nor has a corresponding position to limit the opposition's forward penetration and attack on the flanks.
This defensive strategy, based on grabbing the ball and marking people, completely collapsed in this away game, in front of this opponent, in this game where its own strength was limited by various factors.
So in the 40th minute, Crystal Palace scored the second goal again through the on-the-spot attack of the ball conversion:
As soon as the goal was scored, although the score was only 0-2, the game was actually over.
Because the problems at United in this half were systemic and you didn't have enough players on the bench to make adjustments and substitutions, all Ten Hag could do was encourage the players.
But when your midfielder's defensive moves in the final stages of the first half have collapsed like this:
When your tactics also require a big push forward from the back to get involved and improve quality, this kind of systematic collapse is not something that can be reversed by simply encouraging the players.
So as soon as the second half came up, Crystal Palace also took the lead to complete the increase, this time the cross from the right was sent by right central defender Klein:
Manchester United, as in the first half, can create some set-piece opportunities up front and play some attacking opportunities from them:
And after 10 minutes, as United's blood subsides, Crystal Palace, who have re-completed the press, can easily complete the kick:
So in the 58th minute, the third goal came:
In the 66th minute, the fourth goal came:
Palace even had plenty of chances to score a fifth goal in the closing stages of the game, and it's hard to say what United will look like next season if that does.
Of course, there is no real difference between 0-4 and 0-5.
So, don't look at United's defensive system in the traditional way of looking at the low post, it's hard to understand what Ten Hag is thinking, but from the back of the day, everything is logical.
In Ten Hag's tactical thinking, pressing high and marking at the back are two sides of the same coin. Defending is all about pressing the ball or people, and at this time, of course, the area is put aside, so when the pressure on the ball and people is not efficient enough, the defensive system will naturally collapse easily.
Just like this game.
The problem is actually very clear, and the key is the solution.
Because of this big defeat, Manchester United may not be able to pick up the momentum in the last few games, even if there is an FA Cup final, after all, before creating the miracle of winning the championship, Manchester United first need to create the miracle of returning from injury.
Then all the way down, Ten Hag may be out of class, but just like Ten Hag expressed, Manchester United came to him for the pursuit of clear stylization, and last year's results were also based on insisting on stylization after encountering setbacks, but Manchester United's squad did not keep up and continue to stylize, and then everyone was like Gary Neville, puzzled why Ten Hag didn't give up his stylization in a difficult moment?
So why did you look for Ten Hag in the first place?
So, here's a clear template for failure:
This first step in hiring a coach is the most important as it directly determines the direction of the club in the coming years, and you need to think about the pain of facing difficulties before you take this first step, rather than just thinking about the joy of success.
If you can't accept the pain, then don't take this first step, and if you have already decided to take this first step, then stick to this direction, not take two steps back, and not look around while walking forward.
This is a mistake that the Glazer family has made repeatedly over the past eleven years, and it is hoped that the new management led by Ratcliffe will learn from this lesson and find the right direction for this first step.
Of course, it's also important to stick to the first step you choose.