8 February 13, 2022The Sunday Times
Football Premier League
Che Adams wheels away
as his shot curls round
David de Gea to earn
Southampton a point at
Old TraffordTHE GAFFER TAPES WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
RALF RANGNICK
We did all the
things we
intended to do
with the
counterattacks
and the deep
runs. We
created, scored a great goal. Then
we stopped doing that. At the end
of the first half we didn’t do those
things any more and then in the
second we lost a bit of shape. In the
first 20 minutes we were struggling
to defend, that happened in
transition when they scored their
goal. We told the players [at half-
time] they needed to be aggressive
but in the end it is different to
perform like that on the pitch.RALPH
HASENHÜTTL
We have had
Manchester
City, Tottenham
and Manchester
United in the last
three Premier
League games and not lost one. We
didn’t have a good first half — we
were a little bit slow in the mind and
in the legs. What the guys produced
in the second half is impressive for
me. In the first half, we weren’t fresh
enough. It takes a little bit to find
your rhythm and then you have to
start running and playing football.
We looked much better in the
second half. They had a better first
half, we had a better second.J
ürgen Klopp, Ralf Rangnick’s
footballing soulmate, likes
chaos — but imposed chaos,
controlled chaos, chaos as a
tactic, chaos as a creative tool,
not chaos as a way of life.
Across this season, the dys-
function gripping Manchester
United as a sporting institution has
seeped on to the pitch like pollution.
Rangnick is struggling with the
clean-up effort.
Again, United went 1-0 up. Again,
they should have scored more. Again,
there was a catastrophic loss of that
element Rangnick vowed to bring
when he was appointed: control.
Again, United slipped to a 1-1 draw,
yet unlike in the preceding matches
against Middlesbrough and Burnley,
which followed the same pattern, they
were fortunate it was still 1-1 at the end.
Rangnick quoted the xG (expected
goals) stats, which gave United a clear
advantage, but these were burnished
by two great early chances — missed
by Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon San-
cho — and two late opportunities at set
pieces, spurned by Harry Maguire.
Overall, Southampton were the more
coherent and hungry team and were
the ones taking an ovation from their
fans at the end.
United were the ones trooping off to
think again, while their supporters
booed the officials and rued another
90 minutes of anticlimax, and we were
left with the verdict of visiting coach
Ralph Hasenhüttl: “It is not a big secret
that when [United] lose the ball the
reverse gears are not the best from
everybody.”
In other words, the club which has
spent £1.3 billion on transfers — more
than any other on the planet — in the
past ten years is left with a collection
of players who are able to prosper
only one side of the game, the “in pos-
session” side. Given the sheer quan-
tity of chances United miss and the
good positions they squander, how-
ever, it is debatable if they are even
particularly good at that.
Of course, the outcome might have
been different had Maguire buried a
header, when clear, after a free kick in
stoppage time. Then again, it might
have been different had Stuart
Attwell, the referee, and his VAR, had
the courage to award Southampton a
penalty when Maguire barged
Armando Broja and then trod on the
young striker in the 87th minute.
Broja had tormented Maguire with
his good feet, quick brain, muscle and
running into channels. The 20-year-
old is some property and will surely
figure in Chelsea’s first team when he
returns to his parent club after this
season’s loan at Southampton.
The game’s other outstanding
player was the Norwegian Moham-
med Elyounoussi, who exploited theJONATHAN
NORTHCROFT
Football Correspondent
At Old TraffordStar man Armanjo Broja (Southampton).
Substitutions: Manchester United A Elanga
(for McTominay 76), J Lingard (for Rashford 82).
Southampton J Stephens 6 (for Bednarek 46),
T Livramento (for Elyounoussi 71), I Diallo (for
Romeu 90+5).
Booked: Manchester United Lingard.
Referee: S Attwell.
Attendance 73,084.Forster7Salisu6
Walker-Peters7
Perraud7Bednarek6Romeu7
Ward-Prowse6Adams7Elyounoussi8
S Armstrong6Broja84-4-1-1De Gea7Varane5
Shaw5
Dalot6Sancho7
Rashford5
Ronaldo4Maguire5McTominay64-1-2-3Fernandes6
Pogba5SAME OLD STORY FOR SLO
hounding the referee than hounding
the opposition.
What kind of team gets six players
offside at a free kick then complains
about the officiating? Marcus Rash-
ford seemed all over the place, apart
from the moment of clarity where he
teed up Sancho’s goal, and Ronaldo?
Whisper it quietly, but the great man —
on his longest scoreless run since
2009 — is in crisis.
In so many areas, Southampton
had the more dynamic, diligent, pur-
poseful footballers. Che Adams,
Romain Perraud and Kyle Walker-Pe-
ters were almost as good as Broja and
Elyounoussi. Of course, Hasenhüttl is
the Rangnick protégé who became
estranged from his guru after falling
out at RB Leipzig, and it led to some-
thing like echo chamber football,
opponents with similar ideas. There
was end-to-end cup-tie stuff, based on
quick, long attacks after possession
turnovers. United did execute one of
these brilliantly, after 21 minutes, for
Sancho to score.
Diogo Dalot was deep and wide
when three opponents swooped in
but played his way out of the press
with a brilliant ball to Fernandes, who
stranded James Ward-Prowse with a
nimble turn. Fernandes curled a
50-yard pass inside Mohammed Salisu
to release Rashford and in a blink
Southampton had seven men the
wrong side of the ball. Rashford
advanced and sent a fine pass to the
far post where Sancho scored his sec-
ond goal in successive home games.
However he should have beaten
Fraser Forster — who “stood big”
superbly — on an early counter after
Walker-Peters and Adams missed on a
Saints attack. Ronaldo, maybe for the
first time in his life, was found wanting
for confidence after rounding Forster
when Sancho released him — shooting
timidly to allow Perraud to recover.
After scoring, United’s intensity
flagged. An equaliser grew in inevitabil-
ity and after Ward-Prowse shot close
and Stuart Armstrong leapt to volley but
could not impart power after Pogba’s
poor header flew to him in United’s box,
Southampton cut through United with
speed and geometry.
Their goal game three minutes after
half-time. An attack from deep began
with a switch of play to Perraud. He
played infield to Oriel Romeu, who
played forward to Elyounoussi and,
with Scott McTominay out of position,
Pogba struggling and Fernandes
nowhere, Elyounoussi slipped
through to Adams, who rolled a silky
finish in off the far post.
Southampton continued streaming
through that porous United midfield
and terrorising those plodding
defenders. Luke Shaw — who played
Adams onside for the goal — evaded
sanction for pulling Broja’s shirt,
reducing the power Broja could gener-
ate to help David de Gea save.
Released by another fabulous Ely-
ounoussi pass, Broja could not bend a
shot with the outside of his foot. For
United, Maguire fluffed a header and
shot and Dalot dithered instead of
finding Ronaldo or Anthony Elanga on
a counterattack.gaps in United’s midfield to fashion
many good situations. Midfield encap-
sulated United’s issues: Paul Pogba
and Bruno Fernandes briefly flared
with creative intent before settling
into unfocused performances. Their
reverse gears are non-existent.
Rangnick admitted that United find
it impossible to “stay compact” over
90 minutes because they have “a lot of
technical players, a lot of forward-
thinking players”. He said attitude was
not the issue, though it is hard to
believe that sometimes, when watch-
ing players who put more energy into11
MANCHESTER
UNITEDSOUTHAMPTON
Sancho 21 Adams 48Yesterday’s draw was the third
match in a row that Manchester
United failed to win after taking
the lead (having done so against
Burnley on Tuesday and in the FA
Cup fourth round against
Middlesbrough), the fifth time
under Ralf Rangnick and the ninth
this season.
Luke Shaw admitted there was
a problem: ”History is repeating
itself. We started really well the
first 20 minutes, got the goal and
it just happened again. We know
it’s not good enough and it needs
to change quickly.”
Paul Scholes said: ”The players
don’t want to put a shift in for this
club. They are not working hard
enough to stop another team
playing football. I feel sorry for the
manager, who is trying to set
them up to play against this team,
but they either can’t or don’t want
to do it.”‘WE CAN’T HOLD LEAD –
IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH’