Manchester United lost to Fulham 1-2 at Old Trafford this afternoon. Here are your player ratings for the game-
(A score of 6 is around average)
Andre Onana 7- One of only two players who came away from the game with some credit to their name. Looks to have finally settled between the posts at United and doesn’t radiate panic anymore. Made some good saves and sweeping actions.
Victor Lindelof 5- Besides a crucial back post clearance in the first half, his stint at left-back went as well as one would have expected before the start of the game. A dependable player left to fend for himself in an unfamiliar position in a dysfunctional team.
Harry Maguire 5- Clumsy for the second game running as he just barreled into opponents needlessly to concede fouls. Looked to have saved United’s blushes with an instinctive late finish.
Raphael Varane 6- Better of the two centre-backs but that’s not a high bar to clear. Still, held his position fairly well and repelled Fulham attacks if they came his way.
Diogo Dalot 6.5- Struck the outside of the post with a speculative long-range effort and defended well too. His performance on the right is probably making Ten Hag think twice about putting him on the left.
Kobbie Mainoo 6- First mildly uncomfortable game for him from his usual world-class standards by now. Got hurried on the ball in his own half a few times and couldn’t make a difference further forward either.
Casemiro 4- Are Casemiro’s legs gone? That’s a different topic we covered earlier, but he is undoubtedly not the same player as last season. Was a wall last year, but now opponents fancy running by him with remarkable ease.
Alejandro Garnacho 7- Lone bright spark in an otherwise insipid attack. Picked up the ball in the half-spaces and ran forward, testing their goal with some shots of a natural inside forward.
Omari Forson 5- There was no academy heroics to be repeated as he drifted away from the game. A goal or assist would have been a bonus but that X-factor that shows a youngster belongs at this stage straightaway was missing which is more worrisome.
Bruno Fernandes 5-Fluffed a couple of good chances and his set-piece delivery left a lot to be desired.
Marcus Rashford 4- Got the full “Manchester United striker in 2023/24” experience as he fed off scraps in a team that still doesn’t have a philosophy of attacking or any patterns of play. Unlike Hojlund, couldn’t make anything from those scraps.
Substitutes:
Christian Eriksen 4.5- Was subbed on to bring calmness to the game but only ended up making it worse by constantly misplacing passes.
Scott McTominay 5- No goalscoring heroics today. Typifies Ten Hag’s “chaos ball” bereft of ideas and imagination in attack and porous in defence.
Amad 6- He must have been wondering what he needed to do to see some minutes again and when he did come on, it was in a dysfunctional team which didn’t know what it was doing.
Antony 6- Came on with no time left to play.
Manager Erik ten Hag 3– No visible philosophy after nearly two years in charge and the team’s style has gone backwards this season. A couple of injuries leave the team completely bare and his in-game management is shockingly underwhelming. Results were ultimately going to match the performances, and they did so today. Players didn’t cover themselves in glory but this defeat was largely down to Ten Hag’s structural errors.