Yon its beginning is its end; now night falls. Two years ago, before their third game of the season, against Liverpool, after having lost one of the games they had played 2-1 against Brighton, Manchester United Manchester United introduced Casemiro in front of an adoring crowd at Old Trafford. At the weekend, before their third game of the season, against Liverpool, having lost one of the games they had played 2-1 to Brighton, Manchester United withdrew Casemiro in front of a desperate crowd at Old Trafford. Two years ago, United won 2-1; on Sunday, they lost 3-0, and it could have been much worse.
It was, frankly, painful to watch: a player who once dominated games, who won four Champions Leagues, who was an integral part of one of the most successful teams in history, reduced to a player so lacking in confidence that even the basics seemed a challenge. The early signs this season had been promising. There was a sense that Casemiro was sharper again, that the concerns about his fitness that had plagued last season might have been overcome. But on Sunday his passing accuracy was just 73%, well below what is acceptable for a defensive midfielder, and his errors cost the first two goals.
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And yet there is context. Eleven minutes into the second half, Kobbie Mainoo lost the ball and Liverpool scored their third goal. Manuel Ugarte, who was introduced before kick-off following his £42m ($55m) move from Paris Saint-Germain, must have wondered what he had gotten himself into. United’s defensive position is like the Siege Perilous of Arthurian legend; sooner or later someone will come along who is worthy of reaching the Grail, but until then, whoever occupies that position is doomed.
It's not just about individual players. United now seem to be in a similar position to Arsenal under Arsène Wenger. The structure has failed and so hopes are pinned on individual players. Which is pretty absurd when the player in question is as talented as Mesut Özil, but in the end you end up believing that Nicolas Pépé is the answer to your prayers. Ugarte may prove an upgrade on Casemiro, but no player can be the answer.
Ugarte will need a better system around him and that is where the focus starts to shift and the camera lands on Erik ten Hag. Even allowing for the position they inherited, how can it be that, three games into his Anfield reign, Arne Slot has created a more coherent midfield than ten Hag, now in his third year at Old Trafford, has? How can it be that, of all the ex-Ajax players on the pitch on Sunday, the best was Ryan Gravenberch?
Take the first goal. As the ball is passed back to Casemiro, both full-backs have started to move forward. He picks out an ambitious first-time pass to Diogo Dalot, but Gravenberch intercepts and suddenly Liverpool have a five-on-three counterattack. The pass selection was obviously terrible, but equally, why did he have so few options against him?
Or the second goal: a weak pass from Noussair Mazraoui puts Casemiro under pressure. The two players closest to him, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes, are marked, while Joshua Zirkzee is free but static and the way Casemiro has had to bring the ball towards him makes a pass at that angle difficult. By the time Luis Diaz elbows the ball away from Casemiro, the six players closest to him are wearing white shirts. Everything that follows is too easy for Liverpool.
Or the third goal: when Mainoo moves away from the ball, he finds himself surrounded by four Liverpool players. One pass creates a four-on-two counterattack. These are systemic problems. Maybe the hole in the middle of the doughnut isn’t as pronounced as it was last season, but the problems in midfield are still there for United: players are running into ambushes and there is no cover when the ball is lost.
The defeat by Brighton last week was the result of a basic lack of defensive application, which in some ways is worse, but could at least be sorted out by professional players acting like professionals. Midfield structures depend on the manager. It is still early days, but this seems to be the future United must have feared when Ten Hag was reluctantly kept on: the same problems as last season, the same deficiencies, but now with Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford in the stands and a few more Dutchmen on the pitch.
Victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final was a great moment for United, arguably their best day since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club a decade ago. But the danger was always that it was a one-off and that by keeping Ten Hag in charge the next stage of his development had been postponed.
This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, the Guardian US's weekly look at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Do you have a question for Jonathan? Email footballwithjw@theguardian.comand will respond better in a future edition.
