Thoughts on Manchester United v Fulham, the 24/25 Premier League opener

 Welcome to the 24/25 Premier League season! It truly is midnight when I have this up, living up to the name of the blog, so I'll keep my observations short.


New Season, Same Problems

Even though Manchester United won, as expected, it was by no means a convincing win. Many moments when United was attacking ultimately came to nothing. Fulham was a lower-middle team last season. If United wishes to contend for a spot in the Champions League, matches like this ought to be matches where United keeps control. Not finishing attacks and not stopping counterattacks made United suffer last season, and unless Erik Ten Hag manages to improve, United is very likely to finish out of the top five. Speaking of the defense...


Lisandro Martinez is the best defender United has right now

Full respect to Harry Maguire's resilience off the pitch, the fact of the matter is that he's still inconsistent. The two new signings from Bayern, Mazraoui and de Ligt, weren't noticable. De Ligt is only 25? It feels like he's been around for so much longer. 

Martinez was the one making critical saves. Martinez was the one speeding back on Fulham's counterattacks. Onana had an acceptable performance today, but Martinez will be to one to save him when the real tests come. United should be glad their opponent today wasn't up to par...


Fulham demonstrated why they're not an upper-level team

If this is the way an average Premier League team plays, I'm not sure I want to watch Championship or League One matches. Fulham's attacks just weren't connecting. Having wingers cross into the penalty box is a basic tactic and there is nothing wrong with that, but you've got to stuff bodies in there to win those crosses man. If Fulham players did stuff themselves into the penalty box and couldn't win the crosses, that's a skill issue. But not rushing in in the first place is a training failure. Lacking such basic tactical cohesion on counterattacks are only going to get punished eventually...


Zirkzee gets the job done

So this is why my scout in Football Manager keeps suggesting I sign Joshua Zirkzee. I didn't follow Bologna last season so I can't attest to his skills, but the fact that he was the ultimate breakthrough for United of what would have otherwise been a drab season opener gives an early indication that getting Zirkzee from Bologna was one of United's good moves this transfer window.


P.S. Garnacho, you're still not that guy

Seriously, how do you miss an open shot like that? Darwin Nuñez would be proud.

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