Key events
The problem United have – and have always had under Ten Hag – is a lack of control. Højlund’s hold-up play is unlikely to help them retain possession, while the wide players are focused on going for goal – likewise Bruno Fernandes behind them. This may or may not lead to the spamming of hopeful passes to no one…
Otherwise, United go with the wide players deployed to exploit Spurs’ high line last weekend. Perhaps their starting positions will be conducive to that tactic – Rashford in particular was too deep and too wide – and perhaps that won’t be the sum of the strategy as it it seemed to be then. But with Højlund preferred to Zirkzee, chances are United hope to target Villa in similar fashion, because all of their front three like space in behind.
As below, the big news for United is the omission of Martínez and De Ligt. The idea, though, that they’ve not been dropped, is hard to believe given how poorly both are playing – and a question that might be asked is whether the rashness of the latter is exacerbating the faults of the former. Either way, though, Ten Hag has swapped two young(ish) centre-backs with no pace for two older centre-backs with no pace, against a team with loads of it and, let’s be real, the selection smacks of a manager hoping to force a one-off result and hang in there, rather than build for the future as per his brief.
Ten Hag tells Sky that he’s rotating, hence the defensive changes, saying it’s nothing to do with external pressure. He believes his players are ready for the game, and everyone in the club is calm and composed; they just have to improve their process.
Villa will play as they always do, but will particularly miss the presence of Onana in midfield – especially given United’s weakness at defending set-pieces. Konsa, meanwhile, isn’t as suited to combating the physical threat of Rasmus Højlund as Diego Carlos, and i’d not be surprised to see United target him.
Erik ten Hag makes four changes: Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martínez, Casemiro and Amad are left out, with Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho coming in.
Unai Emery makes three changes to the side that beat Bayern so memorably in midweek: Diego Carlos, Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey drop out, the latter two missing from the squad entirely due to injury; they’re replaced by Matty Cash, Ross Bailey and Leon Bailey, with Ezri Konsa moving from right-back to centre-back.
Let’s have some teams…
Aston Villa (4-4-1-1): Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne; Philogene, Barkley, Tielemans, Bailey; Rogers; Watkins. Subs: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Carlos, Bogarde, Swinkels, Buendia, Young, Duran.
Man United (4-3-3): Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Evans, Dalot; Eriksen, Mainoo, Fernandes; Garnacho, Højlund, Rashford. Subs: Bayindir, De Ligt, Lindelof, Martinez, Casemiro, Ugarte, Amad, Antony, Zirkzee.
Referee: Rob Jones (Merseyside)
Preamble
In real life, it’s considered bad form to enjoy the misfortunes of others, but happily we have football to redeem us from such woke nonsense. And, over the last decade or so, there’s been no more reliable source of that pleasure than Manchester United, such that we are all now experts in what it looks like when their latest manager is finished.
For David Moyes it was Everton away in April 2014, a tenure of entirely predictable ineptitude crystallised by as dreadful a display as could possibly be imagined and the Goodison crowd singing “Stuck with Moyes, stuck with Moyes Man United”. He was sacked the next day.
Next was Louis van Gaal and football so bad it left all who witnessed it with scarred eyes and scorched soul. His regime collpased on Boxing Day 2015 via humiliation at Stoke and a performance of epochal awfulness which ensured a third straight defeat – the other two having come against the powerhouses of Bournemouth and Norwich. He was sacked just over five months later, the day after lifting the FA Cup.
So José Mourinho was engaged and, with his otherworldly magic now consumed by pubescent paranoia, the end became apparent in August 2018 when Ed Woodward backed his own footballing acumen over that of an indisputable all-time great, then bragged about it to the press. But it was not until five months later that on-pitch events made dismissal essential with unseemly defeat at Anfield. He was sacked the next day.
The game that should’ve signalled Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s demise was a 4-2 defeat at Leicester in October 2021, his defence conceding goals faster than his attack could score them. He was sacked just over a month later, allowed to sneak in the valedictory gifts of a a 5-0 home thrashing by Liverpool, a home derby outclassing from Manchester City and a 4-1 undressing at Watford before accepting his carriage clock.
What unites these multifarious incompetencies, travesties and debacle is the absence of hope: before them, there was a little, after them there was none. Which brings us to The Beleaguered Erik ten HagTM, the most thoroughly backed managed of the Post-Fergie Wilderness YearsTM but in whom it became impossible rather than implausible to believe following last Sunday’s abomination against Spurs. Though he survived to preside over a second consecutive midweek mess, he must now fear that regardless of what happens today, the imminent international break will mean curtains.
Nor will he find Aston Villa accommodating opponents. Unai Emery’s outfit are so much of what Ten Hag’s are not, a collection of excellent individuals deftly forged into a coherent, physical and unobliging unit that accentuates strengths and minimises weaknesses. Before you watch them play you know what you’re going to see, after you watch them play you’re pleased you saw it, and they arrive at this game having first beaten Bayern Munich then enjoyed a day’s more rest than their opponents. They also owe United, having lost to them twice last season – first in embarrassing circumstances then in devastating circumstances – and need to keep pace with the league leaders. They will fancy this.
All of which should mean an entertaining afternoon – but perhaps not for the just-about-current Manchester United manager.
Kick-off: 2pm BST
