Like In The Good Old Days

Southampton away has traditionally been a tough fixture for Manchester United. I remember the struggles and battles we had at The Dell under Sir Alex Ferguson. Since they moved to St. Mary’s, our results have been better but it’s been no less of a battle and struggle for us. It was the same again yesterday.

Frustration

There was a point in the game where I was so frustrated that I felt like punching the sofa I was sitting on or the leg rest in front of me. Mason Greenwood had a fantastic chance to give us the lead but uncharacteristically put his effort wide. Against the run of play, Southampton took the lead with their first attempt on target, a header off a corner. Greenwood had another chance, capitalising on a loose ball from Southampton’s Alex McCarthy but he shot straight at the goalkeeper. Again, I expected better from him. McCarthy did better from the rebound to save from Bruno Fernandes. Southampton then doubled the lead through a known source, James Ward-Prowse’ free-kick. I felt this was going to be one of those games where our missed chances would come back to haunt us and distort the perspective on the game. Chasing down a 0-2 lead, Marcus Rashford had a great chance to reduce the deficit but this time McCarthy deserves more of credit as he blocked the attempt. Besides the missed chances, there was frustration at the passes that weren’t quite right between the players in the final third.

Wrong Tactics

We started the game well as Southampton struggled to get to grips with our tactical set-up. At that point, had we capitalised through Greenwood, the game would have changed. The longer the game went at 0-0, Southampton was afforded the time to adapt tactically. They started exposing the lack of width in our set-up, stretching us and overloading our full-backs who didn’t get much help from our midfielders. I had thought perhaps a tweak to sacrifice a midfielder for Edinson Cavani and using Rashford and Greenwood as wingers would give us greater balance. But instead, Cavani replaced Greenwood. At the start of the second half, it didn’t look like we could get back into the game as Southampton were in control. Thankfully, they couldn’t finish off the game.

Fred

I felt Fred was the catalyst for our revival. He played a key role, moving out to the right side of the midfield three. He helped us gain control in that area and Nemanja Matic played his part with his experience and skill centrally. Bruno Fernandes did not influence the game until he popped up to reduce the deficit.  

Cavani

Finally, on the matchwinner, Edinson Cavani. It’s so nice to finally see a traditional number nine in our ranks and a world-class quality one might I add. He is someone who lives to score, always in the box, making the runs to get on the end of crosses and feeding on anything that drops his way. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has favoured non-traditional forwards like Rashford and Anthony Martial but neither has the hunger and mindset of a goalscorer. Neither would stick to their position in the box, waiting for the right delivery. The best finisher we have, Greenwood is still developing and plays out wide. In the games he has played, Cavani has also shown great work ethic, chasing down opponents from the front and chasing back if needed. He finds himself in illustrious company with that late winner, joining Robin Van Persie and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as scorers of late winners to beat Southampton ironically all by the same scoreline, 3-2.

New Record

United set a new record of 8 consecutive away wins with this victory. But this record means little to me. Our aim should be to win trophies, to gain consistency that we badly miss, get back to where we once were. If reports are to be believed, United celebrated the win like they have won the Premier League, it’s not a good sign on where the club is and should aim to be.