Manchester United’s drubbing at the hands of Brentford on Saturday was not totally unexpected but still the scoreline was surprising. Considering United’s poor recruitment so far, losses were expected but not due to a lack of effort.
It seems once again the players have started letting down the latest manager in Erik ten Hag. This was a familiar feature last season under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
That hangover is yet to dissipate for all the players who were part of United last season. And unfortunately, even the new recruits have been forced to deal with additional scrutiny due to the poor results so far.
Christian Eriksen was forced off the ball for the second Brentford goal but it was mainly due to David de Gea choosing to play the ball to the Dane under pressure.
And for the third goal, new centre-back Lisandro Martinez was bullied off the ball as Ben Mee headed in the Bees’ third goal. He was even substituted at half-time with the Red Devils four goals down.
Martinez struggling
Questions were bound to be raised with Ten Hag preferring to bring in a 5’9 defender and despite his tough tackling and ball playing attributes, adapting to the Premier League takes time.
Ben Mee beats Martinez to the ball to head home Brentford’s third from a corner…@Carra23 called it! 🔮 https://t.co/BDtb3PC8X1
— 90min (@90min_Football) August 13, 2022
The Dutch coach was confident in the Argentine’s ability to play in England but Brentford’s physical approach proved to be too much for the Argentina international.
Interestingly, something similar had happened when Patrice Evra had come to United back in 2006. The Frenchman had struggled to cope with the physical aspect of the English game in his earlier days.
That was exactly what Gary Neville referenced during his commentary stint for Sky Sports. “He’s had his Patrice Evra moment. He’s watching the second half with Fred who’s been taken off as well and hopefully learned a lot.”
The French defender had suffered a similar fate on his debut against Manchester City in January 2006. With City leading by two goals, Sir Alex Ferguson removed him at half-time. The Derby ended 3-1 in City’s favour.
Evra went on to have a glittering United career, winning five Premier League titles in eight years at the club. What fans would do to have those years back!
United will be hoping that Martinez can adjust to the league soon as they need all the help they can get with Liverpool up next. He might be asked to play in midfield for that one.
