Manchester United man branded “absolutely hopeless” following critical mistake vs Bournemouth

One Manchester United player has been branded “absolutely hopeless” following a lacklustre Premier League display against Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

Manchester United endured a humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth at Old Trafford, as Rúben Amorim‘s team remained stuck in 13th place in the Premier League.

The game began evenly, with both sides pushing for dominance, but it was Bournemouth who broke the deadlock. Dean Huijsen punished United’s ongoing struggles with set pieces, heading home a looping effort to give the visitors an early lead.

Bruno Fernandes looked to inspire a response before half-time, driving United forward with determination. However, his efforts couldn’t yield a breakthrough, and United went into the break trailing 1-0.

Amorim introduced attacking reinforcements in the second half, but Bournemouth stayed disciplined and capitalized on United’s errors. Noussair Mazraoui’s challenge on Justin Kluivert resulted in a penalty, which Kluivert confidently slotted away after 60 minutes.

Just two minutes later, Antoine Semenyo struck a third for Bournemouth, leaving United with no way back. Despite a late surge from the home side, Andoni Iraola’s men secured a shock result, handing United another disappointing blow in front of their fans.

United player branded “hopeless” after error vs Bournemouth

What will cause significant irritation within United’s fan base, beyond the loss, is that the club conceded yet another set piece through Bournemouth’s opening goal, with their second-half penalty also technically counting as a second set-piece goal of the evening.

Although there is debate as to whether the foul for the opening free kick should have been given in the first place, United’s marking in the box was very poor, allowing the goal to happen.

In particular, Joshua Zirkzee has been blasted for his role as he was the man entrusted to mark Huijsen, but lost his man and failed to recover before Huijsen headed in the opening goal.

He was subsequently branded as “absolutely hopeless” by Manchester Evening News correspondent Samuel Luckhurst, who was in attendance on Sunday.

What Amorim thought about the opening goal

Speaking after the game, head coach Amorim told Sky Sports he felt that the opening goal of the tie was the big turning point, with United doing well prior to the headed effort.

“If you look at the game, we were not conceding anything before the first goal, we had opportunities,” the 39-year-old said. “If we manage to score the first goal then the game should be different. We want to score, but we are too nervous. We have to fight this.

“After the penalty, we need to control the game better because we know this situation is really hard. We have to control better this moment.

“We have to focus on the job and not what you feel in the stadium. It’s the only way I know how to focus my players. We have to suffer again but we will try to win. We will do it until the end.”

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