Manchester United’s five things noticed as horrid Erik ten Hag pattern continues under Rúben Amorim vs Bournemouth

Five things noticed as Manchester United fell to a shocking 3-0 Premier League defeat against Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford.

Rúben Amorim reinstated Joshua Zirkzee up front as Manchester United hosted Bournemouth at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The tie started fast, with both sides battling to maintain early dominance, with Bournemouth having a free kick on the edge of the area after 10 minutes that they could not capitalise from.

After around 30 minutes, it was Bournemouth who took the lead, with a free kick on the byline from Ryan Christie finding the head of Dean Huijsen, whose header looped over André Onana to hand the visitors their opening goal.

United went close a few times before the half was over, with Bruno Fernandes having plenty of opportunities presented, but it was the visitors who went into the changing rooms during the break in play.

Amorim chose to throw on Leny Yoro for the second half and Rasmus Højlund and Alejandro Garnacho shortly after, but 15 minutes into the restart, Noussair Mazraoui brought down Justin Kluivert in the area, with the Dutchman himself converting the penalty to hand Bournemouth a 2-0 lead.

Antoine Semenyo secured Bournemouth’s third goal a little over two minutes later as they carved United open like a knife through butter. Despite an attempted fightback from United, they failed to score, leaving Old Trafford empty-handed.

#1 – Players were not seeing the space out wide

In the game’s early moments, United’s wide players found themselves in front of open space, but despite multiple runs, Amorim’s central players were not picking the passes out.

Fernandes, in particular, started the opening 30 minutes playing on both flanks, but once Bournemouth took the lead, he had to come in much more central to see the ball at his feet.

As Bournemouth pulled away with ease in the second half, United’s game plan flew out the window, with the side trying to chase a 3-0 deficit that was well beyond their reach as the visitors sat back and covered all the gaps.

United should have capitalised on the wide open spaces during the first half and paid the price after they failed to do so.

#2 – United’s horrible Erik ten Hag pattern strikes again

Bournemouth’s lead after 30 minutes saw United go 1-0 down for the sixth game in a row, with the other five coming against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Plzen, Manchester City, and Tottenham.

It’s a horrid pattern that the side must look to break sooner rather than later. Although United have generally shown grit and determination not to let the games get away from them under Amorim, under Erik ten Hag the players collapsed, and this is exactly what happened on Sunday afternoon.

It felt as if the players went back to their old ways, just trying to fight for the ball and making rash decisions rather than calm down, slow the play, and reset, which is what Amorim would have instructed.

#3 – United need new wing-backs in the summer

In Amorim’s system, the wing-backs are so important, and against Bournemouth, it was blindingly obvious that those under his employ are not good enough.

United started with Dalot on the right and Malacia on the left, but switched Dalot to the left and Mazraoui on the right for the second half, but no matter what the head coach tried, nothing worked.

Amad Diallo has shown himself as United’s best wing-back, but he’s much more effective as an attacking midfielder. United need new full-backs in the summer.

READ MORE: Player Ratings – Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth (Premier League)

#4 – Amorim’s point about “disconnect” is spot on

After the 4-3 loss against Tottenham, Amorim made a point that he felt United were “disconnected” in the early moments of the second half, which led to the Reds conceding twice in quick succession.

If fans did not quite believe his words then, the second half against Bournemouth showed more than anything that Amorim’s analysis is spot on.

Once again, in the second half, United failed to retain possession when they needed to regain control of the tie, and their opponents capitalised on the chaos, thumping United into the ground with two goals in quick succession. It must be fixed.

#5 – Europa League is the priority, but performances must improve

Most United fans would agree that Amorim’s priority for the rest of this season, beyond teaching his players the key components of his system, is the Europa League.

The club are sitting 13th in the Premier League table, and hopes of reaching the top four and qualifying for the Champions League through the league are slim – there is little point focussing on this. The best way into Europe’s elite competition is through winning the Europa League.

However, the players must improve in their individual and collective performances. Just like against Tottenham, individual errors and poor team cohesion have allowed sides to carve Amorim’s defence open.

The Premier League should be used to show the head coach that the players understand his instructions, with a winning-first mentality more necessary in the Europa League. So far, this has not been the case.

---

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.