Manchester United needed a late goal from Benjamin Šeško to save a point against West Ham United on Tuesday evening.
Manchester United played their second away game of Michael Carrick’s tenure on Tuesday evening, as they travelled to the London Stadium to face West Ham United.
While Carrick continued with his 4-2-3-1 formation, the in-possession structure represented something closer to Rúben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1. Many managers follow a similar method, which may explain why United players appeared to struggle to break down the claret and blue low block.
United couldn’t break the deadlock until Benjamin Šeško flicked on a Bryan Mbeumo cross into the top right corner. Amad and Šeško ran through just over a minute later, but a poor pass from the Ivorian stopped the late-winner attempt.
An error from Luke Shaw gave West Ham an early lead. The England international let the ball bounce and lost possession, leading to a counterattack. Rather than following his man, Shaw then overcommitted and handed West Ham a much easier chance, although Senne Lammens and Kobbie Mainoo will also be disappointed with their parts in the goal.
Lammens reveals what United needed
Many fans have said United lacked the intensity to break down the West Ham defence – an issue that they struggled with under both Amorim and Erik ten Hag. Lammens appears to agree.
“Still a bit disappointed and felt like we didn’t really play the way we should have, especially in the first half,” Lammens told MEN. “We didn’t create as much. I think we needed to be more sharp with the ball
“We needed to create more. Of course, when you score in the end and still get a point, it’s always a bit better, but still, the overall feeling is a bit disappointing for us.”
Lammens was then asked if United’s performance was down to playing two games in just four days, a normality for the club but a rarity this season. He said: “It could be a bit of both. I think they’re always a hard side to play against, especially in here. We have difficulties at home as well against them, so it’s always difficult coming here.
“They know what they have to do, how they defend us. A low block is always difficult to play against. And then, like I said, we have to be at our best and sharp to be able to create chances against them. We weren’t that sharp today, like we’ve been the last couple of weeks.”
Lammens says United must prepare
While United will only play 40 games this season, the squad looks set to play a minimum of 48 next season, with the hope they will play at least 60, including a good run in the Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup.
Lammens continued: “Because the last game was three days ago, you can’t put excuses on it. Because they also had a game two or three days ago.
“But still, like you said, we’ve been used to playing one game a week. It’s a little bit in the legs, I think. But if we want to be a team playing for the top, then we can’t use that as an excuse.
“So we need to learn from this, because we’ll play against a team like West Ham did today. For more games in the future, so we need to be able to play against them and create chances.”
United’s squad must prepare for more games next season or risk facing more lacklustre performances like the one at the London Stadium.
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 streamed live every Thursday at 14:00 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.