Man Utd fought back to earn a draw against Leeds at Old Trafford but they need to try a new front three in the return fixture on Sunday.
There was a time when Marcus Rashford was considered ineffective at centre-forward, but as good as he’s been on the left for Manchester United this season, he’s arguably been even better through the middle.
He’s started off the left against Crystal Palace and Leeds this week, but has lit up the game once he’s been moved centrally. It took him two minutes to score as a striker on Saturday and three minutes to repeat the trick on Wednesday.
The most eye-catching thing about those two goals is just how good they’ve been from the perspective of a centre-forward. Against Palace it was the cleverness of his movement, the ability to hold a run when the central defenders dropped beyond him, leaving him with an easy chance.
Against Leeds, he got United back in the game with what was a world-class header. It’s an area of his game Erik ten Hag has demanded he improves and that is clearly paying off. Diogo Dalot’s cross hardly served up the chance on a plate, but the leap was prodigious and the direction of the header unstoppable.
Rashford’s contribution was in stark contrast to that of Wout Weghorst’s 59 minutes. The loanee has been a solid addition to the United ranks, but he was never signed to play every week. Thanks to the flakiness of Anthony Martial, that is exactly what he is being required to do.
But United look like a slicker, more dangerous team with Rashford through the middle and there are options now for Ten Hag to consider that on a more permanent basis, even in the absence of Martial.
Jadon Sancho’s return has been a major boost over the past week and having caught the eye against Nottingham Forest for half an hour, he made an even bigger impact against Leeds.
He came on on the left this time and looked a threat up against Luke Ayling. His link-up with Luke Shaw was particularly eye-catching in the build-up to Sancho’s equaliser, his fourth goal of the season and easily the most important for him.
On this evidence a refreshed and rejuvenated Sancho is worth including in the United attack, especially if it frees up Rashford to go through the middle. That would leave a slot on the right for Antony when he’s fit.
In a way, this performance might have made up Ten Hag’s mind when it comes to some attacking roles. Alejandro Garnacho scared the Leeds defence when he ran at them, but he was also inconsistent in possession. Weghorst was anonymous and probably needs a rest.
United meet the same opponents again on Sunday and they should do with a new look attack. The only disappointment from the changes that brought a whirlwind final half hour is that they didn’t do enough to turn the game entirely.
United had won 13 in a row at Old Trafford before Wednesday night and there was a feeling this was a run that couldn’t go on forever, but nobody really expected it to end against Leeds.
A side imbued with a spirit and togetherness under Ten Hag slept through the early stages of both halves and those lapses proved costly. They looked surprised by the intensity of Leeds when it is common knowledge throughout the Premier League that, for all their faults, they are one of the most physically demanding teams to play against. You have to match that intensity and United didn’t do that.
They are perhaps a little unfortunate to be playing a team that has just sacked their manager twice in the space of five days. Such a decision can elicit a response and the new manager bounce that Leeds will enjoy is going to propel them skywards in their two biggest games of the season.
But on Tuesday it was Ten Hag who cast doubt on the impact a change of manager can have and at the end of the day this was a team above the relegation zone on goal difference alone at kick-off. They performed to a better level than that, but it still shouldn’t have been enough to trouble a United team switched on and at their best.
Instead, the sloppiness of United’s starts left them playing catch up and there was only so much distance they could claw back, despite the contribution of Rashford and Sancho.
Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
