United suffered another crushing away defeat, this time in Munich. Photo: Getty Images/Ash Donelon
Manchester United's poor start to the season The season continued with a 4-3 defeat to Bayern Munich as Erik ten Hag's side kicked off their Champions League campaign.
Here, Telegraph Sport assesses one of the key flaws in United's DNA at the moment: their inability to get results in big games away from home.
Horrifying stats
Manchester United's problems away from home are becoming increasingly apparent and are one of many problems manager Erik ten Hag is struggling with. Since the start of March last year, United have lost 18 of their 35 away games in all competitions — an average of every other away game.
Only West Ham have ever had a worse record in the top flight over this period and that will encourage Burnley as they look for their first win since returning to the Premier League when United visit Turf Moor in Saturday evening, which has already become mandatory. Ten Hag's side win after four defeats in their last five matches.
Mental breakdowns
United's travel problems are particularly evident in big games.
Wednesday's defeat at the Allianz Arena extended a miserable run in which United have won just one of their 14 away matches against the Premier League's top nine teams and teams in the Europa League and Champions League knockout stages, going back to the start. last season.
During this time, Ten Hag's team lost 11 times and scored 42 goals, although it is the tendency to concede several times in a row that is most alarming and indicates mental weakness and character problems.
Andre Onana's mistake cost United dearly in Munich. Photo: Getty Images/James Gill
The latest example was Bayern, with United conceding a cheap second goal just four minutes after Andre Onana's scream gave the German champions an unfair advantage. United's collapse at the first hint of failure became the dominant theme.
They conceded twice in five minutes in a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal this month, three times in seven minutes and four times in 22 minutes in March's 7-0 rout of Liverpool and twice in four minutes. , three times in 10 minutes and four times in 25 minutes in defeats to Aston Villa, Manchester City and Brentford respectively in the first half of last season.
Poor possession
United vs. Bayern had only eight open games in which 10 or more passes were made. Their opponents, by contrast, had 20, despite actually being sloppy in possession by their standards.
Moreover, United only managed two so-called «build-up attacks» in the game, which is the number of open play sequences that contain 10 or more passes and end with a shot or at least one touch into the goal. opposition box. Bayern had seven.
United's poverty in possession is a huge factor in their inability to control games, especially in tight moments when things go against them. The arrival of new signing Sofyan Amrabat, who missed the Bayern match through injury, could help in this regard as the Moroccan midfielder is adept at controlling the tempo. But given that Ten Hag made a midfield overhaul a priority when he arrived 16 months ago, it is worrying that United remain poor in possession and long-standing weaknesses in this area remain unresolved.< /p>No desire
During the 3-1 win, one incident late in the game against Bayern summed up United's alarming lack of hunger and determination: Scott McTominay's feeble attempt to come back from Dayot Upamecano losing possession after a poor and difficult first touch.
The returning trio, along with Ten Hag, welcome reinforcements ahead of the key game against Burnley
As Jonathan Walters, former Stoke and Republic of Ireland striker, put it: “The referee, who beat McTominay and FIVE other attacking players in the 79th minute, tells you everything you need to know about Manchester United at the moment. Desire = Zero. It's a shame.»
The wingers don't come back
«Does anyone remember when the strikers helped their defender?» Paul Scholes wrote on social media after United's 6-3 capitulation to City 12 months ago.
City's fifth goal of the day underlined the problems raised by former United midfielder Scholes when Anthony failed to track Sergio Gomez's shot from deep and the City left-back was able to cut past Jack Grealish and cross for Erling Haaland to score.
United's defenders are often left exposed and the strikers offer little help. Photo: Getty Images/Christophe Stasch
But this kind of detail became characteristic and was evident in the way Alejandro Garnacho, for example, failed to track Dejan Kulusevski before he retreated for Pape Matar Sarr's goal in Tottenham's 2-0 win last month. and Marcus Rashford's lousy attempt to stop Leroy. It's smart to cut the ball away in the build-up to Bayern's first goal.
Midfielders watching the ball
The problem with wingers not tracking is made worse by the fact that United's midfielders watch the ball and fail to detect dangerous runs into the box or danger in general .
With United's central midfielders sidelined after further problems against Arsenal this month, Christian Eriksen was completely unaware that Martin Odegaard had sneaked into the box and converted Gabriel Martinelli's pass.
It was the same in Bayern's second goal: Casemiro and Eriksen tracked the ball, leaving Serge Gnabry completely free to parry Jamal Musiala's shot after Diogo Dalot's ridiculous defending.
Always-Change defenders
Ten Hag blamed a combination of injuries and mental problems for United's failures.
United were without nine players due to injury against Bayern, including central midfielders Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire, and full-backs Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tyrell Malasia, as well as frequency With centre-backs and full-backs changing defenders, it doesn't help matters and adds to the defensive disarray.
United fielded six different central midfield pairings in their biggest 11 away matches last season, and already this season there were three different combinations against Spurs and Arsenal as United finished with Maguire, and Jonny Evans started with Victor. Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez and Bayern.
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