The battle for the last Champions League qualifying slots heated up once more on Sunday as Manchester United fell to West Ham United 1-0.
The loss suffered by Erik Ten Hag and his team at the London Stadium is their second straight league loss. There was a dearth of vigor, passion, and ideas, similar to what was on display at the Amex Stadium last week.
Mark Goldbridge’s comments regarding Wout Weghorst.
Weghorst appeared lost and utterly clueless, notwithstanding United’s overall bad performance. For the most part, the big Dutchman lacked fluidity and creativity, however, there was one instance in the first half where he and his teammates teamed up brilliantly.
Mark Goldbridge vented on Twitter while the game was still going on: “Can’t believe he’s kept Weghorst on…Ten men make up our team.
When he compared Weghorst’s position on the United side to musical chairs on TikTok, Goldbridge added some extra flavor.
He declared: “Watching Weghorst play for Manchester United is like seeing someone play musical chairs when no one has cleared the chairs off the floor. This is illogical.
The game won’t progress at all despite the effort and running around, is it?
Even though Goldbridge may have interpreted the scenario in a humorous way, he is correct. On Sunday, the Dutchman practically gave Manchester United nothing.
When playing West Ham, how horrible was Wout Weghorst?
The problem isn’t so much with Weghorst’s performance as it is with the former Burnley player’s lack of suitability for Ten Hag’s tactical scheme.
He has primarily been used as a false nine since joining United, where he is expected to drift between the lines, link plays, and follow the ball into the box.
He had no effect on the game throughout his 57 minutes of action against West Ham. He made 28 touches, completed 21 passes with 76% accuracy, and misplaced the ball seven times, according to Sofascore. He even made fewer touches and completed fewer passes than David De Gea, who decided the game.
The Austrian should possibly receive more playing time in the final four games from Ten Hag because Marcel Sabitzer should provide far more encouraging performances in the same role.
The pressure is on Liverpool to perform now as they are closing in on United. At the beginning of April, Jurgen Klopp’s team seemed to have little chance of making it into the top four; nevertheless, they now have a real chance to enter through the back door. It won’t take much for United to fall out of the top four from here because they have a game in hand and are on 63 points, while Liverpool are on 62 points.