Owen Hargreaves was not impressed with Manchester United’s performance against Bournemouth on Saturday and went far enough to describe it as ‘embarrassing’ as we fell to a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford.
Nobody can really disagree with that because the boos at full-time said it all. So did the empty seats.
You became to fear for the atmosphere after Bournemouth’s opening goal and it didn’t help that the United team had no response for that. That is why United fans are feeling fed up, but I don’t feel all the blame sits with the manager. Far too many of these players are not pulling their weight and they warrant criticism as a result.
Erik ten Hag has his faults – like every manager – but United were well beaten by the Cherries. Dominic Solanke opened the scoring inside four minutes, and quick-fire goals midway through the second half from Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi secured the result for Bournemouth.
Bournemouth had the ball in the net again for a fourth but it was overturned for a handball.
At the other end of the pitch, United never found any momentum in their attack and rarely tested Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto as a result.
The players were booed off the pitch at full-back for their lacklustre display and they’ve got nobody to blame but themselves. Furthermore, Anthony Martial’s substitution was cheered by fans after the 56th minute.
I don’t think anyone – bar the Bournemouth and ABU lot – were happy at full-back and this led to former midfielder Owen Hargreaves pulling no punches in his post-match analysis.
“Listen to the boos, look at all the open seats,” Hargreaves told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “The fans have spoken. The performance was embarrassing and it has been like that all season.
“You have to praise a team [Bournemouth] that plays the right way with good attacking players. They deserve the praise. They played exceptionally today.”
One step forward. Three steps back.
Get the latest Manchester United news, opinion, interviews and exclusive features with the Stretty Newsletter – Ad Free! Kick off your afternoon with the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
