There were many talking points from that game but one of the most notable ones was seeing Luke Shaw play as a centre-back alongside Harry Maguire.
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A run of three away games ended on a sore note for Manchester United this weekend. The Red Devils defeated Everton 3-0 in the Premier League last weekend before playing out an entertaining 3-3 draw at Galatasaray in midweek. In that Champions League match, United twice took a two-goal lead before blowing it away, largely due to Andre Onana’s costly mistakes and poor finishing. Nonetheless, the performance was a promising one.
However, that was not the case on Saturday night, as Manchester United were comfortably beaten by an inspired Newcastle side 1-0 in the Premier League. Even though the final score might make it look like a narrow win, the reality was far from it. Newcastle thoroughly dominated Man United for most parts of the game, but poor finishing and final-third decision making did not allow them to score more goals.
There were many talking points from that game but one of the most notable ones was seeing Luke Shaw play as a centre-back alongside Harry Maguire. It was a decision that surprised many since the Red Devils also had their regular centre-backs available on the bench. Asked about it, manager Erik ten Hag, quoted on the club’s website, said during the post-match press conference, “Tactics. We wanted to create full-backs with a lot of overlaps, underlaps in attacking.”
He added: “It didn’t go up but that was the idea, to have fresh full-backs. Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] played one game, not the whole game, Diogo [Dalot] played at Everton and came on in Istanbul. Luke Shaw is returning from an injury and we didn’t want him to play as a full-back but this was the idea, as a centre-half. The centre-backs did very well, Harry [Maguire] and Luke Shaw together. That was clearly the idea, to get him in, in the left centre-back position, to construct opportunities and that Diogo can go higher.”
Man United did put up a fight in the final 10-15 minutes but it was too little too late. They were completely outplayed for most of the game by Newcastle. When asked whether the first 80 minutes was acceptable from a Manchester United team, ten Hag said, “No, if you lose, you’re always unhappy. You talk with the team and about the why [that was]. I am sure this team is resilient, we have to pick this up. This team has the experience and we have to get ready for Wednesday, the next game, and don’t stay too long on this game.”
There was a moment in the first half when ten Hag seemed to be unhappy with Anthony Martial and he let him know on the pitch. There was a bit of a back and forth between the pair. Asked about the issue, the manager replied, “It’s not about Anthony Martial. It’s about the team. You try to energise the team, you try to get a reaction from the team, at this moment. You see we had a tough period so, in your coaching, you are a little bit more aggressive and that is normal.”
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