Man Utd’s 3/10 flop must never play for the club again after Bournemouth

A penny for Marcus Rashford’s thoughts, please? This week has been all about him off the field but that issue must now be put to one side for Ruben Amorim’s honeymoon period in charge of Manchester United is well and truly over.

This was never going to be an overnight fix, of course it wasn’t, but the Red Devils have endured a terrible few days and can’t seem to stop conceding.

Against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, Amorim’s men fell to a 4-3 defeat and they shipped plenty again at Old Trafford on Sunday.

It’s remarkable how football works, isn’t it? A year ago Bournemouth came away to Man United and beat them 3-0. The score this time? Well, the Cherries were dancing away having won 3-0 again.

There was no Erik ten Hag but the performance was worthy of the Dutch manager with Amorim surely wishing he could hide behind the sofa at some of the individual displays he was witnessing from his team.

The Portuguese is clearly a good coach but even he is struggling to get a tune out of this United side.

What went wrong for Man United against Bournemouth

Corners. Those damned corners. After letting Cherries centre-back Dean Huijsen open the scoring in the first half from an unmarked corner, it was the ninth set-piece goal they have shipped this term, the second-highest in the entire Premier League. Not great reading at all.

Away from those woes, it was a set of defensive mistakes that led to the further concession of goals with Noussair Mazraoui, so often seen as one of Ten Hag’s rare wins in the transfer window, gave away a penalty.

The Moroccan slid in on Justin Kluivert who got up, brushed himself down and converted the resultant spot-kick.

Things then went from bad to worse when Antoine Semenyo, already a scorer against Manchester City this term, condemned United’s woes by firing home just after the hour mark.

In truth, a whole host of players in red deserved flack after this one. Joshua Zirkzee only completed six passes and Kobbie Mainoo was guilty of giving away the ball that led to Semenyo’s strike.

Still, we have surely now seen the last of Tyrell Malacia as a United player.

Tyrell Malacia’s performance in numbers

Last season the young Dutch left-back became a bit of a laughing stock due to his persistent injury problems.

He didn’t kick a single ball in 2023/24, which led to some wondering whether he’d totally disappeared off the face of the earth. It may sound harsh, but some supporters may well be wishing he was still frozen out in the cold.

That’s because since Amorim has taken charge, his reemergence as a first-team figure has not gone too well.

Malacia was hooked at half-time in the defeat to Arsenal a few weeks ago and against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League. Well, he was given the same treatment after a particularly rough time against Semenyo this Sunday too.

So, what went wrong? Well, as MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst pointed out when giving the wing-back a dismal 3/10 match rating, he was ‘not at it from the start and clumsily conceded the free kick Bournemouth scored from’.

To make matters worse, he only won one of his five duels and lost possession seven times from his 34 touches, meaning he actually left the pitch having held possession on fewer occasions than goalkeeper Onana.

Malacia did provide one key pass during the first half but he well and truly failed to deliver the type of qualities Amorim lusts after in his wing-backs, failing to complete a single cross or attempt a dribble.

With the January transfer window fast approaching, the new manager will need to go out and buy players that not only offer more quality but suit his system.

It’s clear the Ten Hag signing isn’t up to the job and it would not be a surprise if this was the last we saw of him in a United jersey. Whether a January exit beckons remains to be seen, but one thing is clear, they need to sign a left wing-back.