The Turnaround At Manchester United Continues With The Team's Third Straight Win, But Long-term Questions Still Linger In The Attacking Department

The Turnaround At Manchester United Continues With The Team’s Third Straight Win, But Long-term Questions Still Linger In The Attacking Department

The Turnaround At Manchester United Continues With The Team’s Third Straight Win, But Long-term Questions Still Linger In The Attacking Department

The revival of Manchester United from last season’s pit of despair continues to this day. On Thursday, they traveled to Leicester City and won 1-0 against the Foxes to extend their winning streak to three games.

Jadon Sancho’s early goal made the difference, and Man United picked up another clean sheet away from home.

With a 1-0 victory at Leicester on Saturday, Jadon Sancho extended Manchester United’s revival under Erik ten Hag with the only goal of the game, adding further pressure on Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers following the Foxes’ winless start to the season under ten Hag.

With the win, United, who had lost both of their opening matches of the season, move up to fifth in the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s Old Trafford matchup against leaders Arsenal. As a result of Sancho’s first-half strike, United was able to claim all three points, but Leicester could have lost by a greater margin if United had not missed a number of second-half chances to claim a more comfortable victory.

In spite of the fact that they were unable to add to their scoring after Sancho’s strike, United rarely looked like they were in danger of dropping points and the team’s confidence has now flown since three consecutive Premier League victories.

Apart from United’s results turning around, Ten Hag’s team has won back-to-back away games since February, when they were unable to win away from home since the start of the season until Saturday’s win at Southampton – and they have kept consecutive clean sheets since then as well.

It was evident at times at the King Power that there was still work to be done by Ten Hag, particularly up front, but with this win, United can now face Arsenal with serious prospects of ending the Gunners’ 100% winning start to the season.

The Turnaround At Manchester United Continues With The Team’s Third Straight Win, But Long-term Questions Still Linger In The Attacking Department

The outlook, however, is bleak for Leicester City. As a result, the 2016 Premier League champions have picked up just one point from five games, and they are now firmly rooted at the foot of the table.

In the first half, Marcus Rashford and Sancho combined well for Manchester United, with the attacking pair combining well for the first goal that was scored by Sancho in 23 minutes, which was the opener.

But despite the positive direction that their form has taken under Ten Hag, the new United manager will have seen enough in this game to know that neither of them will be the answers to the team’s long-term attacking problems in the long run. Despite the fact that United are now on a three-game winning streak, they have only scored five goals in their last five games.

With Antony’s £86 million transfer from Ajax, United is looking to become a more potent attacking force, and Ten Hag has the option of turning to Cristiano Ronaldo, who failed to get a move away from Old Trafford before the transfer deadline, as a means to boost his team’s goal-scoring threat.

The problem is that having seen Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland signed for Liverpool and Manchester City respectively this summer, United have seen their two biggest rivals sign players who, if they had signed them, would have been perfect for the system that Ten Hag wants to implement.

Obviously winning games and scoring goals will boost the confidence of both Sancho and Rashford, however, they continue to frustrate with their inconsistency in the final third of the pitch and if they are to challenge for major honors, they will need more reliable outlets up-front.

I believe Antony might prove to be the answer, but if he takes some time to get used to life in England, United will need to find a way to sharpen their cutting edge if they want to score more goals.

Many observers have written Lisandro Martinez off after a nightmare start to his Manchester United career that saw the Argentina defender singled out as a key reason for his side’s defeats against Brighton and Brentford in their first two games of the new campaign.

After being signed by Ajax in the summer, Martinez was dismissed as being too small at 5 9 installs to be able to perform in the Premier League, but he has silenced his critics with three outstanding displays since his arrival.

Against Leicester, the 24-year-old was not only tenacious in the tackle, but he also proved to be an important leader in the back four along with Raphael Varane.

The fact that Martinez communicates better than any of his defensive teammates, as well as his ability to read the game, has also contributed to United becoming stronger and more organized.

After the Brentford defeat, Ten Hag’s decision to drop captain Harry Maguire and Martinez in favor of Varane reflected the Dutchman’s faith in his former Ajax player who, since then, has repaid Ten Hag for his trust in him.

In some situations, Martinez’s short stature will work in his favor and his defensive partner will have to compensate for his lack of height, but United’s back five, including keeper David de Gea, now look as if they are one cohesive unit for the first time in years and that is all thanks to Martinez.

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