Jordan Ayew acknowledges that despite the success of Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri, Diogo Dalot, and Sofyan Amrabat in the third round of the Carabao Cup, Crystal Palace found it difficult to control the movement of Manchester United’s wide players.
Tuesday’s 3-0 triumph at Old Trafford provided an exciting look into the future of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United with the return of Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat.
In particular, Amrabat’s complete Red Devils debut made a significant effect. The Moroccan maestro, who was listed as a left-back on the team sheet, appeared to be doing everything and being everywhere at once. Ayew undoubtedly felt the need for aspirin as Amrabat’s signature move switches to the right side, with Pellistri and Dalot maintaining their width, and Dalot sprinted forward and crossed for Alejandro Garnacho to score.
Garnacho scores for a victory for Manchester United.
Ayew laments, “We know they were just better than us tonight,” on the Crystal Palace website after the Eagles failed to score a single goal against a Manchester United team that put on their greatest performance of the year.
We seemed a little too thin, in my opinion. They were just hitting diagonals, going wide to the wingers (Pellistri and Garnacho), full-backs (Amrabat and Dalot), and creating a lot of danger for us as we attempted to narrow the centre.
That presented an issue.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s absence has caused Dalot to step up recently. He was able to locate the form that had previously made him one of the first names on Ten Hag’s squad sheet.
Prior to the Portugal international, Pellistri was as animated and forthright as ever, and Ten Hag was all praise for Garnacho’s off-the-ball work as well as his well-executed finish.
A rare positive night
Ten Hag tells the Man United website, “You have seen in the beginning of the season, we played him, then his contribution was not good enough,” referring to the new number 17 of the Red Devils’ struggles in starts against Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur.
He needs to understand that when he does his duty of defending, he will always have his chance. He has outstanding qualities, so he will always be decisive.
Ten Hag continues, “Also, it’s not just off the ball (where Garnacho needs to improve). But I also want to see instances like today, when he entered the box and finished exactly where he should have. However, I believe that the space is pretty average for a player his age.
