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Opinion

Manchester United give valuable guidance ahead of Selhurst Park visit for Newcastle United

1 year ago
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I have to give Erik Ten Hag a lot of praise for what he has done at Manchester United.

Not obviously on the scale of what Eddie Howe has done at Newcastle United of course.

However, he (Ten Hag) has brought some kind of stability and progress at a club where they have absymal owners (not quite on the scale of Mike Ashley but doing their best to be…) who have made so many disastrous decisions and appointments, on top of the fact their clear sole motivation (like Ashley when at NUFC) is clearly to extract as much benefit for themselves, even if it is to the detriment of Manchester United as a football club.

Anyway, I digress.

Last night I was watching Crystal Palace against Manchester United, taken extra interest.

The fact that Ten Hag’s team were below Newcastle United on goal difference and equally / more importantly, Eddie Howe and his team are heading to Selhurst Park on Saturday themselves.

With around 15-20 minutes to go of Wednesday night’s match, I texted my mate who is a Manchester United fan (yes, he is from down that way, kind of).

Anyway, I texted him saying, if Manchester United don’t finish these off, they will be kicking themselves if Crystal Palace fluke an equaliser.

They (Manchester United) didn’t and they (Crystal Palace) did.

That is if you can call a long range Olise rocket of a free-kick a fluke…although my basic point was proved absolutely on the money, which my Manchester United mate didn’t appreciate me reminding him of after it had thundered into the back of their net.

The point is, Manchester United were clearly the better team, dominated the game, should have won. Simple as that.

The fact they didn’t wasn’t at the heart of it down to Olise’s stunning free-kick. It was down to them not getting the second and third goals that their domination deserved, the late Palace stunner should have been no more than a consolation.

In a lot of ways, Manchester United remind me a lot of Newcastle United last season, AFTER Eddie Howe arrived and started to get things sorted.

Erik Ten Hag has wanted to build from a solid base at the back, Manchester United conceded 57 goals last season, only two clubs in the final top 14 conceded more.

He has massively improved that, not quite to Eddie Howe levels but 22 (compared to 11 for NUFC) conceded in the first half of this season, makes Man Utd the fifth meanest defence in the Premier League so far. What’s more, they went into last night’s game with a recent record of only two goals conceded in their last five PL matches.

The recovery in the second half of last season for Newcastle United, was very much down to keeping it tight at the back and trying to get the first goal. Then the priority not to concede, with the secondary aim of trying to get the second killer goal if possible.

That has flipped this season and now with Eddie Howe’s team, it is in the vast majority of matches, more about getting the second goal (and more…) if taking the lead, rather than simply hanging on to what we have got. Last season this approach was far more of a necessity due to an instant grim relegation struggle Eddie Howe inherited, the shackles came off later once Newcastle were safe, Arsenal blown away in the final home game of last season, a match where they had everything to play for as it would have all but guaranteed Champions League football if they’d won. Instead, Newcastle scored, went all our for a second, then kept on going trying for a third.

Manchester United haven’t got anything like those same concerns in Ten Hag’s first half season at the club, rather than relegation they are hoping for top four, or even better. Yet, the Manchester United approach was still last night to try and hold that 1-0 lead rather than finish off Crystal Palace. To be fair to Ten Hag, they had won their last five PL matches, but I think he got it wrong last night.

Crystal Palace were there for the taking and Manchester United let them off the hook, I’m sure Eddie Howe was absolutely watching on with great interest.

The commentator and former Arsenal striker Alan Smith were saying how you couldn’t fault Crystal Palace and how the players had given it everything. I’m sorry, but if that is giving it their all, they aren’t a very fit team.

What I saw were a lot of Crystal Palace players, especially the further up the pitch you got, who weren’t given it anything like everything. Maybe I am now just so used to Eddie Howe’s high tempo, high energy, high press Mags, but at times it looked so often like a slow motion replay when anybody was going to close any Manchester United down, this was even in the second half when Palace were losing!

No win is for certain BUT I do think that if Eddie Howe has his team at their usual game, high pressing and forcing mistakes high up the pitch, Newcastle United stand every chance of blowing them away if getting the first goal, very much in the style of what happened on Boxing Day at Leicester.

I certainly thought that once Fernandes (Doucoure strolling about for Palace and not even running to close on his man) scored just before half-time, so many Palace players looked to have accepted defeat. Manchester United should have finished them off but didn’t take their chances AND should have created far more opportunities such was their dominance, but looked to ease their way through the second half, instead of killing them off.

Eddie Howe and his players have had twice as long to prepare and recover and this is a great opportunity to reinforce our place in the top three or four. Especially with other fixtures looking potentially very helpful (Man City v Spurs tonight, then at the weekend Arsenal v Man Utd, Liverpool v Chelsea, Fulham v Spurs etc).

This Selhurst Park clash at 5.30pm on Saturday, a match where Newcastle could make it 15 Premier League matches unbeaten and 10 wins in their last 13 PL matches (the other three having been draws).

On Saturday we meet a Crystal Palace team who Newcastle United actually sent into a tailspin back in November 2022, when beating them in the League Cup.

Patrick Vieira and his players came into that League Cup tie at St James’ Park on the back of a run of half a dozen games where they had won four and lost only one, drawing the other.

That defeat at St James’ Park began a run that has now seen Crystal Palace lose six of their last eight matches, with just the one win and then that draw last night against Manchester United.

Newcastle United will be ready for sure and if Eddie Howe has his players at their usual level, then Selhurst Park could be very pleasant viewing on Saturday night.

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