All the talk before Manchester United’s trip to Brentford had been about building momentum and securing back-to-back wins for the first time under Ruben Amorim.
After a demoralising 3-1 defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium, it was a familiar story of United taking one step forward and one step back, raising more questions about whether the Portuguese coach is the man to guide them back in the right direction.
FAMILIAR FAILINGS
The brutal reality for United is that this could have been a repeat of the 4-0 mauling suffered by Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag in only his second game in charge in August 2022 when United conceded all four goals before half-time.
They were two down inside 20 minutes and had Altay Bayindir to thank for two saves in quick succession from Sepp van den Berg and Nathan Collins as Brentford threatened to score from every attack.
Amorim also saw United concede four here in May when two late goals by his side put a gloss on another poor performance, but on this occasion Mathias Jensen’s late strike cemented a deserved victory for Brentford.
It was a similar story to United’s 3-0 defeat in the Manchester derby a fortnight ago which could also have been considerably worse and piled even more pressure on a manager who has now picked up just 34 points from his 33 Premier League games in charge. Amorim will be confident United can bounce back at home to Sunderland next weekend, but a trip to Anfield straight after the international break looms ominously on the horizon.
INDIVIDUAL ERRORS PROVE COSTLY
For all United’s failings, it is individual errors that keep costing Amorim, with all three goals they conceded at the Gtech Community Stadium seemingly avoidable.
The first came from their own attack which broke down and allowed Jordan Henderson to launch a long ball forward. Harry Maguire got his bearings wrong as he tried to play Igor Thiago offside, but the Brazilian timed his run perfectly and then left Maguire trailing before smashing a shot into the top corner.
The second came from Matthijs de Ligt getting his body shape all wrong as he tried to challenge Thiago for another high ball, and then Luke Shaw failing to track Brentford’s No 9 as he tucked home from close-range.
It was particularly irritating for Amorim after he had prepared United to counter Brentford’s threat in transition all week. ‘The frustration is that every goal, the goals today, we work on that during the week,’ he said.
With United somehow still in the game and pushing for an equaliser in added time, Kobbie Mainoo’s poor control cost Amorim’s side as Brentford broke for Jensen to score the third.
ANOTHER BRUISING DAY FOR BRUNO
Another game, another question mark over Bruno Fernandes. Not only did United’s latest defeat do nothing to silence the debate around Fernandes’ move into a deeper midfield role this season, it also raised questions about the wisdom of keeping him as first-choice penalty-taker.
Once again in the 3-1 defeat to Brentford, he struggled to have a real impact on the game until he was called upon to step up to the penalty spot after Nathan Collins pulled down Mbeumo. There is no doubt that the long VAR delay to check if Collins should have been sent off rather than cautioned, and two substitutions made by Brentford, didn’t help Fernandes.
But having skied a spot-kick over the bar on United’s last visit to West London in a 1-1 draw at Fulham last month, this was another poor effort and one saved comfortably Caoimhin Kelleher. He may have scored a decisive late penalty to clinch a 3-2 win over Burnley, but two misses in six games is not good enough.
Then there is the issue over Fernandes’ best position. It is ironic that signing Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in the summer – worth a combined £130m – has had an adverse effect on United’s captain and best player.
Fernandes is not as comfortable playing in a more withdrawn position where he can do less damage to the opposition and is also not as disciplined as United’s other central midfielders.
Amorim could push Fernandes into a more advanced position. But having signed Cunha and Mbeumo – and with Mason Mount and Amad Diallo also available to fill the No 10 roles – the United boss is unlikely to change the plan now.
SESKO OPENS ACCOUNT
It was very hard to find positives in United’s third defeat in six games this season, but at least Benjamin Sesko has his first goal since a £73.4million summer move from RB Leipzig.
Sesko hasn’t had the easiest of starts at United. Unlike Cunha and Mbeumo, he didn’t have the benefit of playing with his new teammates on tour in the US this summer, and has looked like a man who is catching up on his form and fitness. It was telling that a striker signed to put the ball in the back of the net was the last outfield player called up to take a penalty in the shootout defeat to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.
Sesko converted that night but he had to wait for his seventh game for a first genuine goal, scoring at the third attempt after Kelleher had kept out his header and close-range shot. The Slovenian will hope that it can be the catalyst to a more productive spell.
This was the first time that Sesko had started with other summer signings Cunha and Mbeumo, but it’s clear they will need time to click.
Mbeumo was the most effective of the three on this occasion, forcing Kelleher to flap at Patrick Dorgu’s cross in the build-up to Sesko’s goal and then winning the penalty that Fernandes missed.
Still, the Brentford fans couldn’t resist taunting their old favourite with chants of ‘Bryan, what’s the score?’ as United slipped to another defeat.
