Norwich City vs Manchester United | Four Important Things we Learned

A composed penalty conversion by Cristiano Ronaldo guided Manchester United to their third consecutive league victory on Saturday against Norwich City as the Red Devils moved a point closer to top-four. While question marks continued to surface over certain players’ attitudes and suitability to the new system in the long term, Ralf Rangnick ensured the Red Devils left with three crucial points on the evening.

With the game against Brentford less than 24 hours away, the German manager will be hoping to inspire a highly-captivating display on Tuesday. Manchester United players undeniably failed to execute the fundamentals required to function under the new manager’s system against Norwich City, but they will be keen on improving and carrying out their roles efficiently going into a crucial set of fixtures over the coming months.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at four important things we learned from the game at Carrow Road:

Time For Rashford To Be Benched

Marcus Rashford remains amongst the weakest links in United’s build-up play under the new system. In the previous two games where he functioned as a striker, the 24-year-old has failed to deliver convincing performances, while weaknesses and lack of awareness continue to impede the team’s progress up the pitch. Moreover, the Englishman has looked a shadow of himself since returning from injury and is amongst the team’s most inconsistent performers this season.

With high-quality competition across the frontline, he will be hoping to improve on his overall contribution in the coming weeks. But, with the team desperate to find consistency and regain control of their form, Rashford emerges as the foremost name to be dropped moving forward.

‘McFred’ Deliver

The much-vitrioled duo of Scott McTominay and Fred, arguably, emerged amongst United’s better-performing players against the Canaries. McTominay remained an imposing figure in midfield as the Scotsman efficiently contributed across both areas of the pitch. Fred, meanwhile, executed his role diligently, having been the team’s most aggressive player, whilst avoiding any poor errors.

Fred , Scott McTominay — (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

With the midfield duo becoming increasingly stable in providing the foundation for United’s new system under Rangnick, both players will be keen on chalking out their deficiencies moving forward. Although the club lack personnel challenging for the midfield roles, ‘McFred’ will be hoping to develop their game and hold on to their place ahead of the January transfer window.

Incongruent Minds

Evident from the game against Norwich City, Manchester United untenably lack chemistry. While the defence and midfield remained solid for most of the ninety minutes, the team’s plethora of attacking stars fell short in displaying aggression and discipline on Saturday. Bruno Fernandes delivered another unpalatable performance while Rashford and Ronaldo failed to link up and bind the attack on most occasions.

While Rangnick would undeniably require time to instil his methods, prima facie, the team’s renowned names failed in delivering any promising signs at Carrow Road. Given the need to capitalize on their favourable run of fixtures and find consistency in results over the coming month, the German will be keen on establishing a working balance in the immediate future.

Lack of Team Players

United are rife with selfish forwards. The team’s attackers were found lacking across various metrics against Norwich. Although United remain riddled with match-winners across the pitch, the team’s lack of cohesion, carried over from the previous management, combined with their failure to deliver a team performance emerged as a glaring point on Saturday. The forwards failed to combine on most occasions while the full-backs struggled to execute their roles dominantly.

Provided Rangnick succeeds in curing the ills prevalent in the team’s mental philosophy on the pitch, the Red Devils are likely to adapt to the new system sooner than expected. However, given their undeveloped cognition as a repercussion of poor coaching over recent years, the manager and players will also be wary of those unlikely to prosper under his tutelage moving forward.

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