Manchester United plays better but don’t win

Ever since Six Alex Ferguson left Manchester United, the club is struggling. Most recently under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and now under interim manager Ralf Ragnick. The German manager, who stands for an attractive style of play, is struggling to find the right line-up for Man United to play according to his philosophy. In this article we talk about it based on the Premier League match against Aston Villa.

Changes in line-up

Ralf Ragnick made some interesting changes in the line-up. One was forced because of the hip injury of Cristiano Ronaldo. Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are other players who haven’t made the line-up. It’s not clear if these were all forced decisions or tactical changes. One thing is for sure, the changes had a good effect on the style of play. Manchester United was extremely dominant from the start of the game. Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes opened to score after a sneaky free-kick in the 7th minute. This goal didn’t stop Man United and they kept dominating the game. The only thing they really lacked in the first half was a second goal.

The dream debut for Philippe Coutinho. 😍 pic.twitter.com/kIh4xuH5HS

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 15, 2022

Second half magic

With only a 1-0 lead, Man United needed to keep on going in an attempt to close the match down. In the 67th minute, Bruno Fernandes scored his second goal of the game, to give Man United a 2-0 lead. A lead that should be enough to get the win over the line. On the sideline Steven Gerrard was preparing Philippe Coutinho to come in the team. The Brazilian star didn’t expect to come in the team with a 2 goals deficit. Nevertheless, he came on the pitch and changed the game. He was part of the attack that led to the 1-2 in the 77th minute. Only four minutes later Coutinho scored the equaliser. He couldn’t dream of a better debut at Villa Park. Even though Manchester United style of play was much better this time, they couldn’t get the three points.