Top level football is ruthless. Just when you think your inefficiency has been masked and you've somehow seen out a poor game, one moment of magic happens and all your fear and doubts just come alive. That was the overriding feeling when the final whistle sounded at Selhurst Park to end last night's encounter between Crystal Palace and Manchester United. Having come from behind to beat cross city rivals in the Manchester Derby last Saturday, it looked like a forgone conclusion for most people that United will take all three points away at London. Just like I always say, football has a mind of its own.
At Crystal Palace, Manchester United were uncharacteristically poor. The team has been on a good run of late with nine wins on a bounce before the draw at Selhurst Park. But they played woefully last night. For all the combative football on display by Casemiro last night the team continually turned over position under little or no pressure. In fact, it's been a while since I saw them waste possession as easily as they did last night. It was ugly to watch. For Fernandes, trying the impossible while gifting possession to the opponents has always been his bread and butter. He was ably joined in the possession turnover act by the likes of Casemiro and Luke Shaw last night. Shaw misplaced 12 of his 55 passes, tallying 78% pass accuracy. Casemiro completed 47 of 70 passes, misplacing 23 passes with a pass accuracy of 67%. The less said about Fernandes' stats the better. In telling fashion, the foul that led to the equalizing goal was conceded after another possession turnover.
Now, for the whammies. The recent wins has increased confidence in this Manchester United team after a poor start to the season. After beating City the confidence skyrocketed. A win against Palace would've placed United just six points behind Arsenal on the table. With that in mind, they would've gone into the clash with Arsenal knowing a win at the Emirates will cut Arsenal's lead at the top to just 3 points, effectively inserting them into a spicy title battle that has been fought all season by Guardiola and his protégé, Arteta. The draw at Palace, coming in such a ruthless fashion with just 3 minutes of added time to play, will undoubtedly crash the player's confidence. Ten Hag has to pick his players up before Sunday else, it will be a chastening experience at the high flying Gunner's ground. That's whammy number 1.
Whammy number 2? Seriously, this is on Ten Hag. Even a blind man could easily see the incredible amount of work Casemiro puts in every match to make this United team a strong one. Without him in the midfield, the likes of Eriksen will get overrun on a regular basis. Of course, we saw that against Brighton and Brentford. Casemiro not only transmits confidence to his teammates, he brings the fear factor where opposing midfielders know he will rather kick them than allow them to get a sniff of his goal. The likes of Fernandes and Eriksen weren't scared of making mistakes because they know Casemiro will win the ball back for the team. In short, he's hugely important to the way the team plays. With a goal up and McTominay on the bench I expected Ten Hag to withdraw Casemiro to save him for the all important clash at Arsenal. He gambled, and we lost our best midfielder to suspension. Watching Fernandes remonstrate with Casemiro after the yellow card is telling. The team knows he's highly important and their task has just gotten a lot harder without him at Arsenal.
In the end, Manchester United lost two valuable points to a wonderful Olise free kick. Two points lost in ruthless fashion; best midfielder suspended for a hugely important clash. Ten Hag has his work cut out for him. It will be an incredible result if they escape with at least one point from the Emirates. Without Casemiro, it looks like an almost impossible task already.
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