United failed to make the most of the chance to get into the top 5 (again) thanks to a disappointing loss to the league’s in-form side as Villa managed to beat United in the PL for the first time since 2022. Unai Emery also recorded just his 4th victory over the Red Devils in 17 games en route to their 10th win in a row in all comps.
At this current moment, winning just TWO on the bounce would be great for Ruben Amorim 😐.
For an isolated game though, it wasn’t the worst. In fact, I’d say the opposite is true in that this was one of our better displays. However, better display or not, it was still yet another defeat making it just two wins in our last eight.
1. Good High Press
One of the big positives from this loss was the relentless high press. This is something that Amorim has been trying to implement and has been an undeniable improvement.
The issue with it throughout the season was the fact that United didn’t continue this press all game. It would be in the opening exchanges or sporadic.
Against Villa though, different matter.
United were all over Unai Emery’s team from minute 1 and was how some of our better chances were created including Cunha’s goal. Dorgu put the pressure on Matty Cash, won the ball, it made it's way o Cunha and the Brazilian curled it around Emi Martinez to make it 1-1.
This was the highlight of the game because it was the first time we truly saw it all 90 minutes. It was a good tactic because Villa do like to play out from the back and implementing this high press was perhaps something unforeseen by Emery given the fact that many would’ve anticipated a more defensive game from United, one that would allow Villa to bring the ball out from the back and for United to hit them on the break.
2. We Concede Stupid Goals
This isn’t something new and has been occurring all season and happened once more.
You cannot take away from the quality of the finishes by Morgan Rogers as they were superb but allowing him to take them in the first place was the issue.
Yoro in particular was caught twice as he didn’t get close enough to stop the strikes. He sat back far too much with Rogers having a pretty easy shot at goal.
You look at the second and see the laziness with which the stand-in captain ‘defended’ the cross from Youri Tielemens was criminal. He made no attempt to stop the ball into the box which was on the midfielder’s weaker foot. This eventually led to that chance which turned out to be the match winner.
After Bournemouth, the United manager had this to say regarding his team’s defending:
"We watch the game again against Bournemouth, and we can avoid those goals. We have to put everything on the line when we’re defending, and sometimes we’re not doing that."
The same can be said here.
31 scored and 28 conceded is a horrendous record. That is the most conceded in the top 10 with only Bournemouth, Leeds and the bottom three having conceded more.
We are far too easy to score against, aren’t we?
3. I’m Concerned About Yoro 😬
Tbh, it’s more a concern with the youth at our club rather than just one youngster because when you look at the performances at these players, they start off well but then drop dramatically to a point where they become unrecognizable.
Yoro was poor yet again as he had a hand in both goals. The 19-year-old didn’t get tight enough allowing Morgan Rogers to get his shots away. Brilliant strikes but the defender ought to have been closer.
He hasn’t been the same since he was called out by skipper Fernandes post the defeat to City: "In the first moment where I can cover both, Leny (Yoro) decides to come up and I see him and try to go a little bit more towards Rodri. (Josko) Gvardiol does a good pass and Leny was going backwards and because of a miscommunication we end up giving them too much space to up the pitch.”
Bruno himself was poor in his marking of Phil Foden who ended up scoring a free header. Whether or not it was Yoro’s fault as well, why throw a young player under the bus?
I’m not entirely sure whether this was the reason for the Frenchman's drop in performances but it is has coincided in that he hasn’t been at the level we know he can be since that derby display.
United seem to have this ability when any player, not just youngsters, get into the first team as their performances just get gradually worse. Cunha doesn’t look the same player he was at Wolves and nor does Mbeumo in recent weeks despite being involved in the goals.
Ex-captain and legend Roy Keane said that the environment for young players to develop isn’t the best and could be a reason as to why they aren’t thriving: "I don't know if there's enough senior players at Man Utd to help the young lads!"
This is an issue that’s been going on for a while as we don’t tend to develop young talent anymore. Many leave or don’t reach their full potential whilst at the club. This goes against who we are as Man United and is more of a worry than people might think.
I believe Yoro, and the defense overall, is really missing a senior player.
4. Get A Competent Midfielder (Or Two)!
Out of necessity, Amorim was forced to use the butcher Martinez next to Ugarte after skipper Fernandes had to be taken off due to injury.
On a side note, that isn’t a great sign because the captain NEVER gets injured. Holding his hamstring is even worse because that would suggest a muscle issue. Nobody was around him either when he stopped play. Could this be a result of playing too much football and out of position (or carrying United since he joined?) As per the manager’s post-match comments, it ain’t looking good brev 👎. Okay, that’s a paraphrase but it was along those lines.
"I think it's soft tissue [Fernandes injury] so it's going to be a while. We'll see."
Back to the butcher, how well did he play in midfield? All he did was the basics: keep it simple, played the pass (and the right pass) when necessary, line-breaking passes, didn’t do too much, was calm and composed on the ball, tracked runners off it and just made our midfield all the better due to his style of play.
This is a defender, who is doing this btw. Imagine if we had actual midfielders who knew how to play in that position. I know that was just for a half of football and Villa weren’t amazing, yet even still, he was arguably better than Bruno and Casemiro have been most of the season.
The manager also said not so long ago that Martinez isn’t able to play in midfield: "A smart, intelligent football player can play in a lot of positions, but it is not the position for him [midfield]. In an emergency, he can play."
And boy could he play.
This is something we’ve all been suggesting that the Argentine be given a run out in that position once he’s returned considering how poor our midfield has been. This cameo has shown that he can do it and that any competent midfielder would make us instantly better.
5. Is CL Football Gone?
I’ve seen a lot of people saying that it is yet a part of me believes no, no it isn’t.
I understand that that may seem a little far fetched considering our shiteness but if you look across the league, other than the top 3, who else is consistent?
Chelsea are currently 4th and despite us losing and them drawing, we are still just 3 points behind the Blues. Liverpool have managed to find some consistency but it’s not as if they’re playing brilliantly. They have their issues as well. Then we have the likes of Palace and Sunderland who are competing for the CL spots.
United have a chance.
We saw what consistency did for us from the Sunderland win onwards. We were struggling in the bottom half of the table before that win yet with three victories on the bounce, United moved up to 6th and were level on points with City and just 2 off of 2nd.
Two wins in our last eight however, has seen us drop to 7th, 11 points behind City who are now in that 2nd spot. This shows the consistency of the other kind.
Yet even through all this, with how bad everyone else has been, the opportunity is still there. Two places remain up for grabs because the English teams are doing really well in Europe giving us that extra Champions League spot which gives us more of a chance.
On the other hand, we cannot rely on this United side because we are consistently inconsistent. One step forward, one step back. If we want to achieve that goal of playing in the CL, we need to get better results otherwise, we may risk not getting into Europe at all once again.
Bruno Fernandes suffers hamstring injury that could keep him out for a month | Aston Villa 2-1 Man Utd | Creator: Clive Mason | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Man Utd News