Man Utd on course for worst Premier League goals tally ever as decade-long issue continues

On a night that Manchester United honoured the life of arguably their greatest ever legend, the current crop just about stayed in the competition that Sir Bobby Charlton helped make famous, with a nail-biting, narrow and nauseating 1-0 win over Copenhagen. New heroes emerged in beleaguered duo Harry Maguire and Andre Onana, but wider issues remain, chiefly a lack of goals.

It was yet another chaotic night in a season that has had plenty as United struggled to break down the determined and relatively impressive Danish side.

The deadlock was broken in the 72nd minute by Maguire before Onana somewhat redeemed himself after recent errors with a stunning penalty save in the final moments of the Champions League encounter. But before their goal and the last-gasp drama, United really should have killed the game with Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Scott McTominay all wasting gilt-edged chances.

The first pair’s woeful touches when given a one-on-one opportunity and the latter’s indecision when presented with two options in the box were an insight into the lack of confidence across the squad, with so many players desperately out of form.

McTominay could perhaps be forgiven for his misdeed and the debatable penalty he gave away as he’s currently United’s top scorer in the Premier League after nine games, with all three of his goals coming in the last two games, but the other two have only contributed a combined two goals to date.

Look elsewhere across United’s attacking options and it isn’t much better. Bruno Fernandes has scored just twice (one being a penalty) while Mason Mount and Antony have yet to open their accounts for the campaign.

There are mitigating factors with Fernandes often playing out of his favoured 10 position (although he still should be doing better) while Mount has struggled with injuries and Antony has only returned to the squad after a period of absence to deal with ongoing allegations.

The less said about Jadon Sancho the better, although his EAFC stats are probably better than anything he’s produced in recent seasons.

The absence of Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez is another major issue, one that is deeply affecting the tactical set-up and tempo of the side.

While the first two might be defenders, they are arguably the best passers in the team – the two who start the play, split the lines and, in Shaw’s case, carry the ball forward, link with midfielders and dovetail with Marcus Rashford. Maguire and Raphael Varane just do not have those capabilities and nor does Sergio Reguillon.

As the side is currently constructed, there are inverted wingers paired with non-overlapping full-backs which leads to the ball moving sidewards and often slowly as the team and Ten Hag struggle to find the correct balance between control and pace.

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The two halves on Tuesday night were a perfect illustration of that, with United jumping from snail pace to helter-skelter football either side of the break.

These struggles have greatly limited the number of chances created for Rasmus Hojlund in his short United career to date, with the Dane having to fashion his own openings against his former club, for whom his younger brother came on in a special family moment.

Add in the fact he’s only 20 years old, joined a club lurching from one disaster to the next, and had a back injury to deal with upon arrival, and you can only applaud his performances to date and his joint-position at the top of the Champions League goalscoring charts.

Three goals have come in Europe but none in the league unfortunately to date, although it is less of a concern than the form of senior players.

Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford regroup during break in play

United have scored just 20 goals in 13 games to date, with only 11 of those coming in nine league outings. On top of McTominay as their top league scorer, Casemiro is their ‘top scorer’ in all competitions with four. Neither are exactly Bobby Charlton attacking from midfield, and the Brazilian is another senior player having a wretched overall run of form.

Matchwinners have come in the shape of Diogo Dalot and McTominay in recent weeks, as well as Maguire on Tuesday night and Varane in the season opener against Wolves, which is not sustainable. Not the heroes United need, but the ones they currently deserve?

This profligacy in front of goal has seen all five of United’s league wins coming by a single goal, as well as against Copenhagen. Their only win by more than that margin came in the Carabao Cup victory over Crystal Palace.

It also has seen potentially positive results fall away, notably at Spurs when United missed several gilt-edged opportunities with the game scoreless before ultimately wilting and losing yet another high-profile away game.

Every goal feels so hard to come by because of poor decision-making, and it makes every other aspect of the game so much more difficult. Being able to settle, relax and control games when winning by just a single goal is an arduous task, particularly when the game goes into the later stages.

There were many single-goal wins last season as well, with United recording the most clean sheets in the league. The sign of a good mentality? At times, perhaps, but it is not conducive to long-term success, given it is both tiring and over-reliant on luck.

This is an issue Ten Hag inherited and one that has been persistent since Sir Alex Ferguson departed in 2013, like basically everything at the club.

Compared to an average of 77.95 in the 18 38-game seasons of the Premier League under the iron rule of Fergie, United have scored just 61.6 in the 10 years since, with the 2020/21 Covid season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the only one that saw them breach the 70-goal mark, and even then, that was caveated by 15 of the 73 coming in two matches; there were eight games in which they did not score.

The lowest tally in the Premier League era came in Louis van Gaal’s second season (49). United’s goal tally this season is reminiscent of those days, and their first half on Tuesday night had the hallmarks of the nine-game period in the winter of 2015 where the team did not score a first-half goal at Old Trafford.

This consistently poor output has, of course, been in conjunction with numerous dud signings, which has seen no player score 20 league goals since Robin van Persie in Fergie’s farewell campaign. Rashford’s 30 last season was the first since RVP too, although a notable exception in the hall of shame was Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who would have broken both barriers but for a serious knee injury (17 in league, 28 in all competitions).

Seventeen of Rashford’s goals came in the league, which made him the only player to hit double figures, which is ludicrous for a side that came third. Fernandes’ eight was acceptable while Wout Weghorst’s grand total of zero (two in other competitions) was just hilarious.

These scoring issues, as well as numerous others in the team and at the club, are problems Ten Hag must remedy if his second season is not to go the way of his Dutch predecessor, and he faces perhaps the complete contrast this weekend in Manchester City.

The blue side of Manchester have goals and creativity all over their side, with Erling Haaland being given the service that his Scandinavian near-namesake can only currently dream of. The Norwegian has missed the most Big Chances in the league this season, but it hardly matters given the number he is afforded.

United might only get a few chances to score this Sunday at Old Trafford, and as the clocks go back, can they roll back the years and finally rediscover their finishing touch?

READ: Premier League’s worst finishers 23/24: Man Utd pair Rashford and Hojlund in hall of shame