Michael Owen has ruthlessly blasted three Manchester United players who played in the “easiest position on the pitch” against Tottenham on Sunday evening.
Ruben Amorim suffered another major headache on the weekend after Manchester United’s recent Premier League visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
United started off positively well against Spurs away from home, despite manager Ruben Amorim missing several first-team Red Devils players due to injury.
However, the Red Devils were placed on the back foot only 13 minutes into the Premier League tie after James Maddison broke the deadlock for Tottenham.
Amorim’s men were unable to pull themselves back into the contest and the 40-year-old United manager was left limited with his options to bring off the bench.
United now languish in 15th place in the Premier League table and the Red Devils have only managed to win eight matches in 25 fixtures in the 2024-25 campaign.
Amorim’s side are only 12 points clear of the relegation zone and United are now a mammoth 15 points adrift from the Premier League top four.
Owen singles out three Man Utd players
Ruben Amorim has remained firm on using his preferred tactical system, despite Manchester United’s inconsistent run of results under him.
The former Sporting CP boss has committed to playing with a three-man backline, with Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui playing in defence.
Harry Maguire was deployed as the left-sided centre-back for the Tottenham match after Lisandro Martinez suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury.
Matthijs de Ligt was the central defensive option and Noussair Mazraoui took his place out on the right, with Michael Owen left ‘frustrated’ with the defence.
Speaking on Premier League Productions, Owen accused the United trio of defenders of “sleeping” over their only major duty at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“What frustrates me more than anything about the Manchester United team is that those centre-halves do nothing during the game,” he said, as per the Metro.
“They hardly pick up any players at all, yet when you ask them to do one job – stop the guy who’s shooting – they’re sleeping at that as well.
“We’ve seen so many clips in the first half when there’s nobody to pick up, there’s three of them literally doing nothing. They won’t push in, they won’t go and mark anybody, they just sit there.”
Owen on Man Utd defence vs Spurs
United will not return to action until 22nd February when they travel away to Goodison Park for their Premier League clash against Everton.
Owen insisted that the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui do “nothing” while their teammates are “outnumbered” on the pitch.
“It’s the easiest position on the pitch in theory because they’re asked to do nothing,” he added.
“The manager plays so many defenders and none of them are picking anyone up.
“The midfield for Manchester United has to be the hardest place to play in the Premier League and the defence should be the easiest because they literally mark no one, ever.
“They sit there doing nothing and everyone else is outnumbered all over the pitch.”