The Peoples Person

Manchester United suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur to drop down to 15th place in the Premier League table.

James Maddison took full advantage of a mistake from Andre Onana to tap the ball into the back of the net from close range in the 13th minute of proceedings.

The Red Devils had some chances to restore parity and possibly mount a comeback but they couldn’t make any of them count.

United have now lost 12 top-flight matches this term and it’s also the first time Tottenham have beaten them both home and away in over 35 years.

There were several players who were poor but Patrick Dorgu was not one of them. The January signing made his debut for the club in the 2-1 win over Leicester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup, demonstrating very encouraging signs of the player he is and what he can bring to Old Trafford going forward.

Against Spurs, Ruben Amorim deployed him at left-wing-back and Dorgu didn’t disappoint, despite not getting on the ball as often as he’d have linked.

During the time he was on the pitch, Dorgu touched the ball 54 times and managed to find his teammates with 23 of the 29 passes he attempted. Two of his passes were key passes.

The 20-year-old managed to connect with only one of the five crosses he dispatched.

Dorgu was brilliant defensively, winning an impressive seven of the eight ground duels he delved into and coming out on top in the one aerial challenge he contested.

The Dane drew three fouls and made one clearance. He also put in four tackles.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

It was another positive display from Dorgu, who is slowly but surely finding his feet at United.

Up next for Amorim and his players is a Saturday away trip to face David Moyes’ resurgent Everton side. That match kicks off at 12:30.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

Manchester United fell to a frustrating 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday evening.

With both sides suffering from poor recent runs of form, Man United would have surely been looking to take advantage of a cataclysmic Spurs defence in order to come away with a result.

Unfortunately, their finishing proved to be a problem yet again, with no one in Ruben Amorim’s lineup managing to convert any of their chances into goals.

The opening minutes saw Tottenham dominate possession. While they were camping in United’s third, the hosts posed little danger, struggling to create any goalscoring opportunities despite their advanced position on the field.

On the stroke of 10 minutes, United were on their first attack which happened to be a blistering one. Rasmus Hojlund took a shot that was well-saved, with Alejandro Garnacho pouncing on the rebound. His shot was also blocked, with Diogo Dalot picking up the loose ball afterwards. He took a shot from the right of the goal, but yet again, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was on form. Some promising signs from an injury-rocked United.

Sadly, United’s promise was forgotten soon after. 12 minutes in, the hosts broke the deadlock. Lucas Bervall took a shot from the edge of the box that Andre Onana parried. An alert James Maddison breezed past the United defence to pounce on the loose ball and slot it into the back of the net.

It was a poor response by Onana, who should be catching shots like those with relative comfort.

Then, Garnacho completely scuppered a close-range shot, firing the ball ridiculously high over the top. Clearly, he needs to do more work on his finishing on the training ground.

Four minutes later, Heung-Min Son cut the ball back to Mathys Tel in the centre of the box, who fired a threatening shot goalwards that Onana parried.

In the 40th minute, Casemiro was shown a yellow card when he clattered into Son. It was an unnecessarily reckless challenge by the Brazilian.

While United entered the break trailing, it was a somewhat decent performance by Amorim’s team, who produced some quick, attacking football. Sadly, finishing remained a problem, meaning that United would need to improve in this metric in order to find a way back into the contest.

Seven minutes after the restart, Tel ballooned a prime scoring opportunity over the crossbar, allowing United to breathe a sigh of relief.

Soon after, the action returned to the opposite end of the field, where Garnacho’s shot was stopped by the keeper.

Garnacho took another shot in the 57th minute, which was parried by Vicario yet again. United were showing some great initiative on the attack, yet their finishing still seemed to come up short.

In the minutes that followed, Tottenham were glued to the ball, making it seemingly impossible for United to get a touch. Still, their efforts were wasted when Jedd Spence fired a long-range effort high and wide.

With 19 minutes to go, Noussair Mazraoui picked out Joshua Zirkzee in the box with a sublime cross. Unfortunately, Zirkzee’s header glanced wide of the far post.

As the match wore on, United showed little sign of improvement. The team’s energy continued to drain, with manager Ruben Amorim seemingly unwilling to bring on fresh legs.

Casemiro then got on the end of a cross, directing his header goalwards only for the keeper to catch his shot.

Just then, Amorim changed his tune, substituting a jaded Casemiro for Chido Obi, who was making his senior debut for the club.

Sadly, there was to be no moment of redemption for United, who failed to get in on any further action before the full-time whistle.

It was yet another disappointing match for Amorim’s side, who simply appear to have given up on turning their Premier League season around altogether.

Starting XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire, Fernandes, Hojlund, Zirkzee, Dorgu, Garnacho, Casemiro, Dalot

Subs: Chido

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

Manchester United suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. Here are our player ratings from the game.

(A score of 6 is around average)

Andre Onana 2 – Very poor parry into an extremely dangerous area for Tottenham’s opening strike. Distribution also not good enough.

Noussair Mazraoui 6.5 – Some decent defending to limit Son Heung-min’s threat. Incredible cross into the path of Zirkzee, which should have resulted in a goal for United.

Harry Maguire 6 – Quietly went about his job in the middle of the back three. Didn’t do much wrong.

Matthijs de Ligt 5 – Completely lost James Maddison for the opener. Needed to be more aware of his surroundings in that instance. Mostly OK after that.

Diogo Dalot 4 – Should have perhaps done better with his chance inside the box after the ball dropped to him. Just doesn’t offer enough going forward in the wing-back role. Let Son run wild down the right at times.

Casemiro 2 – Demonstrated why he rarely gets minutes for United. Constantly dispossessed, gave the ball away multiple times even under little to no pressure and allowed opposition players to easily run past him. Just doesn’t cut it at this level anymore.

Bruno Fernandes 4 – Put the ball on a plate for Garnacho, who aimed his effort well over the bar. Not as influential as he usually is and recklessly gave the ball away on a number of occasions.

Patrick Dorgu 6 – Didn’t see a lot of the ball but did well when he got on it. Looked to get forward when he could and also strong defensively.

Alejandro Garnacho 5 – Missed a clear-cut goalscoring chance to restore parity. Fired a few other shots but couldn’t beat Guglielmo Vicario. Kept passing up the opportunity to play in Dorgu on the overlap.

Joshua Zirkzee 7 – One of United’s better performers, especially in the first half. Some decent touches on the ball and did well to hold up the ball and link up play. Should have found the back of the net when he got on the end of Mazraoui’s cross but he headed it wide.

Rasmus Hojlund 3 – Struggled again. Looked a little bit better when he was drifting into wide areas.

Substitutes

Chido Obi 5 – Thrust into the pitch in added time for his senior debut. Not much he could do.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

Patrick Dorgu starts his first away match for Manchester United today as Ruben Amorim’s decimated side visit Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

Dorgu will play wing back, probably on the left side for the first time in a United shirt.

Elsewhere in the team, Andre Onana is in goal.

The back three are Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui.

Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro are the central midfield pair and Diogo Dalot the other wing back.

Up front, Alejandro Garnacho and Josh Zirkzee flank Rasmus Hojlund.

United are in the midst of yet another injury crisis.

Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Mason Mount are still unavailable, along with Lisandro Martinez, who had surgery on an ACL injury this week. They have been joined by Kobbie Mainoo and Amad on the injury list, with Amad also needing surgery after damaging an ankle ligament in training.

Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer also picked up injuries during the week and Altay Bayindir has not recovered from the knock that saw him miss out against Leicester last Friday. Leny Yoro and Christian Eriksen are missing from the squad. They could be ill as Amorim mentioned players being sick during the pre-match press conference.

This means the substitutes’ bench sees a lot of young faces, with potential debuts beckoning today.

The full bench is Elyh Harrison, Harry Amass, Tyler Fredrickson, Victor Lindelof, Ayden Heaven, Jack Fletcher, Jack Moorhouse, Sekou Koné and Chido Obi.

Kick off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is at 4.30pm.

Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images

Manchester United have been hit by a sudden injury crisis ahead of their crucial Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Amad Diallo is set to miss the rest of the season after picking up an ankle injury during training. And Ruben Amorim will also be without three midfielders for Sunday’s game.

Kobbie Mainoo will be unavailable for a few weeks while Toby Collyer and Manuel Ugarte are also set to miss the game against Spurs.

In this desperate time, the head coach has been forced to look to the club’s famed academy and five of Carrington’s finest have travelled to London for the game.

Academy call-ups

As relayed by The Peoples Person, Chido Obi, Sekou Kone, Jack Moorhouse, Harry Amass and Elyh Harrison have all made the trip to the capital.

Given the obvious gaps in midfield, there were talks of James Scanlon also being included given his great form for the academy sides this season.

But Scoop, a reliable source of information on the academy, has revealed that Scanlon has not made the journey and instead Amorim has picked Jack Fletcher for the match against the North London side.

“I’m told Jack Fletcher has also travelled to London with Ruben Amorim’s squad. James Scanlon has not travelled despite reports suggesting otherwise,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Jack, son of former United midfielder and current coach Darren, is an attacking midfielder by trade and has excelled for both the U19s and U21s this season.

Jack Fletcher in contention

The 17-year-old has five goals and six assists this term and his passing quality and intelligence seems to have caught Amorim’s eye.

He has already been on the first team bench earlier in the season when Erik ten Hag was in charge. Given United’s obvious dearth of quality, he has a great chance of making his Premier League debut for the club.

As for Scanlon, despite his red-hot form, United seem to be planning to use him more in the U21 set-up for now as revealed by Nathan Salt of The Daily Mail.

“Told James Scanlon isn’t part of the travelling first team squad today. He’s trained this morning with the U21s and is looking at being involved against Fulham tomorrow night.”

He deserves more opportunities because he has made the academy level look very easy and his absence is quite surprising give his knack for finding the back of the net.

Having grabbed a late winner against Leicester City to proceed to the fifth round of the FA Cup, Manchester United will look to improve their fortunes in the Premier League as well when they face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

While the trip to North London can often prove to be a tricky one, it appears as if the hosts are one of the few elite sides that are actually struggling more than Man United this season.

In their last five Premier League outings, Spurs have come away with just a single victory, losing all four other matches. Their losses include a shock 2-1 loss at home to strugglers Leicester City as well as a 3-2 defeat to Everton, yet another team in the bottom half of the league table.

When looking at Spurs’ recent performances in other competitions, it becomes clear that their defensive fortunes have been no better. While they defeated IF Elfsborg 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League, they have struggled when coming up against opposition who are actually of the same calibre or better, suffering a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool to crash out of the Carabao Cup.

Manager Ruben Amorim will be hoping that his side can take advantage of Spurs’ defence at a time when it appears to be particularly vulnerable, especially as a means of exacting revenge for the 3-0 drubbing at Old Trafford that took place earlier this season.

Still, in order to do this, Amorim will need to ensure that his side fix an issue that they appear unable to overcome.

While United have managed to be consistent goal scorers, they often place themselves under unnecessary pressure due to their wasteful finishing.

Take their FA Cup victory over Leicester, for example. With 13 attempts on goal, United got just four on target. In fact, their first accurate shot came in the 65th minute, when Alejandro Garnacho beat the keeper, only for Caleb Okoli to make a goal-saving interception,n which saw the ball reverberate off the crossbar.

It took a 93rd-minute header from Harry Maguire to secure the win for Amorim’s side.

United experienced the same issue during the previous match against Crystal Palace. Despite taking 17 shots, just two were on target, with the first accurate attempt coming in the 51st minute by Bruno Fernandes. Yet again, United were unable to register an accurate shot in the first half, suffering a 2-0 loss at home as a result.

Perhaps United’s most shambolic attacking display came in their 1-0 win over Fulham when a moment of magic by Lisandro Martinez saved the day. Taking just four shots on the day, Martinez’s 78th-minute strike was the only one that remained on target.

In the embarrassing 3-1 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion the previous weekend, United were able to pull a goal back thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty, yet even with 10 shots on goal, that remained their only shot on target throughout the match.

It’s clear that no matter the final outcome, United appear to have developed a troubling trend in recent times that they just can’t seem to shake. Not only is their shooting accuracy way poorer than what it should be, but Amorim’s team takes an exceptionally long time to even register an accurate shot, which often only comes in the second half.

While they may be fortunate enough to get away with their wastefulness and tardiness against weaker opposition, Spurs will no doubt come out swinging, especially as they look to overcome their poor recent run of form.

Should United hope to get anything out of this match, they will need to not only improve their finishing but show their attacking threat earlier in the match. After all, not grabbing an early lead or falling behind from early on will only make it that much more difficult to secure victory.

Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images

Manchester United travel to Tottenham Hotspur today hoping for their first win against the Lilywhites this season.

They have played each other 203 times in history, with the Red Devils winning 96 times.

There have been 51 draws and Spurs have come out on top on 56 occasions.

Here are three plotlines to dig into before the match.

United’s recent struggles against Spurs

For a long time, United dominated Tottenham Hotspur.

In the entirety of the 1990s, for example, they only lost four matches against the North Londoners.

This has not been the case in recent times as the Red Devils have not beaten Tottenham in the last five matches.

In fact, the last victory for United came in October 2022, early on in Erik ten Hag’s managerial spell when they won 2-0 at Old Trafford.

The last victory in London came in October 2021 when they won 3-0 during the dying embers of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rein.

United’s leaky defence versus Spurs

The Red Devils’ defence has hardly been watertight all season but they have particularly struggled against Tottenham.

According to The BBC, “Manchester United have conceded at least twice in each of their last four Premier League games against Spurs.”

“The last side they conceded multiple goals against in 5+ consecutive league games was Arsenal (5 between 1975 and 1978).”

Spurs have massively struggled this season, lying 15th in the table but they have scored 48 goals in the league with only Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal scoring more.

United also shipped four as they were knocked out by Ange Postecoglou’s side 4-3 in the Carabao Cup in December. The Red Devils are also looking for their first win against the Australian coach.

United are surprisingly on a good run of form

Despite all the negativity around the club at the moment in regard to financial problems, unpopular ownership decisions, piling up injuries and league position, United are actually on a decent run of form under Ruben Amorim.

The Red Devils have won four out of their past five games in all competitions.

They are also unbeaten in four away matches in league and cup, winning two and drawing two since a 2-0 defeat at Wolves on Boxing Day.

It must also be said that United have done reasonably well in away day games against the traditionally bigger clubs since Amorim took over in November and fans will hope this trend continues as the club certainly needs some good news at the moment.

Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images

Disaster has struck Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim and his already threadbare squad this week as four new injuries have been picked up.

With Marcus Rashford, Tyrell Malacia and Antony having left on loan and Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Mason Mount still injured, the last thing United could have afforded was another injury, let alone four.

News broke yesterday that Amad has suffered an ankle ligament injury that may end his season and that Kobbie Mainoo also picked up an injury in training that will keep him out of action for three weeks or more.

Amorim also confirmed that Manu Ugarte and Toby Collyer are also struggling to be fit for this afternoon’s game.

If they don’t make it, there will only be 13 outfield players available to Amorim who have ever played for the first XI before.

Despite two of those being midfielders in Christian Eriksen and Casemiro, we suspect that they will both start on the bench.

With Casemiro almost certainly short of match fitness and Eriksen lacking the pace to cover for him, Bruno Fernandes could play in midfield once again, possibly partnering Noussair Mazraoui, who played the role 44 times for Ajax earlier in his career.

The back three would then probably be Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro, although a ring-rusty Victor Lindelof should be available and new signing Ayden Heaven could also be in the mix.

The wing backs will be Diogo Dalot and another new signing, Patrick Dorgu, who impressed on his debut last Friday. Who will play on which flank is hard to predict; Dorgu is a leftie and Dalot better on the right, but they were reversed last week.

Up front, unless Fernandes does play higher up the pitch, there is only Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Josh Zirkzee available.

Andre Onana will be in goal.

Several academy stars have travelled with the squad, including Chido Obi, Sékou Koné, Harry Amass, Jack Moorhouse and Elyh Harrison. So there is an excellent chance of at least one debut today, with Heaven also yet to take to the field in a red shirt.

The bench could therefore be: Bayindir, Lindelof, Heaven, Amass, Casemiro, Eriksen, Moorhouse, Koné and Obi. Fans who follow the academy will be itching to see the latter grab a debut at the tender age of 17.

Here, then, is our predicted line up for the 4.30pm GMT kick off:

Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images

The problems seem to be never-ending for Manchester United at the moment with the club forced into a last-minute change in travel plans for their trip to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

As The Manchester Evening News revealed, the Red Devils were scheduled to leave for London by train on Saturday but were forced to take the coach.

“Manchester United are having to travel to London by coach for their Premier League fixture against Tottenham after their train was cancelled on Saturday afternoon.

“A signal failure on the West Coast mainline saw the cancellations of a number of services on Saturday afternoon and United will instead have to make a four-hour journey by road.”

Change in travel plans

The players were forced to board an inferior coach to travel on Saturday due to the superior coaches already being in place in London to ferry the team from the hotel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and back.

This is not the first time their commute to and from the capital has had to be tweaked at the last moment.

The team was scheduled to take the flight back to Manchester after their game against Fulham a few weeks ago. Instead they were forced to take the coach after their flight got cancelled at the last moment.

Thankfully on Saturday, the club already had contingency plans in place knowing the unreliable rail services between Manchester and London Euston.

Things are not going according to plan for the club on the injury front as well after news broke that their standout star of the campaign Amad Diallo had picked up a season-ending ankle injury.

“Extremely disappointed to be writing this message in such a crucial time of the season. Unfortunately, I will be out for some time with an injury.

Injury issues

“I will come back stronger than ever!! Time to support the boys from the outside. Still loads to play for,” the player wrote on social media to confirm the development.

Not only the Ivorian but Ruben Amorim will also be without three midfielders for the game against Spurs with Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer all ruled out.

The England international will be missing a few weeks of action and as a result, the head coach has had to look to the academy in a bid to fill the gaps.

Five of Carrington’s finest — Chido Obi, Sekou Kone, Jack Moorhouse, Harry Amass and Elyh Harrison are set to travel for Sunday’s game.

Confirmed United squad members (as per MEN): Dalot, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Lindelof, Heaven, Fernandes, Casemiro, Garnacho, Zirkzee, Hojlund.

Feature image Naomi Baker via Getty Images

Manchester United have called up as many as five academy graduates for their trip to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday amid an unprecedented number of injuries in midweek.

Ruben Amorim had hinted during the pre-match press conference that several influential stars could miss Sunday’s Premier League game but Amad’s season-ending injury has come as a huge shock.

To add to that, Kobbie Mainoo is also set to be sidelined for a few weeks while both Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer have been ruled out of the Spurs contest.

As revealed by Scoop, a reliable source of information on the United academy, the head coach has been forced to look at Carrington’s finest in order to plug the holes in the squad as a result of these unforeseen injuries.

Injuries galore

“EXCLUSIVE: Chido Obi, Sékou Koné, Harry Amass, Jack Moorhouse and Elyh Harrison have all travelled with Manchester United’s first-team squad to face Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.

“Ruben Amorim has turned to Carrington to plug the gaps left by several unforeseen injury absentees,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

As previously revealed, Jack Moorhouse will be making the trip to London and fellow academy midfield ace Sekou Kone will accompany him.

The Malian had joined the club in the summer and was registered as part of United’s Premier League squad upon his arrival.

However, an injury meant he took time to acclimatize to his new surroundings but he could now be thrown into the deep end on Sunday given the number of absentees in the middle of the park.

Chido Obi, who has been on fire for the academy, has also been called up and given the first team’s lack of goals, Amorim might opt to hand him minutes should the Red Devils struggle against Ange Postecoglou’s men.

Youngsters to step up

Left-back Harry Amass is also expected to be called up. This was expected to be his breakthrough year but former manager Erik ten Hag had refrained from using him citing physicality issues.

He seems to have impressed the Portuguese tactician and could finally receive his United debut. He had impressed in pre-season and the club opted not to send him out on loan in January.

Promising goalkeeper Elyh Harrison is also expected to travel. The club decided to keep a hold of him instead of sending him out on loan for the second half of the season and he was present on the bench for the club’s previous league game against Crystal Palace.

Moorhouse, Kone and Chido Obi have the best chance of making it off the bench. It will be interesting to see Amorim’s team selection for the game against Spurs.