Manchester United continued their trajectory of taking a step forward, then two back, and Owen Hargreaves, who visited Carrington in the lead-up to the game, had an interesting tidbit to share.
The 3-1 loss to Brentford was simultaneously a shock and somewhat expected, a combination that only Man Utd can serve up.
The need to build momentum after the 2-1 win against Chelsea was clear, but so was this team’s propensity to lower their guard after a win.
Before the game, Owen Hargreaves was invited for a tour of the new Carrington, and he shared what he saw in the lead-up to the game. He was stunned.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty ImagesOwen Hargreaves shares Man Utd training update
Ruben Amorim has been at pains this season to stress that the team is generally playing at a higher level, and the players are giving everything.
The results, in his opinion, are down to mentality and the ability to recover from setbacks.
Naturally, this means the training environment is full of positivity as well, and Owen Hargreaves was invited to Carrington to see the same.
After United’s loss to Brentford, Hargreaves shared what he saw at the training ground while speaking to Premier League Productions.
He said: “I thought they were going to win this game. I was at the training ground yesterday, and everyone was confident. I was certain they were going to win the game.
“They got outplayed. Brentford are 19th for possession this season. They had more possession than Utd in the first half. How is that possible?!”
Amorim is running out of rope
Amorim clearly has strong backers at the boardroom level, and the underlying stats suggested United are improving, but the results don’t lie.
The underlying stats can lie, for example, as United’s xG was higher than Brentford’s in the loss. That’s because of the penalty and Sesko’s chance, which took three attempts when it should have been converted at once.
The good vibes in training mean nothing, and even if it’s a mentality issue, the fact of the matter is that Amorim has been allowed a huge rebuild of the squad.
If the mentality issue remains after such a turnover, then the prospect must be entertained that this issue comes from the manager, too.
The results are bafflingly bad, and no amount of backing at the boardroom level or good atmosphere at training can account for a club like Man Utd averaging one point/game for a whole calendar year.