MU still shows significant progress despite losing

There are so many good things... in a defeat! The question is: will the Old Trafford audience be satisfied when witnessing a MU that has almost transformed, in a positive way, compared to the last bad season? They have to win again, that's it!

BEGINNING AS IT ENDED

Last season, MU finished 15th in the Premier League. Needless to say, it was the Red Devils’ worst season in the Premier League era. Now, after all their efforts to improve over the summer, MU is still 15th after the opening round of the new season.

MU (right) had a regrettable loss to Arsenal in the opening match.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Of course, that was just a temporary result. Anyone who watched MU play their first match of the new season had to admit: Coach Ruben Amorim's team has improved significantly, in general, it was "very good to watch". Observers unanimously agreed: MU played better than championship candidate Arsenal. Only thing is, they played well but... still lost.

And MU still lost according to the old story. On the one hand, goalkeeper Altay Bayindir (MU) has a reputation for always struggling to deal with corner kicks that hang in front of the goal. On the other hand, Arsenal is considered the number 1 team in the Premier League in terms of scoring from corner kicks. When Arsenal beat MU 2-0 last season, both goals were scored from corner kicks. It seems impossible: MU now lost 0-1 from a corner kick, and that was almost the only significant attacking situation that Arsenal created in front of MU's goal. That could have been a personal error by goalkeeper Bayindir. But, bitterly, that was a situation where another referee, at another time, could have denied Arsenal's goal if they thought they had committed a foul!

In short, MU was very unlucky in the loss to Arsenal. After all, people often say: luck only comes to those who deserve it. MU is the type of team that when they succeed, the press will praise them to the skies, saying they are too excellent. But when they fail, MU will receive heavy criticism. If they do not quickly have the necessary victories, Amorim and his team will be in big trouble after the next 2 rounds.

There has been so much progress.

Football is a competitive sport. Because of MU's strengths, Arsenal did not perform as well as expected in the last match.

MU pressed very effectively, fought fiercely in every position on the field, making it impossible for Arsenal to control the situation and the way they played. After nearly a year, people saw that Arsenal only passed 75% accurately. The last team to make Arsenal have such a low pass accuracy rate was the famous Manchester City. During the whole match, Arsenal only had 4 attacks that lasted more than 10 passes - a decrease of 50% compared to their average level last season.

EURO 2024 champion Martin Zubimendi is considered a great hope, who can help Arsenal compete for the championship this season. But he has shown great difficulty in the role of leader in the middle of the field.

That's about defense. MU's progress in attack is even more obvious. The Old Trafford team kept the ball 61%. Since Alex Ferguson's time, there have only been 3 other matches where MU had more possession than that, when facing a strong opponent in the Premier League (the last match was more than 10 years ago).

The rookie pair Bryan Mbeumo - Matheus Cunha played quite sharply. Their xG index, or expected goal, was up to 0.82 - one would be "very unlucky" not to have a goal in that figure. Striker Benjamin Sesko only entered the field in the last 26 minutes, but he touched the ball 4 times in the opponent's penalty area, finishing 2 shots accurately. For Arsenal, striker Viktor Gyokeres played 60 minutes but only touched the ball in the opponent's penalty area 3 times and did not shoot accurately.

MU played like that but did not beat Arsenal (mainly because of bad luck). So, will they win when the next two opponents are only Fulham and Burnley? Football is not that simple, so the worry is still haunting coach Amorim. Only when MU really wins, will the above progress be meaningful. Anyway, MU fans this season can really hope that they will not be "tortured" by their favorite team anymore!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mu-du-thua-van-the-hien-duoc-su-tien-bo-dang-ke-185250819232447488.htm