Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick did not come away feeling too optimistic about his old club after their disappointing 1-1 draw away to Burnley last night.
The Red Devils made a strong start to the game but couldn’t maintain that performance in the second half, when Burnley arguably looked the more likely winners.
Chadwick was far from impressed with his old club’s drop-off in performance levels, and he was pleased to see an improved performance from Jadon Sancho, whilst also highlighting Paul Pogba’s performance as a positive.
Overall, however, the ex-Red Devil ace wants to see better results than United have shown in recent games if he is to feel more generally optimistic about the side’s fortunes this season.
“It’s definitely two points dropped in terms of where Man United are trying to get to,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside.
“It was very similar to the Middlesbrough game in the FA Cup – a very impressive first half, and then a disappointing second half. Burnley were probably the better team for the majority of the second half and had chances to take the lead. United probably could’ve put the game to bed in the first half, but VAR didn’t help much! It could’ve been 3-0 at half time, but they didn’t take their chances.
“1-0’s always a dangerous score-line and it could’ve gone either way really. It’s definitely two points dropped in that quest for Champions League football.
“Whatever XI United put out should be a strong team. I thought this team worked well together, the two wide men looked dangerous, and Jadon Sancho probably had his best performance in a United shirt.
“Obviously Cristiano Ronaldo started the game against Middlesbrough and I think it was a case of managing his minutes to a certain extent. He’s still in great physical shape but he’s maybe not in a position where’s going to start every game.
“Cavani came in and probably should’ve scored, but there was a big save from Nick Pope. Ronaldo came on and tried to win the game but it wasn’t to be. No complaints about the team selection really, it was a strong enough team to win the game, but again the second half performance, the level really dropped off after an impressive first half by the team.
“It’s not just the manager, the players have to perform, they play for Manchester United! They probably hit those levels in the first half, but it’s disappointing to see them knocked out of the FA Cup and then drawing with the team who are bottom of the league.
“There’s certain aspects of the game where there’s room for optimism … Sancho looked good, Pogba’s had a strong return, but I think at the same time you can’t take a huge amount of optimism if you’re not winning games.
“It’s a results industry and the club’s now out of the FA Cup, not in the top four at the moment, and so we need to see more winning performances if there’s to be more of a sense of optimism from the fans and the club as a whole.”