Manchester United were embarrassed at Old Trafford on Wednesday night as they fell to a 2-0 loss to Burnley. Chris Wood gave the visitors the lead towards the end of a dismal first half with Jay Rodriguez putting the nail in the coffin with a phenomenal effort in the 56th minute as the pressure continues to grow for United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Positives
At times, United played a few nice one-twos that cut through Burnley at the back, however sporadic those moments may have been. As opposed to being trigger-shy in the early stages, they seemed to be more eager to get the ball forward, too, which is the sort of style they'll need to implement if they're going to stay in the mix for the top four.
Negatives
From the word go it legitimately felt like Manchester United were being bullied by Burnley. They were pushed back whenever they came forward, they hesitated with some of their decision-making under pressure, and it didn't feel like they had a plan B when their first option was cut out by a resolute Clarets side.
All in all, one of their worst performances of the season so far.
Manager rating out of 10
4 -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went down the conservative route with his formation and starting XI, and the setup never really seemed to work with United looking rigid from the word go. His changes were either questionable or came at an odd time for the hosts, and his own body language on the touchline seems to indicate that he's rapidly running out of time in the job.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK David De Gea, 5 -- The distribution of the Spain international has to be called into question, with many of his passes looking sloppy. For Burnley's second goal, there's an argument to be made that he shouldn't be getting beaten at his near post.
DF Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 7 -- Fatigue seemed to set in late in the game but the popular right-back had a real attacking presence in the first half, playing nice balls into the box in the 16th, 28th and 32nd minute. Alas those deliveries came to nothing.
DF Phil Jones, 5 -- Doesn't belong in this team. He was consistently clumsy on the ball, played a lot of sloppy passes and showed abysmal reactions for Burnley's second goal.
DF Harry Maguire, 4 -- For a while the Englishman's ripped shirt was the most interesting part about this game... until he was dramatically off the pace for both of Burnley's goals. Unacceptable given his price tag and the degree of expectations for him in this defence.
DF Brandon Williams, 7 -- The active and confident youngster tried to make things happen in the first half but needs to be given the opportunity to play on the overlap more so than he is.
MF Fred, 6 -- The midfielder wasn't afraid to pull the trigger or bust a gut to get to the final ball, which is more than can be said for most of this team.
MF Nemanja Matic, 6 -- There was a composure to Matic's game in the middle of the park and he did have a few bright sparks, including a nice through-ball to Martial in the 33rd minute, but he tired down the stretch as United tried to get back into the game.
MF Andreas Pereira, 4 -- When he wasn't attempting ambitious chipped through balls or back-heels, Pereira was busy giving the ball away instead.
MF Juan Mata, 6 -- He often looks like the glue that holds things together in this team with precise passing and solid movement, but even the tricky Spaniard couldn't turn things around tonight. He also misjudged a nice cross from Wan-Bissaka in the first half which could've changed the game.
MF Daniel James, 5 -- He plays well when given the opportunity to link up with players like Williams, but his lack of an end product continues to haunt his game.
FW Anthony Martial, 5 -- The biggest chance for the French international came in the 33rd minute when he took a few touches too many and missed a golden chance to open the scoring.
Substitutes
DF Luke Shaw, 6 -- The purpose of Shaw's introduction was seemingly to give Williams a rest and nothing more, as he didn't produce much of note.
MF Jesse Lingard, 5 -- As an "impact sub" option off the bench, he really doesn't offer much to this Manchester United team.
FW Mason Greenwood, 6 -- Looked like one of the few players that could make things happen with some nice efforts, but ultimately, he couldn't find the right openings.