December 13th 2024.
During last night's Europa League game, Viktoria Plzen manager Miroslav Koubek had a specific strategy in mind for taking on Manchester United. He revealed that he instructed his players to target United's goalkeeper, Andre Onana, who has been struggling in recent weeks.
Despite United ultimately securing a much-needed 2-1 win, thanks to a brilliant performance by Rasmus Hojlund, they were forced to come from behind after Onana made yet another costly error. The 28-year-old, who joined United from Ajax 18 months ago, initially struggled to fill the void left by David de Gea's departure, but appeared to have redeemed himself with some strong displays this season. However, his familiar failings seem to have resurfaced in recent matches.
This was evident in the recent defeat against Arsenal, where Onana was criticized for his lack of command in the penalty area. And in last night's game, he made two more errors, including a wayward pass that was punished by Matej Vydra. It seems that Onana's inconsistency has become a cause for concern for United and their fans.
Meanwhile, United's new manager Ruben Amorim is still in the process of perfecting his 3-4-3 system with the team. This was evident in the match, as Hojlund, who has previously praised Amorim's formation, scored two crucial goals off the bench to ease the pressure on his manager.
After the game, Hojlund admitted that the team still needs more time to fully adapt to Amorim's tactics. He also mentioned the importance of training during matches, as they don't have many practice sessions. However, he believes that the team is making progress and getting more comfortable with the system.
Despite their victory, Koubek was disappointed with the very last shot of the game, which could have resulted in a better outcome. But he confirmed that his tactic was to shoot at every opportunity they had against Onana. He wanted his players to put pressure on the struggling goalkeeper and take advantage of his mistakes.
In the end, United were able to secure the win and move up to seventh in the table. But it's clear that both Amorim and Onana still have some work to do in order to improve and achieve consistency. Only time will tell if they can overcome these challenges and lead United to success.
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