2024-09-18 16:05:02
How much should you read into a Carabao Cup third-round win at home to opponents sitting 41 league places below you, who had already lost to your under-21s in their own backyard this season? Not much, probably.
Not beyond the result and the scoreline, at least. Because while anything less than a win would be unacceptable, anything more than a bog-standard two or three-goal victory can have its benefits. Especially if, like Manchester United, you do not hand out a proper thrashing very often.
That this 7-0 win over third-tier Barnsley was the biggest of Erik ten Hag’s time in charge should not really be much of a surprise. That Ten Hag’s previous biggest victory was by only a three-goal margin should.
Remember the 4-1 wins against Real Betis and Chelsea during his first year in charge? Good, solid performances, but not merciless, unrelenting eviscerations of the opposition. They weren’t nights when United were totally and utterly dominant. There have not been many of those at all, in truth.
That has been quite a departure from Ten Hag’s predecessor as permanent manager and you could make a coherent argument that some of the more swashbuckling elements of United’s play under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have faded over the past two years. The statistics back that up.
While Solskjaer’s two full seasons in charge brought 233 goals in all competitions, Ten Hag’s brought 196, with Ten Hag only overseeing eight fewer games.
This was United’s biggest win since the 9-0 against Southampton in February 2021, when in retrospect Solskjaer’s side were reaching their peak. This was also the first time United have scored five or more under Ten Hag. That happened 10 times under Solskjaer, including in his very first game.
Marcus Rashford was in fine form against Barnsley (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Solskjaer was also around the last time United won by a 7-0 scoreline — against Barnsley, funnily enough, with the Norwegian setting up three in October 1997. But how about the last time United lost 7-0? Nobody needs a reminder of where that was, who it came against, and whose watch it was on.
There have been several heavy defeats under Ten Hag but few wins of this kind. This is precisely why, although this was not a night that will define United’s season, it was the type of game and win they have long needed.
That applies on an individual as well as collective basis. This was the first time Marcus Rashford has scored twice in a game since the 3-0 win over Leicester City in February 2023, as his extraordinary form during the middle part of that campaign approached its zenith.
There were flashes of Rashford’s 2022-23 vintage throughout against Barnsley: the nimbleness of feet, the agile shifts of balance to scramble defenders. Even the head-pointing celebration made a reappearance after he scored his first.
It is too early to herald three goals in two games against Southampton and Barnsley as a return to his best, but Rashford is famously a form player and this favourable pair of fixtures may have given him a kickstart that he can sustain.
Another player needing a good night was Antony, whose performance may not have been enough to retain his place, but he at least came away from his first start of the season breaking his duck.
After an intervention by Casemiro, and despite Rashford being on the pitch, he was allowed to take the first-half penalty that he won. It was still only 1-0 at that stage, with only 35 minutes gone, but even then the pattern of the game suggested United would not be short on scoring opportunities.
Antony had a rare night to enjoy at United (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
“They give each other the opportunity to score a goal like the penalty when Antony needs some confidence,” Ten Hag noted. “They are with each other, they are together.”
Then there was Alejandro Garnacho, who made only his second start of the campaign. Ten Hag’s use of the 20-year-old has been striking given he played him from the off in 38 consecutive games between November and the end of last season.
Garnacho’s long summer at the Copa America and international duties with Argentina since are part of that, but with his manager using him more sparingly, he has looked sharper and more explosive and has also started showcasing different sides to his game.
Garnacho’s two goals came with two assists — the first, a sublime cross-field pass to set up Rashford. He is almost playing too well to remain an impact player, which was precisely the problem that led to that long run in the XI last year, but then that is the type of problem Ten Hag is happy to have.
Alejandro Garnacho has been used off the bench this season (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
This win meant all of his fit and available front-three options have now found the net this season and, even before Rasmus Hojlund fully recovers from a hamstring injury, there is set to be some debate over which combination is United’s best.
“There will be rotation,” Ten Hag said. “The conclusion from all of you is not right, that when I pick an XI I drop a player. I pick a starting XI because I know I have to rotate. We have more than 11 players who can be in the line-up of any match in this moment.”
A team that has been known to struggle in attack is quickly becoming oversubscribed with options up top, having hit double figures over their last two games combined. There are caveats aplenty and maybe it proves nothing more substantial than a short-term morale boost, but United needed this reminder they can win and win big.
(Top photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
