No Manchester United player came away from Sunday’s devastating loss to Tottenham with their reputation untarnished.
However, a particular player faced the harshest criticism, with his involvement in the first goal being described as ‘criminal,’ ‘unthinkable,’ and ‘indefensible.’…Continue Reading
United conceded after just three minutes, as Micky van de Ven took advantage of weak pressure from Marcus Rashford, gaining possession in his own half. Van de Ven then surged past four United players in an impressive run before setting up Brennan Johnson, who was left unmarked to easily score from close range.
Replays revealed Diogo Dalot failed to track Johnson’s run, seemingly giving up at the edge of the penalty area, allowing Johnson to enter the box unopposed.
While Noussair Mazraoui, Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte, and Matthijs de Ligt couldn’t stop van de Ven’s run, Danny Murphy singled out Dalot’s contribution as the most problematic.
‘That is the wors part of this goal,’ Murphy told Match of the Day 2. ‘He [Johnson] has made up 12 yards, they started level. Look at Dalot’s reaction. That is just unthinkable’.
Former Man United right-back Danny Simpson was equally dumfounded by Dalot’s position when Johnson opened the scoring.
‘I see the cross coming, and for Brennan Johnson to have that much space at the back post, I think it’s criminal,’ he told MUTV.
‘I think that’s Dalot’s position, I’m not sure whether he was inverted from midfield or at full back, and he needs to recover.”
‘Diogo Dalot had his hands up apologising – but you can’t have that at any level.’
Another former United player in Tim Howard meanwhile accused Dalot of quitting. He told NBC Sports: ‘Dalot’s almost stride-by-stride, slightly behind Brennan Johnson. All he needs to do is kick it into another gear.
‘Instead, he stops and puts his hand up. He knows he doesn’t give an effort. It’s indefensible. You can’t protect players when they don’t give 100 per cent effort – particularly at home.’
Dalot has been ever-present at left-back this campaign, slotting in with Luke Shaw still recovering from injury.
