Three Thoughts To Takeaway From Southampton 0-1 Manchester United

Manchester United recorded their first clean sheet away from home in the PremierPINC
League since December 2021 and made it two wins on the bounce.

A lovely worked team goal, scored by Bruno Fernandes, was enough to seal the three points to take back to Manchester, even if at times the Red Devils rode their luck.

Erik Ten Hag will be pleased once again with the result, with small steps being taken in terms of raising the performance levels.

Here are three talking points off the back of Manchester United’s win:

Lisandro Martinez’s Gladatorial Performance

Question marks might have arisen during the Argentinean’s first two performances against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, but two stellar run outs against Liverpool and Southampton have quelled those initial fears.

A lot has been said about the centre back’s height of 5’10” in the Premier League, but Martinez has shown how aerially dominant he is through timing and positioning. Not only can he more than handle himself in the air, his passing range and footwork is sensational, taking him away from danger in a split second.

Manchester United have lacked a strong presence in the heart of their defence for a number of years. Raphael Varane was brought in last summer to be just that, but his injury woes continued and he failed to put together any sort of consistency.

But with the France international now putting games together and playing to a high standard, his new partnership that he is forming with Martinez bodes well for the season ahead.

Ten Hag is, of course, going to rotate his centre backs as the fixtures begin to pile up, but it is clear that he has found a partnership that he is happy with in Martinez and Varane.

The Argentine’s aggressiveness and willingness to put his body on the line in each game is a characteristic that will make him adored by Manchester United fans.

Casemiro’s Cameo

Signed for £60 million from Real Madrid, Manchester United fans are chomping at the bit to see Casemiro play on a regular basis in a position that was much needed.

While he might have only played for 10 minutes in his first appearance for the club, Casemiro’s aggressive nature and punch-like passes were a welcome sign to all fans.

Moving forward, when the Brazil international is up to match speed, he is expected to start as the defensive midfielder in Ten Hag’s system and, as the Dutch coach says, become the ‘cement between the rocks’.

The Red Devils have been dying out for a true defensive-minded midfielder and now finally have one. It will, in turn, allow the likes of Fred, Christian Eriksen and Fernandes to have more of a license to roam forward and provide attacking output.

A Winning Mentality Goes Far

After the first two disastrous results of the season, Manchester United could have quickly spiralled into complete freefall. But after the performance and result against Liverpool, Ten Hag instilled a confidence into his players that they could turn it around and stop the negativity.

While the performance was not perfect against Southampton – far from it – they recorded another victory in testing conditions. With their first away clean sheet since December, it shows how low on confidence they were defensively.

Manchester United might always be expected to beat Southampton home and away, but with the inconsistencies in performances, it is hard for any fan to definitively believe it.

With Casemiro to come in and Manchester United’s defence growing in confidence game-by-game, the Red Devils just need to work on creating more chances and theatening more regularly. The arrival of £85 million-rated Antony from AFC Ajax should assist in that.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint, so Manchester United finding some consistency early on will bode well for the months to come.