Here’s what went wrong for Erik ten Hag’s team as Manchester United put on yet another awful display at the City Ground, losing to a considerably superior Nottingham Forest team.

Following a lackluster first half, the home team picked up the pace after the interval, and Nicholas Dominguez gave them the lead rightfully on minute 64. United appeared to be absolutely lacking in creativity, but they were handed an equalizer when Matt Turner, the Forest keeper, made a terrible clearance that fell right to Alejandro Garnacho. Marcus Rashford was found by the Argentine, and he slotted past Turner.

But United’s vulnerability was exposed once more on minute 82, when the outstanding Morgan Gibbs-White scored a beautiful goal from the edge of the box, just moments after Turner had made a crucial stop that somewhat offset his mistake.

Chilly beginning

You would have thought United would be primed for their trip to City Ground after such an exciting comeback victory over Aston Villa, only to go back to their more apathetic ways.

Although Ten Hag’s team had been disadvantaged up front, as seen by their lone attempt on goal, the first half was nothing short of appalling. That first half proved different, if the performance against Villa showed that they were, after all, playing for the manager. However, with this group, it doesn’t appear to matter who is in command; rather, it appears to depend on whether they are motivated to try a leg on that specific day.

Rashford above is ineffective

The fact that United’s struggles are so evident in the absence of a striker who has only managed one league goal this season speaks volumes about their troubles. While Rasmus Hojlund’s illness prevented him from playing, it was never the fatal blow that appeared to befall both the individual and the team.

If United had the Rashford of 2022–2023 available, it wouldn’t have been. Ten Hag is sadly stuck with the 23/24 team, which found it difficult to establish itself in a Championship team, much less one aiming for the Champions League. For the majority of the game, he moved like a non-football player on Christmas night.

Early in the second half, Ashford surprised everyone by going on a sprint. But that came right after he had thrown away a strong position near the Forest boss. Though it was a gift from Turner, Rashford did score the equalizer, and that was his sole productive play.

Ten Hag was forced, understandably, to use Rashford through the middle in Hojlund’s absence. But in the event that Hojlund gets injured again during this performance, a backup plan must be considered.

For McTominay, too late

Given that United has struggled mightily with the aforementioned work ethic, why was a true contender who also poses a goal threat benched until halftime?

The damage had already been done by the time he entered the game, and United didn’t decide to step up until Forest had taken the lead rightfully.

Horrible Antony

How in the world can the Brazilian help this team? Though there is a lot of competition to be United’s biggest transfer disaster, Antony might be at the top—or should that be at the bottom?

He wasn’t a goal threat and wasn’t bothersome on the opposite side either. He was fortunate to survive the second half after being hooked nine minutes in. Jadon Sancho is another person who ought to be expelled from the canteen. If he would have just swallowed his pride and apologized to Ten Hag, he would undoubtedly be a famous person.