3 Hot Takes | Manchester United 3-0 West Ham

Hojlund finds the net, consistent Garnacho, Martinez injury scare

‘The Baby Trinity’ said the commentators as Garnacho scored the 2nd goal for United and Hojlund, Mainoo and he sat on the sidelines to celebrate. It was an exaggeration but boy the goal made me smile from ear to ear. It was reminiscent of the past when United would switch the ball from wing to wing and wingers would fire in goals. Garnacho scored again to make it 3-0 after a mistake from ex-Leeds, current City player on loan, Kalvin Philips 😁 led to a counter. Here are my 3 Hot Takes…

1. Hojlund scores, again

Hojlund started the scoring by firing in one with his weaker right foot. In the process, he became the youngest player to score in 4 consecutive Premier League games—that too on his 21st birthday. He is slowly becoming the striker United need. It can only get better once the others learn how to give the ball to him more often.

United’s xG in the first half was about 0.16. That means Hojlund’s movement and finish were about seven times better than expected. Imagine if others started giving him the ball around the box a little more.

2. Garnacho finds the missing ingredient

Garnacho has always been a star in the making but he is finally finding the one thing that eluded him—Consistency. He scored twice and was a consistent threat down the right wing. He even made a great defensive clearance after tracking back to United’s box.

Considering he has been playing both on the left and right, 5 goals and 2 assists in 21 games is a decent output. But he needs to become better in the final third. There was one occasion when he should have cut back to Bruno but he chose the difficult option. He tried passing to Rashford on the left and that ended the fine move.

3. Martinez injury scare

It’s no surprise that United’s 3rd win in a row has coincided with the return of Licha, Casemiro, and Shaw. These three players ensure United are better in possession and can play out the back. Yet Licha is the most important of the lot. He added calm to the madness even as United played its 11th center-back pairing this season.

His getting injured is going to be a big problem for United at the weekend vs an in-form Villa. This is what Ten Hag had to say about his injury, "Doesn't look well. Very bad for him, very bad for the team." Let’s hope Maguire and Varane can do the job but none of them have the fighter spirit of Licha.

The image of the three sitting together is sure to be a fan favorite.

“A month ago, there was a lot of talk about us not scoring enough goals, but we are both young and growing every day,” said Hojlund of himself and Garnacho to Sky Sports after the game. “You can see the connection between us.” Thanks to the duo, it was the first time this season that United won a league game by more than one goal.

“You didn’t believe me — I have seen all your pieces,” said Ten Hag on the recent improvement. He went on to say, “They enjoy it, to play football, and they enjoy it to give opponents problems.” “They want to do the togetherness. I think the three youngsters celebrating together… it’s not about one player, it’s about a team, and that is what I have seen today. It looked like a team and 11 defending, 11 attacking and, for me, it was enjoyable to watch.”

There’s a lot more to do though. West Ham had double the xG (1.6 as compared to United’s 0.8). If not for Onana saving a couple of closed ones and Emerson missing sitters, it could have been a 2-2 or even a 1-2 loss. I hope the next performance is better and eventually, we reach the right level.

For now, I’m going to enjoy Monday morning for a change. The youth have given fans much to be happy and hopeful about. Glory, glory Man United.