Worse than Bayindir: 2/10 flop must now never start for Man Utd again

Make no mistake about it, this has been an utterly dreadful campaign for Manchester United.

Whether it was Erik ten Hag in the formative months of the season or Ruben Amorim in the latter stages of the term, no one has been able to get a tune out of this downtrodden Premier League giant.

After suffering a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Brentford on Sunday afternoon, it reduced the Red Devils to their 16th league defeat of 2024/25. That’s the first time that’s happened since 1989/90, before the Premier League even existed.

In truth, United were not expected to win this one. Their focus is well and truly on their Europa League semi-final next Thursday, and as a result, Amorim rang the changes.

There was a first start for 17-year-old striker Chido Obi, while 20-year-old Tyler Fredricson started at centre-back and 18-year-old Harry Amass was given a run out at left-wing back.

On that evidence, the defeat was not a shock. Still, it did little to help an already dispondent fanbase.

Where it went wrong for Man United at Brentford

While teenager Chido Obi struggled in attack, notably having just 18 touches of the ball, it was not an awful day for United in attack.

Mason Mount – who had not found the net in 400 days – opened the scoring, darting into the penalty area and finishing off a close-range opportunity.

Alejandro Garnacho and Amad also scored late on to save United’s blushes somewhat, but those two goals were too little too late. Still, it showed that there is promise for the future at Old Trafford.

It was at the back where United met their downfall. The tone was set when Brentford found their equaliser on 27 minutes. Amass was absolutely bullied by Michael Kayode who beat the youngster to the ball inside the area and then it cannoned off Luke Shaw for an own goal.

The second goal was equally as comical. Matthijs de Ligt went down injured and United switched off, which allowed Mikkel Damsgaard to find Kevin Schade who didn’t have to do much at the back stick.

For Schade’s second and the hosts’ third, there was very little resistance at the back post either where Fredricson left the Bees forward open at the and he was left with a simple finish.

It was then made all the worse when United failed to apply their offside trap correctly. The ball was slid in between the back line on the edge of the box and then Kayode laid it on a plate for Yoanne Wissa to score, completely unmarked again.

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Clearly, very little in the United backline helped but it was Shaw who was notably bad.

Luke Shaw’s performance in numbers

At the peak of his game, Shaw proved himself to be one of the best left-backs not just in the Premier League, but also in Europe.

That was certainly the case at Euro 2020 where as you should all remember, he scored in the final against Italy for England.

Well, since then, it’s been a sad and agonising tale of woe for the left-sided defender who has struggled to stay fit, most notably in the last few seasons.

While Shaw managed over 30 league appearances in 2022/23, he was only seen on 12 occasions in the top-flight last season and only five times in 2024/25 to date.

In truth, this should be his last start in United’s famous colours; he was not good enough.

The own goal was bad enough but he had already nearly turned one into his own net in the first three minutes of the game. In the words of Manchester Evening News reporter, Samuel Luckhurst, he simply “wasn’t at it” having also been given the captain’s armband.

Well, it wasn’t a captain’s performance, let’s put it that way. The left-back was handed a 2/10 match rating by the Express and was consequently was hauled off after just 45 minutes.

One can excuse a lack of match fitness and you may well blame that for Shaw’s display in London this weekend, but he’s really not shown very much in his limited outings this season.

During his 45 minutes on the field, he only completed 79% of his passes and won just one of his three duels. Unsurprisingly, his 30 touches were also fewer than goalkeeper Altay Bayindir’s total of 57 touches.

We are so used to seeing Shaw as a flying wing-back and perhaps he should have started there on this occasion given Amass’ own struggles. Yet, this was evidence that he now completely lacks confidence, perhaps not just in his fitness but in his own abilities.

The 29-year-old left the action having been dominated by the Brentford attack. Their clever play and trickery on the edge of the box were simply too much for him to handle.

Don’t be surprised if this is one of, if not the last time, we see him start a game for the club.

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