Peter Schmeichel highlights three reasons why Manchester United were beaten by Bayern Munich – Man United News And Transfer News

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Former Manchester United goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, has criticised his former side’s performance in their 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich.

The lifeless display means United fans will have no form of European football to enjoy in the second half of the season, not even the increasingly familiar Europa League.

In the aftermath of the match, the Danish pundit was speaking to CBS Sports Golazo and laid out three reasons why his former side could not compete with the German champions.

“There are a lot of players in that team that have to have a meeting with themselves and look at that performance today.”@Pschmeichel1 was not impressed with what he saw today from Man Utd. pic.twitter.com/6fM2Mzgwua

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 12, 2023

1) Tactical confusion

The legendary keeper argued that United’s midfield trio of Bruno Fernandes, Sofyan Amrabat and Scott McTominay were “confused” by Erik ten Hag’s instructions. The former keeper also claimed that a lack of speed in attacking areas would also be a concern for the Dutch manager.

“There isn’t a lot of pace in the team. You’ve got a little bit on the left wing, a little bit up front, but then you’ve got a midfield who seems to be confused with what their job is – some of them are pressing, some of them aren’t pressing, they leave that massive gap between the defenders and the front players, and it’s like two linear lines. Everything seems a little bit out of sync.”

This is in stark contrast to the manager’s own analysis, at least publicly. The former Ajax man in his post-match comments claimed that “the defensive organisation and ball pressing was very good”.

2) Old Trafford atmosphere

Schmeichel then went on to critique the mood before the game. “Everything about today was a little bit weird at Old Trafford, just before kick-off I said the stadium was still not full, there’s no atmosphere, there was a bit of a weird atmosphere, it took all the way up to the 51st minute for the home fans to do anything like a little bit of support for the team”.

This is not a usual problem for fans of the Red Devils on big European nights but supporters are struggling to have any semblance of belief in such an inconsistent and naive team.

The treble winner lamented that it “isn’t nice” seeing a performance like that and despite the need for a goal and win, he stated, “I have to be honest, right from the word go I never felt there was a goal coming, never at any point, correct me if I’m wrong I don’t think we created a single chance all game”.

Well, there was one shot on target, but no need to split hairs.

The 60 year old also contrasted the atmosphere generated by the Bundesliga fans by saying, they were “vocal all the way through, it was like they were dominating, and it was reflecting from the performance”.

3) Players’ selfishness

The last point the Euro 1992 winner mentioned was the Old Trafford side’s inability to function as a team. “On the pitch, it was just average, and that is even being nice”. The former goalkeeper accused the players of thinking it was “all about them” and they were trying to be the hero.

The pundit bemoaned the decision making and he asserted that “there are a lot of players in that team that have to have a bit of a meeting with themselves and look at their performance today”.

Alas, Manchester United fans will have to find another way to entertain themselves on Tuesday, Wednesday and even Thursday nights in the first half of 2024 at least. What is clear is, the Dutch coach has a mountain to climb to get this side ready to truly compete at the highest level of European football. If he even gets the time to do so; the result on Sunday at Anfield against arch rivals Liverpool might have just become even bigger, if that is possible.