De Gea was the only United player to come out of the game with any credit, and he conceded four goals
David De Gea haas admitted his Manchester United teammates “don’t know what to do with the ball,” adding that they “don’t know how to defend properly” either.
Two quite obvious statements to anyone who has watched United over the past few weeks, but staggering to hear from a current player.
The goalkeeper made the comments to BBC Radio 5 Live Sport following the game at Vicarage Road.
Wow. #MUFC keeper David de Gea has just told @5liveSport: “We don’t know what to do with the ball. We don’t know how to defend properly.” 😳 @bbc5live #WatfordFC 4-1 #MUFC
— Jacqui Oatley (@JacquiOatley) November 20, 2021
United lost 4-1 to Watford on Saturday afternoon, and it could have been worse had De Gea not been in decent form. The Spaniard saved a penalty in the first half, and the retake after encroachment from both teams gave the hosts a second chance at taking the lead.
Josh King gave the Hornets the lead shortly afterwards, before Ismaila Sarr made it 2-0 before the break.
As Ole Gunnar Solskjaer threw in the towel, or Donny van de Beek as he is also known, United actually started to grow back into the team. The Dutch international scored just five minutes after coming off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to inspire a comeback.
United captain Harry Maguire was sent off for two yellow card offences, before Watford scored another two late goals to make it four defeats in five league games for Solskjaer’s side.
After the game, Solskjaer walked over to the travelling fans and apologised for the embarrassing display.
Solskjaer holds his hands up and waves to United’s travelling fans, possibly for the last time pic.twitter.com/SLS1R0AukF
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 20, 2021
Bruno Fernandes felt obliged at this moment in time to remind the fans that he and his teammates must also take responsibility.
But if you don’t know what to do with the ball, or how to defend properly, that must ultimately stem back to the manager.
Thanks for the memories, Ole, but I think this might be goodbye.
Don’t worry, Ole. No matter the result, you’ll always have your friends…
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 20, 2021