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1 month ago
17 Of all the Manchester United players who played their part in making last night’s defeat as humiliating as it was, Diogo Dalot was certainly one of the main culprits.
His complete and utter idleness to track Brennan Johnson at the back post for the opening goal was nothing short of inexcusable. The fact it came in just the third minute of the game, meaning he was fresh from the warm-up with a full tank of energy, has left him with even more to answer for.
Former Red Danny Simpson shared his disbelief over the incident, too, telling the MUTV panel: “I see the cross coming, and for Brennan Johnson to have that much space at the back post, I think it’s criminal. I think that’s Dalot’s position, I’m not sure whether he was inverted from midfield or at full-back, and he needs to recover.
“After two or three minutes, it’s obviously a disaster. I think the goal from start to finish was really poor. We’ve got to be better at closing the space and reacting, and everyone getting over, shuffling across. I think Ugarte, he could have reacted quicker and got over, reacted too late then at that point.”
“Diogo Dalot had his hands up apologising – but you can’t have that at any level,” he concluded.
Dalot needn’t worry about his place – unfortunately
Such a lapse in judgement should see players dropped for the subsequent match; when Casemiro was at fault for Liverpool’s two first-half goals on September 1, he was hooked at the interval and has yet to start a Premier League match since.
However, the lack of options in the squad means that Dalot is certain to keep his place when the midweek clash with Porto rolls around, as well as Sunday’s trip to Villa Park.
The Portugal star has been deputising at left-back in the absences of Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw, the latter of which is now expected to return after the October international break, while Noussair Mazraoui is the only other natural right-back in the senior setup.
