It was brilliant, and then it wasn’t. It was breathtaking, and then it wasn’t. Quite how do you make sense of another remarkable mixed bag from this Manchester United team?

It wasn’t quite the chaos of Lyon last season, although Monday night’s 4-4 draw with Bournemouth certainly ran it close, with Ruben Amorim’s chaotic bunch looking slick and fluid at one end, while also proving creaky and exposed at the other.

Indeed, had it not been for two vital interventions from new man Senne Lammens late on, the Red Devils would have been walking away from nothing, albeit while having still now dropped seven points from their last three home Premier League games.

Perhaps, after a 15th-placed finish last time out, such turbulence is merely to be expected, with the Old Trafford side now sitting in sixth, in what is becoming an increasingly congested middle order.

Such a standing shows – as was also evident on Monday – that improvements are gradually being made in 2025/26, although, having shipped four on their own pitch, the continued concerns also reared their ugly head again.

Man Utd’s worst performers vs Bournemouth

Like against West Ham earlier this month, there was a real inability to kill the game off as far as United are concerned, having raced into a deserved 1-0 lead that should well have been extended, with both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo going close in the first half.

In the case of the latter man, it was arguably the worst of a poor run of performances from the AFCON-bound winger of late, with the left-footer squandering chance after chance, including his volleyed, first-half effort.

The 26-year-old was as guilty of failing to put the game to bed as the long-serving Luke Shaw was in failing to lead the youthful, makeshift backline, with the Englishman going walkabout as January target Antoine Semenyo raced clear to level things up on the 40-minute mark.

The experienced defender notably lost the ball 14 times amid that erratic performance in United’s left channel, as per Sofascore, with such a showing further highlighting the need for the returning Lisandro Martinez to slot in from the start in the coming weeks.

Equally, too, Amorim will surely be applying pressure on those at Carrington to get both Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire back fit and firing again, with centre-back options having been so depleted against the Cherries.

Two of the visitors’ three goals came from simple passes right through the Red Devils’ defence line, with all the good work in attack having been undone so cheaply, particularly for Eli Junior Kroupi’s equaliser to make it 4-4.

While Amorim may point to the need for his side to sharpen up collectively in a defensive sense, such a showing has only highlighted the increasing concerns over his supposedly promising talent.

Man Utd’s ‘new Hojlund’ needs to be benched

The INEOS regime will likely look back on the signings made prior to their arrival with real frustration, with the Club having notably forked out an initial £64m fee on 20-year-old, Rasmus Hojlund, in the summer of 2023.

Despite taking until Boxing Day to score a first league goal in English Football, the Dane did at least show flashes during a fine run at the start of 2024, alongside his stellar Champions League group stage performances, which yielded six goals.

The top scorer for the Club in all competitions in that debut campaign, the ex-Atalanta man’s form sadly nosedived in a real case of second-season syndrome, scoring just four league goals before being sent packing to Naples over the summer.

Patience was afforded the youngster during 2023/24, although he simply regressed too much last season. Could the same be happening again with INEOS’ own costly investment, Leny Yoro?

Signed for £52m from Lille back in 2024, the teenage Frenchman recovered from an injury-hit start to life in Manchester to ultimately prove a key figure in last season’s Europa League run, regularly driving United up the pitch with confident, gliding dribbles from deep.

Tipped to be the ‘new Rio Ferdinand’, Yoro showed more than enough to be encouraged by in that first season, although in the present, he is in danger of drifting into Hojlund territory, as another rough diamond who is failing to shine.

Indeed, it was not too long ago that he was hooked early in the second half following a shaky showing away at Selhurst Park, having again been off the pace in the meeting with Andoni Iraola’s side.

Operating on the right of the back three, before his withdrawal on the 69-minute mark, the France U21 international lost the ball nine times from just 47 touches, while failing to successfully complete a single key pass, dribble or cross from what should be a progressive position.

Also winning just 50% of his duels, it was telling that Amorim opted to withdraw the £52m man, rather than £1m teammate Ayden Heaven, not least with another left-footer in Martinez entering the fray.

A weak link defensively, and hardly an asset in a forward-thinking sense, Yoro is not having a happy time of things in this turbulent second season, having yet to prove he is the long-term solution in any of the three backline roles.

At just 19, he won’t be written off just yet, although, as was seen in the case of Hojlund, it could be a case of two seasons and out if improvements don’t drastically improve before the campaign is over.

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