Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir has been under fire after the team’s opening weekend defeat.
Altay Bayindir started for Manchester United in the Premier League opener against Arsenal, and ended up under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Bayindir flapped at a corner, under pressure from William Saliba, allowing Riccardo Calafiori to head the ball into an empty net.
Former players Roy Keane and Gary Neville told Sky Sports that they felt Bayindir was simply not strong enough, and needed to do better.
Manchester United’s own postgame analysis shared the blame, pointing out Mason Mount’s role.
Manchester United concede a goal from a corner against Arsenal
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Mason Mount ‘on the wrong side’
Altay Bayindir defended his penalty area without authority, and was largely culpable for Arsenal’s opener.
On MUTV, former Red Devils centre-back Mikael Silvestre called out Mason Mount for getting his positioning wrong.
Silvestre said Mount should have been between William Saliba and Altay Bayindir, to prevent the Arsenal defender impeding the goalkeeper.
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He told the channel: “Mount, he’s on the wrong side of the defender. You’ve got to protect your goalkeeper.
“It looks like a soft goal, but you need to protect him.”
Former defender Phil Bardsley agreed with Silvestre’s comments, adding: “I’ve never understood why they defend that side. You’ve got to get goalside.”
It is fair to ask of course why such a crucial role was left to Mason Mount, a midfielder, to mark William Saliba at the corner.
While Mount has to learn what he can do better, United’s coaching staff also need to look at how they set up and assigned duties at the set piece.
Saliba under fire for impeding both players
By allowing William Saliba to get between himself and Altay Bayindir, Mount was also impeded by the Arsenal centre-back, who appeared to grab his shirt to limit his movement – as the above photo clearly shows.
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg told United In Focus that the officials failed to act on their promise to penalise infringement inside the penalty area.
He said: “When you watch it in slow motion you can see Mason Mount was having his shirt pulled and Bayindir was being impeded while challenging for the ball.
“PGMOL said they would punish more this type of challenge, but again they failed.”