Manchester United v Aston Villa FC - Premier League 2026/27
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Manchester United’s chaotic draw against Aston Villa could have been a win were it not for Senne Lammens, who is finally living up to the club’s heritage.
Last year, under Ruben Amorim, when everyone was performing below par, Senne Lammens was the ray of light in dark times.
Then Michael Carrick came and Lammens’ reliable goalkeeping helped Man Utd to a Champions League place, summing up a remarkable debut season.
However, after the draw against Aston Villa, it’s becoming quite clear that the scary Man Utd heritage is claiming another victim.
Senne Lammens caught in Man Utd malaise
How many times have we seen an exciting player arrive at Old Trafford, look really good for the first few games, before matching the levels of the rest of the squad?
The examples are endless, from low-profile players like Matteo Darmian to high-profile acquisitions like Angel di Maria and Paul Pogba.
It recently happened to Carlos Baleba, whose form dipped before this latest injury after looking good in his first few games upon debuting.
What took Baleba a few games, and Fernandes six years, seems to be happening to Lammens after just over a year, as he looks firmly caught up in the club’s malaise.
Lammens is finally matching the levels of the rest of the below-par squad, getting trapped in the vicious cycle of low confidence and poor form.
Despite being one of the most steely characters in the squad, Lammens now looks like a player with the weight of the world on his shoulders as errors start creeping in.
Be it his error against Ipswich, the backpass against Fulham, or the two howlers against Villa, the goalkeeper who saved United numerous goals last season is becoming the reason behind conceding now.
The defence is letting him down, but Lammens no longer inspires confidence as he did last season, and that’s becoming a problem.
The hope is that this is just a rough patch that was bound to come at some point, since he was basically faultless since his debut, but the worrying signs are there.
It is a scary Man Utd heritage post-Sir Alex Ferguson that promising careers are destroyed at this club. Lammens needs to avoid becoming an entry to that list.