Dundee United’s Premiership malaise continued with a dreadful 3-0 defeat at the hands of St Mirren.
Curtis Main struck either side of the break before Alex Greive added gloss to the scoreline in injury time.
Alarmingly for winless United, who sit in 11th place with one point from four games, the reverse could have been more comprehensive.
The Buddies were stronger, faster, more expressive and better organised.
Conversely, United must find the answers to some tough questions. Quickly.
Goalkeeper conundrum
After six competitive games of the campaign, it is unclear who Dundee United’s number one goalkeeper is.
For a club that had the best part of a year to identify potential successors to Benji Siegrist (all the while, manfully attempting to keep the Swiss Wall in at Tannadice) while his contract ticked down, that is far from ideal.
Manager Jack Ross watches Mark Birighitti every day in training and is best placed to judge his form and mentality after tough outings against AZ Alkmaar and Hearts — shipping 11 goals in two games.
▶️All the goals from Tannadice Park where St Mirren won 3-0 to move into the top-six of the #CinchPremiership while Dundee United drop to 11th after another disappointing display. pic.twitter.com/3wkDBEJIFL
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 20, 2022
Carljohan Eriksson did nothing wrong against St Mirren until the third goal when, faced with the choice of letting Alex Greive hare through on goal or trying to beat him to the ball, he chose the latter. He chose poorly.
The smart money would seem to be on Eriksson retaining his place against Celtic — but the fact there is doubt regarding who will line up between the sticks in United’s fifth Premiership game is one of several issues the Tangerines have at the moment.
Passive possession
Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but it can be completely irrelevant in football; one of the more pointless statistics, at times.
Particularly when one team has no real desire for the ball.
This was the case on Saturday.
As per Opta, Dundee United enjoyed 69.4% of possession. They also made 471 passes (382 accurate) to St Mirren’s 200 (107 accurate).
And that played perfectly into the Buddies’ game-plan. They allowed United to have the ball in safe areas while remaining disciplined and ready to pounce on the counter-attack.
It worked a treat.
United never threatened to cut the Paisley visitors open — indeed, it was often hard to see what their strategy to do so was.
Midfield minefield
The ease with which St Mirren carved through United on the break can be largely — not solely — attributed to a meek midfield showing.
Jamie McGrath, Dylan Levitt and Ian Harkes are all fine technical footballers but their strengths are not found without the football.
This is not an observation with the benefit of hindsight. When the United side was announced at 2pm, the lack of physicality and defensive nous was eye-catching — especially given Jack Ross had emphasised the need to tighten up in the preceding days.
It was no surprise to see United once again struggle when out of possession, with St Mirren skipper Mark O’Hara exemplifying everything the hosts lacked.
Charlie Mulgrew in midfield against Hearts clearly didn’t work, but what about Craig Sibbald?
Although not a 6ft4ins bruiser, he is the most tenacious midfielder United have on the their books and was superb against Kilmarnock away and AZ Alkmaar at home.
If the Tangerines do not recruit in that area before September 1, then Sibbald is surely the closest thing they have to finding some semblance of balance in the engine room.
Fragile confidence
No player in Tangerine wants to lose football matches.
However, United carry themselves like a team completely bereft of confidence.
🧮⚽️ Dundee United conceded their 9th league goal of the season on Saturday. 4 games in.
It took until Premiership matchday #13 to concede their 9th league goal last season, when they shipped goals No. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 in a 5-2 defeat at Hearts on November 6.
Celtic next. https://t.co/mFRFcSlGKR
— Alan Temple (@alanftemple) August 21, 2022
Passes are often sideways and safe; progressive dribbles are rare; pressing is inconsistent and lacks conviction — hallmarks of a team struggling to find self-belief.
That will be a real test for Ross in the coming days.
His man management — widely lauded when you speak to past and present players who worked under him — will come under the microscope as he seeks to lift a group of very different personalities out of their current funk.
It can be done. One big result is often all it takes. And boy, do United need one.
Celtic looming
In theory, the visit of St Mirren should have been the perfect opportunity for United to kick-start their campaign, so to dub any game a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ one to have next seems churlish.
However, the challenge posed by Celtic is an onerous one.
WHAT A GOAL!! DUNDEE UTD ARE LEVEL! 1-1!! ⚽#MUFC loanee Dylan Levitt scores a WORLDIE! ⚡
It couldn't…could it? 👀🏆 pic.twitter.com/jcXvd0yVnu
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 11, 2022
Ange Postecoglou’s side attack with relentless pace, power and invention and will simply tear through any weak spots in an opponent’s shape and structure — of which, the Tangerines have many at the moment.
The Terrors can draw inspiration from a 1-1 draw against the Hoops just four months ago — albeit some key personnel, in particular Siegrist, have departed — and their 1-0 win over an excellent AZ team.
And Ross has a week to mastermind and inspire a performance of discipline, stoicism and, when in possession, composure. That is a massive task.
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