Erik ten Hag and Heath Ledger's Joker are unlikely bedfellows but both are agents of chaos. Chaos reigned in the fifth
Manchester United match of the season that ended 4-3 at Chelsea. After Cole Palmer's 100th-minute equaliser, United opted for the pioneering 2-3-4-1 formation, ceded possession,
Chelsea went close twice and Palmer then won it from a corner. United were as amateurish as primary schoolchildren during a lunchtime kickabout. No concept of positioning, formation or tactics. Diogo Dalot acted on impulse, desperate to atone for the penalty he had clumsily conceded. Ten Hag had urged United to calm down more than once in the second half. For the umpteenth time this season, the players did not listen. A minor point, but Palmer's hat-trick goal counts as another pull-back United have conceded from. That can be added to the video nasty with Arsenal, Brighton, Bayern Munich, Copenhagen, Nottingham Forest and Brentford's conversions. Goals conceded from pull-backs, goals conceded in added time and a winner conceded in added time. United have been guilty on all counts dating back to their fourth game of the season at
Arsenal on September 3. READ MORE: 'I think so' - Ten Hag makes admission on
Champions League chances READ MORE: United are repeating mistakes that risk the manager getting sacked On Sunday, Ten Hag will likely select the 26th different back four in United's 43rd game of the season. Ten Hag cannot rue bad luck when three centre backs have been rushed back over the past week and they have all dropped like flies. Club doctor Gary O'Driscoll was conversing with assistant manager Mitchell van der Gaag while Harry Maguire was ordering the bench to remove Raphael Varane. United let Varane continue until half-time and were let off the hook when Conor Gallagher struck the woodwork. Luke Shaw came off at half-time against Aston Villa in February and seven days later did not last a half at Luton. Tyrell Malacia has not been seen all season apart from attending Marcus Rashford's ill-judged birthday party on Deansgate hours after the defeat to City. If Varane and Evans are unavailable this weekend, that takes United's record of injuries and illnesses up to 55 for the season. Players have blamed intense training demands and the absence of an external fitness coach seems an oversight. Ten Hag protested that United do not train hard and backed the fitness staff he has inherited. An ever-changing defence is exposed by an imperfect midfield. Casemiro is on his last legs and the burden on Kobbie Mainoo, who turns 19 two weeks today, is onerous. “I don’t see anyone trying to protect him," Rio Ferdinand said on The Overlap podcast this week. "He’s a kid. Imagine if a young kid came into one of our teams, you try and protect that kid. United have overburdened Mainoo “There’s only the odd one, like Wayne Rooney, you don’t have to protect, but in the main you want to make sure there’s bodies around, don’t leave him exposed. How many games do you see him being left exposed? Imagine that feeling, being exposed in that midfield, it’s a lonely place in there if there’s big spaces." Ten Hag pushed to sign Sofyan Amrabat to have an alternative defensive midfielder yet he has not started in the
Premier League since the reverse fixture with
Liverpool on December 17. Ten Hag seemed to have programmed Scott McTominay as an attacking midfielder yet still turned to him to shield the back four at Stamford Bridge. McTominay was caught between two stools at Chelsea, embarking on ill-advised raids when United were not losing. He was as much of a shield as tissue paper for Palmer's deflected winner. Mount endured a gutting end on his return to Chelsea Alejandro Garnacho, still 19, has started 28 successive games for United and will be a deserving recipient of the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year statue the season after his portrait graced the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year plaque. He is another kid Ten Hag is unable to protect. Varane, Casemiro and Evans - three 30-somethings - were all forced off on Thursday night. "That doesn't help in such moments if you have to manage the game," Ten Hag lamented. "Our leaders on the pitch, Casemiro we also have to take off, that doesn't help, they know how to deal and bring a win over the line." Yet the teenagers have been the most trustworthy at United this season. The veterans are resembling the schoolchildren.