 Y&Z PERSPECTIVES

Y & Z United Perspectives

by Kevin, Justyn & Wayne Tabone

After a promising start to the season, there’s been plenty of days with having bad moods after Utd matches lately. One Tabone member says that Ronaldo imbalanced the team, another says that Solskjaer has got his selection and tactics wrong and another that United has become only a commercial brand and no longer a football club. What is common for both the Y & Z generation is that something drastic has to change or the pressure will continue mounting year after year.

There are many pundits, experts and fans from all over the world giving their verdict about why Man Utd are failing to meet the expectations given the quality of players they have and all the great signings from the last transfer window. In your opinion, if you had to pick one element which you deem is the main reason for this mess, who or what would it be? Wayne: Although I don’t think that Ole is the only problem, I also think that he is the biggest factor contributing to Manchester United’s failures. The manager is too predictable and uses the same tactics game after game. With the players that he has at his disposal, he should be winning titles or at least challenging for them. Signings made were great ones but there are a few, like Jadon Sancho and Donny Van De Beek, who have not been utilized. This season, these two players played a combined 524 minutes out of a possible 1440 minutes, meaning they played on average a little over 30 minutes every game.

Justyn: Sometimes it is easy to point fingers at certain people for the mess that Manchester United are in. Many point their fingers at the manager who might seem as an easy target. It is true that some of his decisions are questionable; however, we have been going through this cycle since Sir Alex left. In my opinion, the main problem is the administration of Manchester United. They treat the club as if it is a commercial business, which in fairness they have every right to maximise their profits. However, the way they do it leaves the club not able to compete. The club should have already sacked the manager for the results attained so far but they keep on being reluctant to do so and keep the club in a mediocre position.

Kevin: Putting it bluntly and in one word – tactics. I am no footballing genius but one could easily see that there are deficiencies and imbalance in the way the team is operating on the field. How can we have, not one, but two defensive midfielders and still concede so many open chances!? How can we have so many attacking-minded players and not create patterns of play which expose our opponents? How can we not get behind opponents’ defences? How can we have so many coaches (one for each department, one for set-pieces to name a few) and still not see anything that makes us stand out? I guess these questions will remain unanswered unless something, and this something has to be drastic, changes.

Given he is our star player, scored so many important goals so far and been the player of the month every month since he rejoined, has

Ronaldo met the expectations you had about him when he signed again for Man United? Explain your answer.

Wayne: I think that Cristiano has exceeded my expectations with the amount of goals, the impact he has had on the players and the energy that he puts in the pitch. But there is a negative side to this. I think that because of Ronaldo and his hunger for goals, he is overshadowing other players such as Greenwood, Sancho and Rashford. He is a one-man team and so the potential of these players will not be reached.

Justyn: In my opinion, he has met the expectations most Manchester United fans had of him. He has made a career of scoring goals and he has delivered this so far. One could say that he has won us various matches, Atalanta, Newcastle and Villarreal to name a few. He is one of the best players when it comes to scoring in important moments. The only thing that has not met my expectations would be the way his attitude is conveyed on to the other players. In some matches it seemed that he was becoming a bit too angry and a player of his size needs to keep his composure as his actions will have an effect on the whole team.

Kevin: Those who know me, know that I was always cautious about Ronaldo’s arrival. Is there a doubt that he is a player that comes once every generation? No, never. But did United need a player of his calibre to disrupt what happened on the pitch the year before? I am not so sure. Football clubs nowadays are a business and one has to understand that the commercial part is as important as the sporting side. So from the commercial side, he certainly matched all my expectations. Try buying a Man Utd shirt today! Football-wise I feel Ronaldo as an individual is delivering but Ronaldo as a team player is not, though United’s coaches have a big part to play in this as well.

Pick one player you would sign in the January transfer market who you think would make a substantial difference to the current squad and explain why.

Wayne: I don’t think that the club will purchase anyone but, if I had my say, I would buy a world class central defender. Marquinhos comes to mind. He is a leader, has excellent ability on the ball and also has the ability to defend. If the manager doesn’t want to remove Harry Maguire, Marquinhos could be an alternative to Raphaël Varane who is proving to be injury prone. Even if no one is injured, we would need players so we could rotate. It has been proven over and over again that the best squads in history need more than just the first eleven.

Justyn: The one player I would sign in the January transfer window is Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City. He is a solid holding midfielder that can break down the play very well. Moreover, he is decent enough on the ball to help in starting attacks for the team as his passing ability is also very good. In this position, the only player in the squad currently is Matic who is only getting older and isn’t able to play week in week out.

Kevin: Now that’s a question! Being completely honest, I’m not sure myself. The reason for this is, how many times we have seen players which we wanted playing for our team, buying them and having disappointing stints. Maybe the weight of the Utd shirt has become too heavy and pressures are affecting the performances of most of the players we buy. Many say that the defensive‑midfield area is definitely one that requires improvement. I’m sure Keano would agree with me on this! Although I can never see this happening, I’m going to go for Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté. He seems to cover every blade of the pitch and never has a bad game! But then again, without having coaches who guide the team tactically, not even having someone as good as Kanté will help us improve.