 THE CURRENT MAN UTD SITUATION - WHAT’S GOING WRONG?

The current Man Utd situation

What’s going wrong? by Kenneth Abela

Does the drought and failure to play good football on a regular basis go back to 2013 with the departure of Sir Alex? There was no shortage of Managers employed to emulate Sir Alex’s successes. David Moyes had followed Sir Alex as boss in 2013. Ryan Giggs had taken over in 2014. Louis Van Gaal had a go from May 2014. Jose’ Mourinho took over a couple of years later in May 2016. That only lasted two and a half years until Ole became boss on the 19th December 2018. In the meantime, United’s last Premier League win was in Alex Ferguson’s last season, 2012/2013. The last FA Cup trophy was won in the 2015/2016 season. The last League Cup, in 2016/2017 and lifting the Charity Shield, in 2016 (shared). And the last European Trophy – the UEFA Europa League, in 2016/2017.

Many observers claim that the downhill slide began a few years before Sir Alex managed his final season. The club, they claim, failed to plan for the future. Many of the players United had on its books by Ferguson’s final season were either nearing retirement or were of very poor quality. It was the brilliance of Robin Van Persie that won us the league but many claim that the writing was already on the wall that the club would struggle in the upcoming seasons because the other clubs were building formidable teams.

What matters now is that United have now gone four straight seasons without a trophy and one season away from equalling their worst trophy drought since the club was last relegated in 1974.

At the time of writing, United’s performance had clearly gone off the rails. How could a team with so many star players, with experience in playing together, end up in this situation? International stars Paul Pogba and Fernandes, England defenders Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, strikers Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani. Sancho was brought in as well as Varane and the great Cristiano Ronaldo, to join Van de Beek. Hard to believe that United are in this situation. Admittedly every team hits a bad patch at some point. United get criticized that they do not seem to realize that it’s bad. And that’s sad.

The question often gets put: Is it then the Manager’s fault? Is the boss playing to ensure that he doesn’t lose, instead of going all out for a win? Or could it be the players’ fault in not following the Manager’s instructions? Are the players fearful of being benched, or worse, sold, if they don’t play to the manager’s plan, or if they don’t maintain possession, or if they try something risky?

Take that game United versus Liverpool at Old Trafford as an example. This was the opportunity for United to show that they were back on the right track. They had beaten Atalanta in added time during the week, after having lost to Leicester City in the previous match. United started well, but Fernandes missed a sitter and in my view – and call me foolish if you must - the die at that moment

was cast. United were subsequently blown away by the Merseysiders. I maintain that had Fernandes put his shot away, the result would have been different. So can one here really blame the Boss? Notwithstanding, the Press reported that after that match, with the poor results thus continuing, some of United’s players were starting to lose faith with the Manager’s tactical ability, as well as in the club’s management and the coaching staff. Following that loss, with United extending their winless streak in the Premier League to four games, Luke Shaw had gone so far as admitting that United’s thrashing had been coming, the English full-back conceding that the Red Devils are “way too easy to play against” at the moment.

Manchester City Blues came next to Old Trafford and another Red defeat at what once was ‘Fortress Old Trafford’ (2-0). United had been unbeaten in their previous four league outings against the noisy neighbours, so this home loss made it even more clear that all was not well. Did Ole get his game plan wrong leading to a lack of direction? Or was there some other reason for the player’s apparent lack of desire and lack of effort. Opta Statistics show that since Opta started recording such statistics – and that was way back in the 2003/04 season - no team has registered more passes at Old Trafford in a Premier League game than City did on Saturday (832 passes). For United to allow them to do this and apply no pressure whatsoever while registering just 400 passes themselves is quite frankly shocking. United were passive and more focused on retaining a defensive shape than actually pressing their opponents and trying to force them into making mistakes.

Last season United had drawn 0-0 with City at Old Trafford and then won 2-0 in the return fixture at the Etihad. To secure those results, Solskjaer went with a 4-2-3-1 and thus gave City no time on the ball, forcing them into multiple errors, while United actually still created a number of chances.

Another view is that United did not use the transfer market to sign a much needed holding midfielder. The Reds did try and sign the Hammer’s Declan Rice to their squad in the summer but West ham’s lofty £100 million valuation of the England international was considered exorbitant. It is also understood that the Club fruitlessly pursued another England International, Atletico Madrid’s right-back Kieran Trippier.

At time of writing United have lost 4 – 1 away to Watford. Even with a man down United had several opportunities to put things right. However, once again, while Watford were able to hit the target, our stars, including Fernandes and Ronaldo kept throwing away excellent opportunities. So the question arises once again, who can take the responsibility for this loss?

Former striker and now Derby County manager Wayne Rooney had no doubt that the fault lies with the players, insisting that the players needed to question themselves over their poor and passionless performances under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Rooney said, “There is a big responsibility on those players. They are worldclass players, international players and a club like United need more.” The international break should have been taken as an opportunity to solve some massive issues within the squad or the team risked regressing even further. Alas it does not appear to be so.