Manchester United saw out a 0-0 draw at Molineux to earn a replay in their FA Cup 3rd Round tie. I later saw a report claiming that Wolves had held the reds of Manchester to a stalemate, a very generous headline from somebody who clearly did not watch the game or actually has any clue that United were actually the underdogs and were the least likely of the 2 teams to win the match. Most people expected a win for the home side but they couldn’t raise their game against a team that had ZERO shots on target and a 0-0 draw was an apt and fair result in a match, extremely low on quality. Yes it was two weakened sides, but the basics of football especially from the visiting side were not on show on far too many occasions, though let’s be honest under this current management regime that is not a surprise.
OUT OF THEIR DEPTH
Current Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is always looking for positives after a game, sadly his patter is not washing at the moment in my opinion. He only has one way of playing and that is on the counter attack and if teams, which they are now doing, just sit back with two banks of 4 his side cannot break through unless the opposition make a mistake or push themselves in attack. His coaches are also not up to speed, Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna are inexperienced and being shown up for what they are and as for Mike Phelan, maybe he is now a busted flush. Whatever is going on at the training ground, what is being seen in the games is a real worry. Average is being generous, not fit for purpose is much more nearer to the truth.
THE YESMAN PUPPET
The biggest problem at Old Trafford is obviously Ed Woodward and the owners but sadly for the fans the incumbent manager is just acting as their puppet. The following garbage has come out of the current managers mouth this season:-
I am happy with my squad, We can’t control results, I decide what players come into the club, I am happy with my midfield options.
The guy is clueless in my opinion, proven by the fact the club are now desperate to get in some midfielders after injuries (zero forward planning) but let’s be honest they have not replaced Marouane Fellaini or Ander Herrera who left in January and the summer respectively, and now are paying the price for their utterly shambolic transfer policy which as we now know is just about trying to save money, not the rebuild they keep telling us about. Sadly the manager is more than complicit in this. His latest missive (which is total bolloxios by the way) is that the club have targets but will only get them if they are at the right price which makes it very easy for his boss (football thickhead, Ed Woodward) to basically low ball and leave a squad so obviously not fit for purpose. Let’s be honest Solskjaer is doing a poor job and any club that valued football above commercial enterprise would have sacked this guy weeks ago, because he is just not very good at what he is being paid for.
THE POG FACTOR
I have not even mentioned the indulgence of Paul Pogba which has been a saga running throughout the season, when you look at the paucity of midfield options at the club. He and rest of the players were a major reason why the previous manager got the sack, especially as he made sure that they knew who was boss and Pogba couldn’t take it. Now whilst I accept he has had injuries, in my opinion he has not been wholly professional in his attempts to get back to fitness, but the delusional manager has still been pro the French World Cup winner, who incidentally has now had to undergo an operation after 3 months on the sidelines after apparently trying to get fit. An absolute joke of a situation when you factor in the injuries in the middle of the park. Pogba has wanted out since August of 2018, after provocative comments after the opening game of that season against Leicester and he reiterated his thoughts again last summer. His agent is now leading the charge but the midfielder will be well aware of the situation and is more than onside with the campaign to get him out of Old Trafford as soon as possible. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if a big enough bid came this month then he would be sold, probably on the 31st January hence more money saved, watch this space.
SMALL CLUB MENTALITY
It is negligent that the clubs resources in the midfield area are so poor. I still get told that Manchester United had a succesful transfer window last summer with Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James brought in, but I say hang on we needed midfielders especially with Fellaini and Herrera leaving, and the chickens have now come home to roost. Furthermore the three summer signings have regressed as the season has gone on, mainly due in my opinion to not being coached to actually become better players and develop their skills. The selling of Romelu Lukaku and loan of Alexis Sanchez also left them short up front and they have already been turned downed by Erling Haaland and to be fair I am not surprised, why would any footballer worth their salt want to come to a club where football development is not a priority but commercial and social media activity is. All Manchester United can offer players nowadays is money and I am sure that Maguire and Wan-Bissaka might be thinking that they made a mistake joining the so called biggest club in the world, oh by the way they are MOST DEFINITELY NOT on the sporting side.
INTO THE WILDERNESS
In September 2019 the club boasted about record revenues, which is clearly something they wanted to do when you consider the fact they held back on buying the additional players they needed in the summer. Next year it will be far far less as the brand takes a hit because the sporting side is such a shambles. Football idiot Ed Woodward is just beginning to realise that previous comments relating to the fact that they will still make money despite results on the field, are going to come back and bite him on his inflated and bloated ego. They are not even considered a football giant anymore and nobody takes them seriously as a contender for the major trophies and that is on the Physics graduate and his mates who know NOTHING about football. Manchester United have declined markedly since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and only 2 things have remained throughout - the owners and their man on the ground. You don’t need to be a genius to know where the biggest problem is. Until someone makes a decision to get people of the highest quality in the sporting positions on and off the pitch then the club will continue to be an also ran, you can only go so long as a commercial behemoth as you sink lower and lower in what is the actual origin of the institution.
KEY TESTS AHEAD
It is funny that despite a poor season (my previous two blogs outlined potential problems that might cause issues) Manchester Utd are 5th in the Premier League, through to the knockout phase of the Europa League, as mentioned still in the FA Cup and play their city rivals in the semi-finals of the League Cup. Please don’t let that fool you, propaganda, especially from the club, will tell you that everything is going fine, but from what I have seen this team is going nowhere. Standards at Manchester United have gone through the floor on the football side. I have already called Ole out, I hope I am wrong but nothing I am seeing and especially hearing from the manager convinces me. As for the stupidest administrator in football, I already called Ed Woodward out in 2013 after the 1st transfer window and that is when he needed to be sidelined to commercial operations ONLY. I was told give this guy a chance, well the rest of the world are now on my page, except for the owners of Manchester United, over a billion taken out and a huge debt on the club, I think that says everything. Manchester United a club now in massive decline and if nothing is done about it, the 26 years they had to wait between 1967 and 1993 to win the League title may seem like a short timespan to the next time they can call themselves anything like the best side in England. I predict dark times ahead unless the structure is changed so that the sporting side is rightly set up to be the priority at Old Trafford, don’t hold your breath mind.
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