This could bite me on the bum..but lack of leaders puts United miles behind
leaders? Where are the players who demand consistency and commitment in every game?
Probably United’s best two performances of the season were at City and at home to Liverpool. But why aren’t they producing that level of form every week?
OK, they have a few young players. No excuse. So do Liverpool. So do City. So do Chelsea. Not good enough.
I’ve always been suspicious of teams who lifted themselves when they fancied it. I know it was an accusation levelled at some of the Liverpool sides I played in. In a sense, there was some truth in that.
We had a damn good side that could often beat United, but we couldn’t match their consistency.
However, I believe there was a different problem in character – and that reflects the situation between Liverpool and United today, but in reverse.
When United were winning things, it put pressure on us, as their big rivals, to compete and try to match them. So there was a bit of desperation from the club and the fans.
Liverpool threw quite a bit of money at it. But did we do the homework that Sir Alex Ferguson did, spend time planning in the long term, not just trying to get a short-term fix?
Now that situation is reversed and with City complicating it, too. Liverpool and City have pursued five-year plans with their managers, building teams and squads over long periods, buying good, young players with potential and developing them. They are largely making superstars, not buying them. And, yeah, Virgil van Dijk cost a bomb. But he’d played for Celtic and Southampton, not Real bloody Madrid. He’s a far better player now than when he arrived. Raheem Sterling is an example of Pep Guardiola’s ability to develop players – decent when he arrived, but now close to superstar level. United saw that – and were desperate. So they spent silly money trying to keep up, on readymade stars from the biggest clubs – Schweinsteiger, Di Maria, Ibrahimovic, Falcao, Mkhitaryan, Sanchez. Stupid money for the wrong players. I don’t believe they did their homework on them. And if you don’t, you end up with a squad with the wrong characters and the wrong mentality. That’s why I started this column by saying United are a million miles away from Liverpool at the minute… and I don’t care if they come and bite me on the bum, it will still be the truth.