Old Trafford’s fortress walls have crumbled
THE DUST was only just beginning to settle on another shambolic United performance and Roy Keane, as honest as ever, hit the nail firmly on the head.
“United are so off it, it’s unbelievable,” Keane began, reflecting on
United’s fourth defeat in their last six Premier League matches. “[Phil] Foden said it’s a tough place to come. It’s not.
“Ask Everton, ask Aston Villa, ask Liverpool. Teams are getting joy. I know the away record over the last few years has been fantastic, but it’s what you do at home that sets you up to win trophies.”
United’s pitiful 2-0 defeat to crosscity rivals Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side produce another limp display in front of their own supporters.
They mustered up just one shot on target in a game of such magnitude, just when they had to win to move level on points with their neighbours and, somehow, throw their name back into the ring to be considered a genuine title challenger.
Instead, United fell to another home defeat - a second in the space of just 13 days to one of their biggest rivals. United have now lost their last two games at Old Trafford, to their big rivals, by an aggregate score of 0-7. Yes, you read that right.
They may have been up against two excellent teams, who both executed their own game plans to perfection, but for a club of United’s stature it is not good enough.
Prior to Liverpool’s and City’s visits to Old Trafford, United had fallen at the feet of Aston Villa and Everton, picking up a paltry one point from those two games - and it could have quite easily been zero. Since their respective trips to Old Trafford in September and October, Villa and Everton have failed to pick up a single point between them, losing eight games collectively, conceding a total of 21 goals. They’re hardly top calibre opponents. United put just one past the pair of them in just over 180 minutes of football at Old Trafford, meaning they have now scored just one goal in their last four home games in the league. It is unheard of. The place so often described as the Theatre of the Dreams and the cathedral of English football has become akin to a trip to a relegation battler. Solskjaer’s side are now seen as a team capable of being beaten at home by almost anyone. Old Trafford has always been a place where the opposing team would arrive, step off the bus and their bodies would be filled with fear and nerves. Not anymore. It is an opportunity
Foden says it’s a tough place to come. It’s not. Ask Everton, ask Aston Villa, ask Liverpool. Roy Keane
to enjoy a memorable day out and claim a scalp.
You have to go back to March 14 for the last time United kept a clean sheet at home in the Premier League - a run of 11 games. Considering they have played the likes of Fulham, Leeds and Newcastle during that time, it tells you all you need to know.
If they’re capable of stopping United from recording a clean sheet in their own back yard, the big boys, as proven by Liverpool and City, are going to have no problem at all.
Right now, United’s overall form is of great concern. Four points from the last 18 on offer for a club the size of United is just not good enough and it is a problem that Solskjaer must solve, if given the chance to continue in role.
For a squad as talented as United’s, one goal scored and one point claimed in four home games is borderline embarrassing. Admittedly, they have played talented Liverpool and City sides during that time, but they offered next to nothing in an attacking sense to trouble Alisson and Ederson, who could have both whipped out a deck chair and grabbed a newspaper to pass their time.
Keane has highlighted the importance of making your home ground a fortress when pushing for silverware.
If United have that ambition, they have got to turn Old Trafford back into the great, formidable fortress it used to be.
If they don’t, these current woes won’t be ending anytime soon.