Meh United.. a catalogue of mediocrity & mayhem
MANCHESTER UNITED’S position in the top six of English football has been a given for 30 years.
Not any longer.
Unless the final few days of this summer’s transfer window cut against the grain and provide some clear direction, more underachievement is on the way.
Harsh?
One glance at the evidence since the last season ended tells you everything.
Starting with the stats – the Red Devils finished sixth, a gargantuan 32 points behind eventual winners Manchester City.
One of their better midfielders, Ander Herrera, has been allowed to quit for Paris Saint-germain on a free transfer.
They’ve spent £50million – yes FIFTY million – on Aaron WanBissaka – a rookie right-back from Crystal Palace with just one season’s Premier League experience.
And now £80m on Harry Maguire from Leicester City. Proof, if ever it were needed, what a good World Cup can do to a valuation.
The ‘ will he, won’t he’ saga involving Paul Pogba rumbles on, clouding the issue still further for everyone at Old Trafford.
David de Gea’s contract situation still hasn’t been sorted. Romelu Lukaku – deemed surplus last term – also hasn’t moved on, despite a decent offer from Inter Milan. Ditto Alexis Sanchez.
In one of the few positive stories, home- grown striker Marcus Rashford had to be paid a king’s ransom to stay put.
Does any of that inspire confidence that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – whose own managerial credentials are firmly under the microscope – can close the gap?
Just to rub salt into the wounds, head honcho Ed Woodward landed himself a 60 per cent pay rise last term. All of these unresolved issues are making a mockery of Manchester United as an institution.
Honestly? It will pain them to read this: Salford City are bei ng better run. Manchester United convey the i mpression that there’s no one in control. The writing has been on the wall for years now, ever since you-knowwho left his post.
But never before has the cupboard, in terms of playing resources, looked as bare. New contract deals for the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Ashley Young appear to be rewarding mediocrity.
There’s star quality only when Pogba feels like playing.
The rest of it is so much ‘Meh’. Sporting direction has been nil. And this is despite several managers occupying the hot-seat who clearly do know what they were doing.
Last summer, it was similar. Although Jose Mourinho spent most of it moaning about not having players fit and fresh following the World Cup in Russia, he also
SHANE
WARNE reckoned during his on-air commentary that Aussie batsman Steve Smith was the kind of sensitive soul who might be put off by the barracking of the Edgbaston crowd.
And 144 runs
later... had a point over the transfer activity – or lack of it.
He claimed he handed a list with the names of five players to the club in March, in the expectation that they would be signed.
He ended up with Diogo Dalot, Fred and Lee Grant.
Now, I’m a betting man and I would wager my mortgage that those three weren’t among his targets. What has changed?
Nothing. The recruitment has been woeful and the execution of it has been little short of a joke.
Unsurprisingly, Manchester United have been the only team willing to pay Maguire’s fee and its been rumbling on for weeks now.
To the outside world, none of it looks good.
The Glazers clearly don’t have a clue what they’re doing. Woodward ( below) likewise.
Solskjaer convinces about as much as his players, and those in the recruitment team are having rings run around them.
It’s not just a gap between Manchester United and those at the top – it’s now a chasm.
No- one is frightened of them anymore – and this season the Prem ie r League table could end up showing it.