Football: Manchester United’s chaotic season
If Manchester United’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is “still pondering a final decision” on the future of manager Erik ten Hag, he will be none the wiser after watching “another chaotic meeting with Liverpool” at Old Trafford on Sunday, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport. In a “remarkable first half”, Liverpool threatened to blow United away. The fact that the visitors were only one goal up after 45 minutes was “almost a source of triumph for an outclassed United”. Then, more remarkably still, Liverpool gifted United an equaliser after 50 minutes, when Jarell Quansah passed straight to Bruno Fernandes, who beat the stranded keeper, Caoimhin Kelleher, from 45 yards. Soon after, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo produced “a moment of magic” to put United ahead. Liverpool managed to salvage a draw, with Mo Salah’s late penalty, but the lost points mean that they dropped to second place. United won’t win the Premier League this season, said Oliver Holt in the Daily Mail. They’re unlikely even to make the top five. But they have put a big dent in Liverpool’s title hopes, and for their supporters, “that is probably the next best thing”.
“Manchester United have certainly showcased their addiction to drama in recent weeks,” said David Hytner in The Guardian. A spectacular late 4-3 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Thursday – conceding two goals more than nine minutes into injury time – summed up the current chaos. It was a wonderful sporting event: a Chelsea comeback for the ages, with forward Cole Palmer completing a hat-trick just before the final whistle. But for United, who went from “despair to joy and back again”, it was their worst performance in an already crowded field. “It felt like the death of their Premier League season.”
Ten Hag’s team is hard to make sense of, said Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian. They concede a massive number of attempts on goal: a recordbreaking 62 in their last two Premiership matches against Liverpool. But they also show great resilience, clambering off the ropes “to land vital punches”. Before the Stamford Bridge “debacle”, ten Hag made a passionate defence of his team, said Martin Samuel in The Times. “Don’t interrupt this process,” he implored. “You need to follow the process.” Is there really a process, though? Defending shambolically, as they did in injury time at Chelsea, is not a process. “When Manchester City are boring the opposition to death by passing, passing, passing, that’s process.” United have been involved in eight games this season that have finished with the scoreline of 3-2 or 4-3, winning four and losing four. “That’s not a process, either. That’s just a series of unfortunate events.” It’s all great fun, sure. “But Ratcliffe doesn’t look like a man who’s in it for the fun.”