Just stop the season now are the cries from the Manchester United faithful. They have seen enough, not in a petulant we are not winning so what is the point in watching but it is clear that the players are on the beach with their massive pay cheques burning a hole in their pocket. Manchester United are an embarrassment at the moment and even with the announcement of Erik ten Hag not much looks like it could change.
Promising start
After a successful season in 2020/21, there was much promise for the following season and even more so when important signings like Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho were made. However, then came the signing of club legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Although Ronaldo has not been a failure, he was not what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed but with the threat of Ronaldo joining city rivals, United had to step in. Was it more of a marketing ploy than a on the pitch decision? The jury is still out.
The wheels well and truly came off for Solskjaer and co with heavy defeats to Manchester City, Liverpool, and Watford. Since then, Ralf Rangnick has stepped in as interim manager, meaning that United have had more interim managers than permanent managers since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The current situation
Rangnick’s arrival was meant to bring in the German gegenpressing style football that has brought Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool so much success. That was apparent for about 20 minutes against Crystal Palace. Since then United have had hammer blow after hammer blow. Losing in the FA Cup to a Championship side, dropping out of the Champions League without a whimper and failing to secure Champions League football for next season.
The players are unhappy, the manager is unhappy, and the fans are unhappy. The only ones that are, we presume as we never see them, is the Glazers. They ask themselves “Are we still going to make money without Champions League football?” The answer is yes they will, probably not as much but if they flog a few more Ronaldo shirts then it will more than make up for it and it is then back to searching for the best forex trading platform.
Will it change?
Simply no it won’t. Well not quickly anyway. As Rangnick said, United are about 6 years behind Liverpool as a club. Solskjaer managed to finish ahead of Liverpool last season, but it was papering cracks. The club is rotten to its core and not set up correctly.
Ragnick even stated that United needed major surgery to repair the damage at the club.
The best thing United can do would be to clean the slate and that starts with the players; especially those on big wages *cough* Paul Pogba. When ten Hag comes in, he needs to be allowed to work like he did at Ajax, who for the record have a sensational structure, and be in control of transfers.
The club need a clear idea of which people are in charge of what and have people with that expertise to help with that situation. Hopefully Rangnick does stay because he can help ten Hag because he can, to quote Roy Keane, see the bluffers in this team.
In an ideal world the Glazers leave Manchester United, but they are quite happy to milk this cash cow as much as they can.
Good luck Erik ten Hag, you are going to need it.