How The Mighty Have Fallen
Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down from managing Manchester United back in May of 2013 the football team has been going nowhere. 11 years and counting nd things are not improving and are likely to get far worse before they improve.
The problem is no one is tackling the problem head on and saying they have a problem. I can recall the pundit Gary Neville predicting Manchester United would qualify for Champions League this year meaning they would finish in the top 4. As the Premier League table currently stands they will be lucky to not be in the bottom 4.
Since Ferguson stepped down and left Old Trafford the club has seen 6 managers and 4 interim managers and all of whom have failed. Ok that may be a bit harsh as the last one has only been their for 10 games and has lost 4 of their last 5 league games.
The crazy thing is that 5 of the 6 managers that came into the club were successful experienced managers elsewhere and they all failed. I do think the problem lies within the squad and the players are just not good enough.
If you were a business men and had staff who were incompetent the first thing you would do is replace them. I do understand replacing a squad of 30 players is not going to be easy and it will be expensive, but it should have been done over a 3 year period as a priority.
There is nothing worse for a sports team than to just carry on ignoring the obvious problem. Blaming the manager every few years for the clubs failings is not the answer and it should be the players leaving and not the manager.
The problem is those running the club believe they should be playing with the elite teams in Europe and are living in the past. The game has changed and the youth academy is no longer providing top class players like they once were.
United have lost 4 of their last 5 Premier League matches and the next 3 fixtures offer no great expectations either facing Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal. Theoretically United could have played 21 matches and be sitting on 22 points in a few weeks time which is relegation figures. If the bottom teams start winning which they normally do as they have no other option to avoid relegation the United are in big trouble. If United cannot beat the teams below them on the table then those games become 6 point swings.
Many did not se this coming, but if they were open and honest this has been on the cards for some time. Like an alcoholic you have to hit rock bottom before you see the problem and having a relegation scare may be just the tonic this club needs. I do not see them going down but if they do not fix things this season or next season the risk is always there.