Manchester United: The footballing world’s headless torso case — 2

NMNSGR
NMNSGR
Sep 1, 2018 · 6 min read

Second of the three article series: Analysing the problems

How come a big club like United come to this? How did a three times european champion with twenty one premier league titles to its name have no clue or direction? What has been going on at the club in the past few years and who is accountable for such a shambolic start to the season at United. Well sit tight as the list is long -

  1. My first prey of the night is United’s Board,
  2. Followed by few takes on Mourinho and his ways,
  3. which is squarely rounded by Players behavior and performance.
image rights www.transfermarkt.com

A lá Board

Contracts — half of the first team squad has just a year left on the contracts; don't believe me check here. A club like United cannot afford to be on the negotiating table with all the players asking for more playing time or particular position on the pitch while the club is in the midst of a rebuilding phase. A clutch of core players must be recognised and tied down to long term contracts. They must always be made aware that they are in club’s future plan and hence club has long contracts with those players. This is a grave mistake on Woodward’s part.

Transfer policy — Another mistake they made is not backing the manager whose contract they extended just six months ago. If you believed in him and his methods, proven methods I must say, six months back then what changed now? The manager and the board have agreed on some targets for the season, the manager is aware of competition and also of his own squad. If he thinks there are some holes he needs closing so be it. The manager must be the priamary authority of the footballing aspect at the club, why question him? Get on to get him his players rather than forcing your selected players on the manager.

image rights www.worldfootball.net

The special (some)one

Press — In midst of all this it is not like the manager is innocent and Mourinho isn’t a personality to be ever even remotely associated with innocence. His first and gravest mistake is talking too much to the press. Press hates United and are always on us, so the least you could do is not supply them with more fuel. He has been too open, don’t know if honest, to the press. Be it players or board or fans behaviour on stands Mourinho has spoken actively on all subjects, hell one can write his biography just by reading his comments in his pressers.

Player treatment — There are two type of footballers in this world, there are those who are Mourinho players (Drogba, Lampard, Terry) and others who aren’t. Unfortunately there are more of the second type in the United squad. However Mourinho can convert few to his side if he treats them with respect and love. But he tears them with his dissent and expects them to work hard for him. Their are many over his short course at United but in particular Martial and Pogba. Martial has been the one to bow down, always, be it handing over his jersey number to Zlatan or shifting from striker to left wing position for Zlatan and then to let even that go for Sanchez. Martial is young and inconsistent but these things often go hand in hand, he has a huge potential and requires constant game time and guidance; laying into him is no way to coax performance out of him. Second case is more bizarre as Pogba has been bought as the centre piece of this new United team and he wants to be treated as such. Yes, he is flashy and dramatic but still he is the best player in the squad, I must correct myself best out-field player in the squad. Yet Mourinho keeps on rubbing him the wrong way and goes all the way to engineer ways to throw in some negativity even when complimenting him. Add to that Raiola, the fattest blob of crap in the Universe, as Pogba’s agent and this is getting explosive.

Thumb-pins in Board— no matter how many internal strife you have with the board, please oh please do not let them out. The moment you turn on them they will turn back. There is a thin line if respect that manager and board must tread carefully, rather than flinging their dirty laundry in public.

Belittle the little — no disrespect to Mourinho’s achievements in the past or even with United, there are a few, but he is expected to get a little more from the players at his disposal, specially against teams like Sevilla, Benfica, Huddersfield, Newcastle etc. Smaller teams are tough fighters but we can’t be wary of them and lose games.

image rights www.sillyseason.com

Playe(rro)rs

Respect the manager — as silly as it sounds all great players have had some manager to thank for their success — Giggs, Scholes, Cristiano with Fergie; Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Deco with Mourinho; Messi, Aguero, Silva with Guardiola etc. It’s a relationship that goes a long way. Yes managers can be tough, ask David Beckam…will ya, but they are teachers who will weed out your weaknesses, enhance your strengths and eventually make you better. A good player must pick ideas and suggestions of a manager and not fights.

Take responsibility — players must take responsibility on the field. Whether during the match or post result the players must take control and responsibility for whatever is happening in their presence. At United currently, there are no leaders and this may sound a bit clichéd but that is the truth in the simplest of words — No team leader. And I would assign the responsibility of that on DAVID DE GEA (first player on the team sheet, commands respect from teammates yet is to timid to lead the team), VALENCIA (most experienced, hard working, loved across yet wouldn’t learn the language and be vocal — he is a captain just in name), POGBA (best player, world cup winner, vastly experienced but no sir he can’t resist being flashy and dancing around to get serious enough to lead the team), SANCHEZ (again comes with baggage of being a world class player, won a lot, is experienced even more and he doesn’t want to talk to anyone unless they have a tail), HERRERA (has potential but can’t string two good performances together to be a mainstay in this team and be the captain). In my opinion only MATIC and LUKAKU can now be considered for the armband once they have lost their new player tags and start to lead the team from front.

Inconsistency — all players except for DAVID DE GEA have lows to often, some even within a single game turn to mushballs, others break like bone china and lose the good streak of games they have been having. Inability to field the same team for three games is a big headache for a manager like Mourinho who is used to working with small group of players and sticking to a formation. Since Beckam and Ronalso never heard of a player who would put in some extra hours of effort into eliminating mistakes from their game or honing their footballing skills. Neither heard of players who would take care of their bodies once they are off the pitch. These are some important behind the scenes factors which make a player on the pitch, yet the current squad is so damn daft that they would rather spend time on Insta or Facebook than work on themselves.

These are my thoughts on what i think is wrong with United at the moment and the recent failures are a culmination of all these factors which are ready to blow up in our faces as the season progresses further. Failure to correct these will lead to United becoming a butt of a joke like Arsenal has been in the past. Don’t worry though and check out the next article where i discuss few possible solutions to these woes.

NMNSGR

Written by

NMNSGR

I don’t write much, but sometimes I do churn an article or few regarding few of passions — Football, Manchester United, Data science and arts.

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