Dismal Man Utd stat says everything after embarrassing home loss to Bournemouth

09 December 2023 , 17:59

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Dismal Man Utd stat says everything after embarrassing home loss to Bournemouth

Manchester United racked up an eye-catching and unwanted statistic after being hammered by Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

The final 3-0 scoreline was no less than the visitors deserved, with Dominic Solanke scoring early on before second-half goals from Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi. And it could have been even worse for the home side, after away substitute Dango Ouattara had a fourth ruled out in stoppage time by VAR for handball.

United remain sixth in the table, temporarily at least, but their latest showing represented their seventh league defeat of the season. It's the first time they've suffered as many losses at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1989/90.

But that is far from the most notable stat. The Red Devils have now lost 35 home league games since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012/13 title winning season. During the iconic 21-year reign of the Scottish manager, United were only beaten in the league at Old Trafford 34 times.

To compound the misery, in all competitions the side have lost as many matches, 11, as they have won. And they have now been beaten 3-0 three times at home.

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Indeed, the current crop appear lightyears away from the sides that dominated the domestic landscape under Ferguson. And the result piles the pressure back on Erik ten Hag just a day after he was crowned the Premier League Manager of the Month for November.

Manchester United have struggled since Sir Alex Ferguson departed (Getty Images)

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The Dutch boss now faces a pivotal eight days in his tenure. On Tuesday, United host Bayern Munich in the Champions League and anything less than a win will see them eliminated from the competition in the group stages.

That will be followed by a trip to Anfield to play Liverpool on Sunday, a venue where Ten Hag's men were beaten 7-0 last season. Defeat in both those contests will bring new levels of scrutiny on the position of the Dutch boss as fans await confirmation that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has purchased a 23 per cent stake in the club.

The INEOS chief is set to take control of the day-to-day running of the football club and have the final say on transfers. And the latter notion is a significant one given that the majority of Ten Hag's big money signings are perceived to have underwhelmed since arriving.

Fraser Watson