Man Utd given reality check after Jim Ratcliffe's Liverpool and Man City claim
In the week Sir Jim Ratcliffe declared his ambition to knock Manchester City and Liverpool off their perch, this was a brutal reality check.
Toppling Manchester United 's biggest rivals may be the long-term aim for Ratcliffe, but he needs to set his immediate sights lower on the basis of this abject display. After an unbeaten start to 2024, including five straight wins in all competitions, United's familiar failings returned with a 10th Premier League defeat of the season.
Tellingly, Ratcliffe chose not to endorse Erik ten Hag as the coach to lead United long-term when he conducted his tub-thumping round of media interviews last week. Against that backdrop, Ten Hag needed a convincing performance and victory in United's first game since Ratcliffe's £1.3billion investment in the club was formally ratified.
Instead, Ten Hag watched his players regress with an insipid offering that will have done nothing to convince Ratcliffe the Dutchman is the man to take United back to the top. United now find themselves eight points off fourth place with 12 games left, a Champions League spot looking increasingly unlikely, with Aston Villa and Tottenham to overhaul.
After Wednesday's FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest, United's last shot at a trophy this season, Ten Hag's men travel across Manchester to face local rivals City. Defeat to Pep Guardiola's Treble winners would further undermine United's hopes of a return to the Champions League, a competition Ratcliffe insisted the club should be competing to win.
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To do that, you first need to qualify for it, and with 10 defeats from 26 Premier League games, United have not shown the consistency required to take their place among Europe's elite.
There is mitigation, of course, in terms of United's enforced absentees due to injury, including top scorer Rasmus Hojlund, centre-back Lisandro Martinez and first-choice left-back Luke Shaw.
But the ease with which United were overrun in midfield and the lethargy in their overall play cannot be explained by those they were missing. There is something fundamentally wrong with this United team, in terms of attitude and competency, with Ratcliffe and his INEOS team perhaps facing an even bigger challenge than even they anticipated.
So many areas of the team need addressing, it is difficult to know where to start, but midfield is a glaring one. Casemiro was way off the pace until his withdrawal early in the second-half following a clash of heads with Harrison Reed.
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Casemiro's replacement, Christian Eriksen, was just as leggy and gave the ball away cheaply. Kobbie Mainoo may be an exciting prospect, but it is asking too much for the 18-year-old to lead United's midfield every week, with a new addition a priority this summer.
Marcus Rashford produced another anonymous display, his lack of industry something Ten Hag cannot continue to tolerate, with fans rightly demanding more from the £350,000-a-week striker.
Indeed, the only two United players to emerge from wreckage of this defeat with any credit were goalkeeper Andre Onana, who made some key saves, and winger Alejandro Garnacho, who provided a consistent attacking threat.
Given their dominance and the chances they created, Fulham should have had the game won long before Alex Iwobi's 97th minute goal earned them a first victory at Old Trafford for 21 years. For United, the inquest will be brief, with Wednesday's FA Cup tie at Forest providing Ten Hag's players with the chance to atone.
Afterwards, Ten Hag cut through the immediate despondency of defeat by claiming to see “the bigger picture". Worryingly for him, that bigger picture might not feature him beyond this season if United serve up many more afternoons like this.
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