So....
To sum up..
We have a manager, who hasn't a clue
We have an assistant manager who is more interested in his next female conquest.
The man to the right of LvG appears to be more trusted than Giggs but only writes down data on a computer
We have Ed, stuttering about the place as always.
We have Fergie, giving it large about Giggs, then distancing himself from Giggs and then being "secretly" photographed with Poch.
All the while, our team shits itself yet again. Including our so called "characters" Rooney and Carrick.
The only one person on that pitch, fit to represent United tonight, was Martial. De Gea too but, he had no chance with the goals.
We are a disgrace to the name Manchester United, both on and off the pitch.
3 shots on goal. feck off
Well put. I think people are still digesting what happened tonight but we're going to realize later that shit really hit the fan, and not just in the context of this season. This was a massive game for us, the last of a few massive league games, and everything that has been going on in this club the last 3+ seasons cropped up from when we first set foot on the grounds.
Even granting that we were shit for most of the game, the one thing I really can't get over is that we were in position to win and completely bottled it. There have been plenty of bad performances we've put in over the years but I and a lot of other fans would've been absolutely shocked if United did this a few years ago, in such an important game. Now, it can't come as much of a surprise because we seem to keep finding new ways to lose or draw, either through a lack of game-changing quality in the squad or just plain stupidity. We can blame it on transition and several of the other issues, but I think it all points to a complete lack of backbone in this club - from the executives on down. We have become highly risk-averse - as exhibited in our manager - we're persisting with systems and methods that clearly don't work well for fear of going outside the box - as exhibited in LVG and everyone above him - and we don't have people in positions of leadership who will call out the underachievement and get things moving in a more positive direction.
The obvious things that need to change are the manager and coaching staff. I want no exceptions made for Giggs, either, he needs to follow them out the door. We simply cannot go through another season or part of another season with this underachieving bunch in charge, regardless of where we finish or whether or not we win the FA Cup.
I've felt for most of the season that we actually have a good enough squad to compete but after tonight I'm really not sure anymore. It's one thing to say that Mata is slow and Rooney is old and Carrick is both old and slow, but we seem to have players who can't naturally raise their game to another level and overcome exceptional circumstances like tonight. Martial, De Gea, and even Smalling are exceptions, they show world-class or potential world-class levels when there is pressure and even seem to thrive in hostile atmospheres. Other players like Herrera, Schneiderlin, Rojo, etc. seem to cower in conditions like tonight or make an honest effort but lose any edge they may have. The manager, it's true, figures into that but I also don't see a natural command coming from any of the players we've signed, except for maybe BFS, who is always injured.
So the question I ask myself is whether we're really a couple of top players away from competing for the league again or are we looking at another facelift? I'm starting to lean towards a facelift. At the moment, I only see maybe 6 or 7 players who are fit to play for us - Martial, De Gea, and Smalling are obviously good enough, while Shaw looked very good before his injury and you have a couple of younger players like Rashford and Fosu-Mensah who look to have a future. Another manager might improve the players we already have (Klopp, for example, has been superb in that area), but if you don't have a good number of charismatic players in the team, you're little more than game-raisers who are up for matches against rivals or the odd 'big' game when circumstances are in your favor. Tonight was a special, historical match at West Ham, but a PL or European season is dotted with matches of this type when it takes character to pull you through them. I'm not convinced that very many of our players have the ability or mettle to do this at United.
