Manchester United’s drab 1-1 home draw with Leicester City marked yet another dreary chapter in the club’s post-Sir Alex Ferguson struggles. The 10 years that have passed since the legendary Scot’s departure have flown by, but for all the wrong reasons.
It was a performance that epitomised this purgatorial decade. The gap between United in 6th and the final Champions League spot in 4th was extended to four points as Ralf Rangnick’s men put in a performance so uninspired it even failed to draw Gary Neville’s ire.
“I’m not angry, I don’t think any Manchester United fan has left this ground angry tonight – because we’ve gone past anger,” Neville told Sky Sports. “We’re just flat, we’re bored and there was nothing there today.
“There’s no direction and that comes from the very top.”
United could well have snatched a winner late on had they taken one of a glut of chances that fell their way in stoppage time. But it would be remiss to let thoughts of “what if” get in the way of concluding that the rudderless display is merely the latest on-pitch reflection of far deeper issues at the club.
“The second half was the better one. We were struggling in the first half to find our rhythm after the international break,” Rangnick said after the game. “The reaction after the goal we conceded was good.
“The last 15 minutes we had two or three good moments when we could have scored the winning goal but didn’t. We are not happy with the result, but overall the second half was okay.”
For a club of Manchester United’s stature, a 1-1 draw with the 9th-placed Premier League club – irrespective of Leicester’s recent upturn in form – cannot be deemed ‘good’ and ‘okay’ if they want to get back to what they once were. That it is smacks of the stagnation that has become the rule at Old Trafford since Ferguson’s retirement. And opponents can smell it.
“Even after that, we had chances on the counter, but we’ll take a point,” said Leicester’s James Maddison when asked about his goal being disallowed by VAR. “We’re a little bit disappointed that we haven’t come away with three points, which tells you the story about coming to this place at the minute.”
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Over the past decade, much criticism has been levelled against the Old Trafford hierarchy for approaching the club more as a commercial enterprise than an elite sporting outfit. No surprise, then, that Neville mused that the club’s response to the draw would centre on marketing rather than man management..
“I suspect after that performance today what we’ll see is a PR spike this week and an approach whereby the manager might be named,” he said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me – I’ve spoken in the last couple of weeks about a new manager coming in and everyone thinking, ‘It’s OK, we’ll go again’ [when that happens].”
United desperately need to arrest the complacency that appears to be endemic at every level of the club. If not, afternoons like Saturday will continue for a long time to come.
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