Man Utd ‘husk’ surely signals the end of a Big Six; it’s a Big Three

Editor F365 01 Oct 2024 9:27 AM

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag embraces Liverpool head coach Arne Slot

A decent weekend for Arne Slot; less so for Erik ten Hag

Man Utd are not in the same class as Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool. And fans of opposition clubs could not be happier.

Send your views on Man Utd and other subjects to theeditor@football365.com

End of the Big Six?
Is it time to end the notion of the ‘Big Six’ and simply go back to a ‘Big 3’ of Man City, Arsenal & Liverpool?

It’s not logical it’s six. Three are clearly way better than the rest. After them there are at least 5 who would reasonably expect a shot at the top 4 this season. Chelsea, Spurs, Newcastle, Villa and Man United (although the latter probably won’t finish above Brighton or Fulham on current form)

So that would be a ‘Big 8’ anyway not a ‘Big Six’. Which would be clearly nonsense as 3 teams are way better than the other 5.

Lets keep it simple and go back to a ‘Big 3’.
Mark (Devon)

We have waited for this Man Utd humiliation
Anyone who grew up in the 90s and early 00s will know what it was like to play against Ferguson’s United. Everyone knew that they were levels above pretty much anyone in the league. In their talismanic manager, they had all the tools to dominate.

They were the biggest club, with the biggest stadium, with the best manager, the best players and the biggest pull in British Football. If someone had a better player than theirs, they bought him and the rival could do nothing. During that period, it felt like it would last forever. Sure, Arsene and Mourinho would bloody their nose now and again, but their dominance was absolute. It is why we all have to suffer the inane ramblings of the likes of Rio and Neville, they learned under Ferguson so they must know ball as the kids say (they don’t).

Fast forward to now. A leaky stadium, an even leakier defence, fanbase eating itself (be thankful they don’t have a public humiliation as broad and all encompassing as AFTV – oh hang on, they do, Mark Goldbridge). The allure and magnetism once held by the club long evaporated. Now, just a husk, a former great.

I know lots of people saw Ratcliffe as the great saviour, but the thing with business people is, they are incredibly arrogant and think they can transpose their success in one area to another like it was drawing breath. That’s not how it works at all. I’ll be interested to see how he can cost-cut his way to success.

This is a very long winded way of saying, I’ve waited close to 30 years for this moment, and tastes like heaven! Anyway, you guys should definitely trust the process with ETH.
John Matrix AFC

MORE ON THE MAN UTD MESS FROM F365:
👉 Top 10 Manchester United lows under the doomed Erik ten Hag
👉 Big Midweek: Ten Hag sack, Arsenal v PSG, Aston Villa host Bayern, Foden, big Championship clash
👉 Next Man Utd manager: Who should Red Devils appoint if they sack Ten Hag?

The moment Ten Hag f***ed it
Not a United fan, so it’s hilarious to watch but I wrote in a while ago, no idea if it got published. My theory was then and it remains the same now: ETH lost the opportunity the motivate the players the moment he sent Sancho to the reserves.

Whatever the reason he did that, in trying to put his foot down and show how tough he was, he ultimately f*cked him over and all his mates went “nah, not cool”. He messed up early, he messed up big and it was unrecoverable unless he cleared out the squad, especially the English lads.

These are people, not assets and they have friendships that run deep over years. You can’t just f*ck over someone and expect his mates to be fine with it.

ETH: Keep up the good work!
Rob, Worthing

…Is Ten Hag now in Joe Kinnear/John Carver/Steve Kean territory for being so out of his depth?
Hot Richard

Seven Man Utd manager flops
Seeing that the mailbox is going to be flooded with Man Utd fallout, I’ll leave you all with some additional grim reading this Monday morning.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United have appointed the following managers:

1. David Moyes (2013–2014)
2. Ryan Giggs (Interim, April 2014)
3. Louis van Gaal (2014–2016)
4. José Mourinho (2016–2018)
5. Ole Gunnar Solskjær (2018–2021)
6. Ralf Rangnick (Interim, December 2021–2022)
7. Erik ten Hag (2022–present)

Seven!?! Seven managers have taken the mantle and we can’t even boast of a team that’ll go toe to toe with the last Man Utd team that won the title. This has to be the most awkward managerial transition in the history of managerial transitions.
Philip, Man Utd, Lagos (We’re gonna beat FC Porto and then lose to Aston Villa, aren’t we?)

Maybe it’s the players?
Insanity is Einstein’s quote something something different results.

When Team United does badly, they sack the manager. 10th place? Sack the manager. Lost to Spurs at home? Sack the manager.

After the Sackathons, even the leadership at Man Utd can figure out that maybe, just maybe, the problem isn’t the thing you keep changing again and again? The players are the biggest problem and as long as they are there, good luck to Man Utd.

This group of players need clearing out, including Rashy, Bruno, McGee, Onana, Casemiro, Eriksen and a couple more. Bin a couple of seasons to reset, and start again with a young (and relatively young) team.

A new keeper is a must. De Ligt and the Butcher with Leny Yoro at the base, 2 young speedy fullbacks. In midfield, Kobe and Ugarte as holding, and 2 mobile box to box mids.

Attack, keep Zirkzee and Hoijlund, Garnacho and Amad but get 2 young velocity demons. So we’re talking 6 new players, they can get 3 – 4 a season without breaking the bank,

I bet the wages are much lower as well, so they can actually get decent players with a bigger fee. It’s not rocket science, we opposition fans can see the problem but choose to keep quiet as we enjoy this clown show going on and on.
Vinnie Pee

Rashford = Timo
I think this may be a little (tiny) bit harsh but I think in answer to KC’s email: What does Rashford do?

He does what Timo Werner does.. Kicks it and runs fast..

But Timo Werner isn’t English and doesn’t save poor children (that we know off and boy do we know Rashford does..)

For me they are essentially the same player.. (except Werner HAS scored 20 goals in the league which is supposed to be some mark of quality right?) Even in the 1 year that Rashford scored 30 odd goals he only got 16 in the league was it?

He has never been that good and was massively over hyped by the classis English Media as the greatest thing since sliced bread..

I feel sorry for Cole Palmer really because I’m sure after 4 goals in 25mins he will be the greatest player in the league / on the planet / ballon d’or mentions etc

I’m sure if Solanke scores next game he will be the CLEAR Kane replacement that only 2 weeks ago you were writing articles about the fact we have no English strikers..
Al – Happy that no one is really talking about us still – LFC, We have def had a nice run of games and that all changes after the break….!

A worthwhile reminder
Since we’re all saying mean things to Manchester United fans today, I thought I’d join in.

You’re not operating under new ownership. The Glazers are still your owners.

They’ve just delegated some decision making until their profit ratios start hurting. Should that happen, we’ll see how long a minority owner with “sporting control” lasts.
Andrew M, Streatham

Give Spurs credit please
Lads

That’s the worst 16 Conclusions I’ve yet seen.

United were bad – is it not enough to say that once, lead with it if you must- without saying it 13.5 times in separate points before allowing Spurs performance 2.5 points, each of which was heavily caveated with ‘but United were sooo bad’

Really, really disappointing stuff, after a day of it from Sky and MOTD2.
Darragh, Spurs, Ireland

READ: Tottenham get a whole load of credit in Premier League winners and losers

Erm…
I noticed the broken clock brigade are out in force, demanding all the praise and adulation for finally getting the time right again.

Imagine thinking you have any right to decide the editorial direction of a website you pay absolutely nothing for. Even Spurs fans are feeling entitled now. Never thought it possible.
James, Kent

A quick fix to this nonsense at the back
Anybody who watched the Wolves v Liverpool game or MOTD on Saturday will have seen the numerous chance and goals given away by this new tactic du jour of the keeper and defenders knocking it around in the box to try and play around the ‘press’.

Now I know this is the age of Moneyball and Analytics and that it’s meant to work out favourably in the aggregate but surely we’re getting to a tipping point if it continues like this that it no longer becomes a net gain. More importantly though, it’s getting so damn dull watching every team play the same way! What is it they say in Boxing, “Styles make Fights”. Boxing is in state to be fair but I digress.

I think everyone has drank the Pep Kool-Aid, and rightly so to an extent as manger of the dominant team in English football over the last 7 or 8 years. Having watch Wolves knock it around at the back in the 86th minute whilst a goal down this does seem to lack a certain nuance or plan B. I mean even Pep threw on John Stones up top in the Arsenal game to try and get amongst it!

Surely you want to get the crowd involved at that point too, make it a bear pit to put the opponents under some sort of pressure and try and force the issue. Nope. Nothing. The argument will be Liverpool had Van Dijk and Konate at the back but you never know what might happen and at least it gets the crowd up. Roll the dice!

We are constantly told the PL is the most exciting league in the world. Well I suppose this is opinion when it comes down to it but I’m sure most would agree, true or not, it’s definitely not what it was in the excitement stakes. We are seeing goals come from errors at the back but these are often really shit errors and although funny for a while, overall I just think it’s kind of frustrating for fans.

I also think a small rule change back in 2019 has played a major part in all this. This was when defenders were allowed into the area and to receive the ball within the area from a goal kick. Hear me out….

Where defenders used to be put under pressure if they wanted to play out from the back, now they have plenty of time and full view of what’s around them. This has made it so much harder for teams to apply pressure from a goal kick now so it’s encouraging this play in the box. Honestly, take it back to before. You want to play like that? Fine. That first pass need to be out of the area. Your defenders marked up? Tough. It’s now up to the opposition how easy they want to make it and if that means you have to knock it long then so be it. I know if a defender touched it inside the box the goal kick had to be retaken too. I’d go a step further and make that an indirect free kick to the attacking team.

I guess what I’m saying is rule changes are meant to have a positive effect on the game. Well this one feels more Golden Goal rather than the Back Pass rule to me (If you’re not old enough to remember this then enjoy your youth you and f**k you in equal measures). So get it in the bin!
Adam (Leeds)

READ: O’Neil edges ahead in sack race after Liverpool defeat Neville ‘can’t watch’

More on Arsenal and decisions
I’ll bite Howard (and all of the pundits who have been pushing the Arsenal were lucky with the decisions).

Let me start with the 2 decisions you’re mentioning. Regarding the goal – I don’t see any reason to call a free kick to Vardy but for the sake of argument let’s just say the goal should be disallowed but if that’s the standard for a free kick then you would probably have to give a penalty to Arsenal (or maybe that’s just my pro Arsenal bias showing).

Calafiori could absolutely have received a second yellow card and it would probably be the correct decision if you look at the incident in isolation but it would have been a travesty with the other decisions the ref made. I would say that it’s disingenuous to say Calafiori should be sent off and then not mentioning how Skipp was allowed to stay on the field on multiple occasions starting with the free kick on Martinelli were Skipp somehow escapes without a card for he’s “orange” studs on ankle tackle and then proceeding to kick the ball away.

Not to mention that Ndidi kicks ball away while on a yellow yet somehow doesn’t receive a second yellow card even though we all know by now that it’s a mandatory yellow card (at least when an Arsenal player does it).

So in conclusion if Calafiori is shown a red card then Leicester should definitely have been shown 2 red cards.

Two final points. That has got to be one of the worst advantage ever given. Is any Arsenal opponent ever gonna get a yellow card for kicking the ball away or impeding a free kick or throw in? 3 times in this game. At the end of the season I would probably be more than 100 times and I would guess a maximum of one yellow card issued (and that would only be given so the refs can say it’s not just Arsenal getting cards for this).

I look forward to see how many times each team has committed the sin of delaying the restart at the end of the season and see how many times a mandatory yellow card was issued.
Gud

VAR from ideal
Watching the Ipswich Villa game on Sunday really highlighted to me the flaws in the VAR system when it comes to reviewing potential red card incidents. Ipswich had 2 incidents involving Sam Morsy reviewed – neither of which were deemed worthy of a straight red card by VAR. Yet both incidents were blatant yellow cards at the very least (I don’t think even the most patriotic Ipswich fan would dispute this – the second one in particular) – and the fact he was already on a yellow meant that he would have been off for a second booking.

The fact that VAR can’t be used in this kind of incident to recommend a yellow or at least allow the referee to review it himself on a pitch-side monitor (and make up his own mind after seeing it again – one was definitely borderline red) seems all wrong to me. I understand the thought process that the game shouldn’t be slowed down needlessly for yellow card incidents, but this particular scenario is surely one that needs to be reviewed.

To see players get a second yellow for kicking the ball away and then Morsy escape not only 1 obvious booking but 2 (with the VAR literally looking at the fouls on a slow motion replay) doesn’t seem right.
David Horgan, Dublin

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