Manchester United sh*tshow at Brentford: The Mailbox

Where is the rot at Manchester United? Numerous people are blamed for yesterday’s sh*tshow at Brentford, while the opposition fans laugh…

Get your views in to theeditor@football365.com…

Another weekend at Manchester United…
We have to back Ten Hag. He’s a proven, respected coach. He is the future. De Gea, Shaw, Ronaldo are the past. Ten Haag gets 2 seasons, at least.
United have rid themselves of Pogba, Lingard, Matic, Mata, Cavani and look like to add AWB, Bailly, Jones and maybe Ronaldo. Most United fans would have no problem with that, but you simply have to acknowledge how many players that is. It’s half a first team squad.

Give Ten Hag time. Give him support in the market. Let him try out these players, and when they fail him, let him decide to get rid (looking at Shaw and Rashford).

The worst possible take on this situation is that it’s anything whatsoever to do with the manager.
Ryan, Bermuda

Fred cannot play again. Seriously, the lad has no positional sense or awareness of the covering role. It is literally like having one man less.

I’m a big fan of Shaw but Malacia is a lot better right now. He seems to have lost a yard of pace although he did spend a lot of time trying to cover Fred running up the pitch. But younger legs let Rashford actually attack.

Eriksen seemed a lot happier with McTominay covering (and actually doing the job, albeit not brilliantly).

De Gea, just can’t. Henderson was always the better option, I can’t believe we let him out on loan. Heaton, your time is now!

Bruno, well, he does what he does. Which is make stupid passes and miss chances. He needs to know his place is not guaranteed.

I thought Dalot had potential. I’ve changed my mind. His one thing was crossing. Apparently also refusing to throw the ball to his team mates and instead to the opposing defender. Is he contractually obliged to only pass to Ronaldo?

Rashford? Did nothing good all first half (though he could have been fortunate when the keeper took him out). Second half was much better, actually ran and dribbled and created.

Whatever it takes to make the good players tick needs to happen from now on. Obvious, surely, but drop the players who stop the rest playing.

Dark days. Next match should be fun.
Badwolf

Most people seem to think that man utd fans unhappiness is rooted in a deep sense of entitlement. They are wrong about this. Man united fans entitlement faded with Van Gaal and got extinguished by Mourinho.

We are now just a bunch of people who are stuck in a one sided relationship and deeply unhappy about it. Take football and fandom down to basics and it is pretty simple.

We as fans will support a team. We cheer for them, pay to watch them and wear their colours. In return we ask that they take pride in representing our team, and that they provide us with moments we can enjoy; goals, skill, tackles, saves and if we’re lucky… trophies.

When your team, club and players are consistently delivering none of the above you start to get despondent. The dwindling moments you can forgive, but the lack of pride you can’t. Add to this the parasitic nature of the ownership and you see the reasons why the fans have been so fed up of late.

It’s likely to get worse before it gets better which means a lot more moaning and outrage to come. Now you know why we do it.
Akeel

Cancel the club. Cancel the fucking club now. The season is over. There is nothing to be gained from this, except removing the leeches at the top of the hierarchy.

Protest every game. Empty every seat. Burn it all to the ground.
Kel Vin

Our destiny is still in our hands. 36 games to go. 40 points needed. We can do this!!
Niraj (cmon Utd!!) Tampa

I’m a middle aged man who’s been watching the PL since 2000 and I’m struggling to remember any team that has looked so incompetent, ordinary and just plain out of their depth?

I remember Paul Jewell’s infamous Derby side. I’ve seen some dire Sunderland sides. But I’m really racking my memory bank to remember a team that was so spineless and inept as this current United side.

Anyone in the mailbox want to help me out ? Can we crown this side the worst of the PL?
Budhaditya

Where is the rot?
Can someone genuinely tell me what is wrong with Manchester United? You said mourinho is the issue,  he’s gone. Ole is the issue, gone.  Woodward, gone. Pogba and Jlingz, gone. Glazers and their austerity? They still here but austerity gone…they spending millions every summer transfer. Is it the defenders,  well we buy 2 new ones every summer. Attackers? We buy so many. Even the academy is producing decently good.

How is it that every player and every coach seem to have career lowpoints at United only!

Where is the rot actually coming from? Where? Arrggghhhh
Gaurav MUFC, Amsterdam (can see why De Jong prefers the insanity at Barcelona instead of this)

Manchester United – Icarus Paradox
Hi Mailbox Editor,

As a Brighton fan I have been trying to keep my expectations in check after our first ever win at Old Trafford last week. After watching Brentford destroy Manchester United this evening I and the xGulls being thwarted by Nick Pope and their inability to score easy chances I was right to remain cautiously optimistic for the season.

Manchester United however were a total shambles today, with a centre half in Martinez who cost more than Brentford’s starting eleven, and who at present does not look good enough for the Premier League.

Manchester United’s problem is that they are suffering from what is known as the Icarus Paradox, where like the tragic Greek hero’s wings, the things that made them soar are paradoxically the reasons they are now failing. Whilst Ferguson’s United of the early 2000’s were dominating through a traditional management approach their rivals were introducing directors of football, scouting and analytical structures that identified Salah, De Bruyne, Van Dijk and many other top class young players that now dominate the Premier League.

United instead stuck with a ‘buying in talent‘ business model that, has allowed them to keep up for a while, before now starting to fall back to Earth. On this season’s performances it appears that United are behind both Brentford and Brighton in terms of recruitment and coaching, with Ten Hag left with a dispirited squad of players chosen by several former managers and transfer targets who don’t want to join. Don’t forget Brighton have sold their last three players of the season in the last two years, but are still punching well above their financial weight in the Premier League due to the players being brought in and given a chance.

Whilst other clubs have spent at similar levels to United in the last 10 years, United have invested poorly and failed to get a return on their investment. Kieran Maguire (Price of Football) tweeted on Friday that Chelsea’s player recruitment, retention, loan and sales model means that the club have generated £500m more in player sales than United since Ferguson left.

United’s failure to adapt to new business models in the 2010s, when they were in the at the top of the Premier League means that they are now struggling to keep up with with the other big six clubs. It is no coincidence that the new pretenders for the top 6, Newcastle chose Brighton’s  Director of Football to create their new identity. Dan Ashworth has experienced success with West Brom, England and Brighton. Newcastle’s building of a new business model is the approach United need to follow if they are to keep up. Manchester United are likely to be successful eventually if they invest well as they still have more money than most other clubs in the league.

For Brighton and Brentford fans, we will always have a glass ceiling, where our brightest and best will be picked off by the bigger teams and we’ll eventually fall back down the league after a bad season or two. Thats why we enjoy beating the big teams while we can.
David Williams

Green and gold and Glazer fans of old
‘We’ve won how many titles? Spent how much money? The owners are great.’

Not the exact words perhaps, but it was the sentiment. The green and gold and FC United of Manchester warned folk. Opposition fans smelt it coming. And plenty of United fans were at best warey, and at worst fearful of how the club was run. But I’ve read the mailbox long enough to remember the many voices who refused to see the obvious.

And it’s come to pass. Manchester United are a shambles. Have been for a while and will be for a while more. I’m not a United fan, Arsenal actually, and I’ll admit I find it fairly funny, but I see the sadness too. Not necessarily for the tripe you’re being served and the embarrassment of it all. It’s football. We eat shit for years and if we are very lucky, very very lucky, we get our days in the sun. United fans have had plenty. And you’ll probably have plenty to come. That night in Munich and Brian Kidd running on the old Trafford turf balances this humiliation out more than what most clubs get.

But the sadness. Because I always think of those fans. Who’ll defend their owners whoever they may be. Who refuse to brook any criticism no matter how mild or right it may be. Who will swear blind the sky is green if it serves who they support. And how that same mentality exists out of football. Those who’ll defend their party, their candidate, their tribe, whoever they may be. Who refuse to brook criticism, no matter how mild or right it may be. And who’ll swear blind the sky is green if it serves who they support.

And who’ll read this, knowing they defended this shit for years, and will pretend they didn’t.

Didn’t expect to go political there. But then everything is political.
Robert G

This one isn’t on the Glazers
We are 60 mins into this embarrassing performance against Brentford and I won’t buy any blame for this one being on the Glazers. This one is solely due to the shitty performance on the pitch by the players, the seemingly shitty coaching off it and the lack of any tactical nous on the part of Ten Haag.

Dont have much of an option but to give him some more time but ETH doesn’t se to be the man for the job.a bunch of red flags over the course of the 60mins:

1. Starting Ronaldo upfront when Brentford’s centre backs are 2 slow but strong men especially when there are no decent crossers on the pitch.

2. Waiting for 45mins to make changes when neither the personnel nor the shape were working at all.

3. Making pedestrian like for like changes in personnel. You don’t overcome 4 goal deficit by doing that. Where was the adventure or any form of inspiration. Defeatist from the off..

I’d be surprised if we pull even a goal back.
Akshay V

Glazers In, Ten Hag Out
Forget wanting the Glazers out, our immediate concern is the lack of managerial nous. Every man and his dog knows Brentford relies on setpieces to score goals. If only Ten Hag had done his homework properly, he wouldn’t have put a midget in defense. his team selection was horrible.  Our worst half performance in the Premier League era. Ten Hag can only scout Dutch players from the Eredivisie. And the one he wants most isn’t interested, yet he keeps pursuing them like a love-sick puppy. He needs to go even before the Glazers. What a waste. I’m sick of his managerial ineptitude. And he can take his Dutch midget with him…ffs
Melveaux

United transfer shambles
Dear F365,

The De Jong gazumping by Chelsea is bad enough. But to abandon the pursuit of a player (Arnautovic) because of fan backlash speaks volumes about the shambles behind the scenes.

Do the football people think he’s good enough to improve the side? Then it’s their job to sign him and the fans should give full throated support. Do they not think he’s good enough? Then why even approach him?

What next? Do the fans decide who serves the half time burgers as well?
JW

Sancho…
I remember certain people going crazy when I suggested Sancho might be a flop last summer. The backlash! Oh, the backlash!

That’s all I have to say this time.

Cheers.
Alex C

And the opposition fans laughed…
When does All or Nothing: Manchester United come out??
Ian G

Am I allowed to write this yet hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Ryan Liverpool

Ah this is  what the Erik ten Hag era looks like… can’t wait to see where this goes..
Scouse Chris