By Jonathan Gault
I know it’s tempting to talk about the title race this time
of year – I’ve covered it in this space previously and will continue to do so
in the coming weeks. Chelsea lead Liverpool and Arsenal by four points, but
each of those squads has a game in hand on the Blues. Manchester City is a
further two points back, but it has three games in hand on Chelsea. There are
eight weeks to go and any of those four clubs could win the Premier League.
It’s as exciting a title race as I can remember. And yet…
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| Photo by Alex Livesey |
I still feel the need to write about Manchester United.
The Red Devils’ struggles are not a recent problem; they
lost three matches in September after losing just five in all of 2012-13. But
it’s still startling to turn on a game from Old Trafford and watch as the team
in red – for so long an invincible, unflinching machine – continually beats
itself. Man U has lost five Premier League games at home this season, as many
as its previous three seasons combined, per Infostrada Sports. With Man City
still yet to visit, that total could climb even higher.
Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool wasn’t just the latest
chapter in a depressing season; it was the game you would show someone if they
asked you: “Which match epitomizes Man U’s 2013-14 season?”
It began with a Liverpool side that entered Old Trafford
expecting victory. Emboldened by the success of Everton, Newcastle and Spurs –
all of whom ended long droughts at Old Trafford this season – Liverpool, a more
dangerous squad than any of them, played its typical aggressive, attacking
football from the opening whistle. Too often in recent years, a less-confident
side would get swallowed up by the Old Trafford atmosphere. Not anymore.
The next component of United’s failure of a season has been
a sloppy defense, and on 34 minutes that issue reared its ugly head when Rafael
handled inside the area to grant Liverpool a penalty. Steven Gerrard converted,
and scored again shortly into the second half when Phil Jones shoved Joe Allen
to concede another penalty. Though Daniel Sturridge looked to have dived in
winning Liverpool’s third penalty – which Gerrard missed – the visitors should
have had a fourth when Michael Carrick fouled Luis Suarez in the box. By that
point, referee Mark Clattenburg was probably tired of pointing to the spot.
It was ugly stuff at the back – Nemanja Vidic was sent off
in conceding the third penalty – and it has been for some time. Vidic (32 years
old) and Rio Ferdinand (35), partners in the center of defense since 2005, have
shown their age. Vidic has missed eight league games, Ferdinand 22. Phil Jones,
still just 22, could one day be the answer. But he’s overmatched right now and
far too inconsistent. Chris Smalling has likewise struggled in that role.
Patrice Evra is 32 and no longer gets as far forward in attack, shifting more
responsibility to a midfield that has struggled for most of the season.
Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick again gave United
little in the middle of the park, but David Moyes was hesitant to remedy that
problem, waiting until the 76th minute to send on Tom Cleverley and Danny
Welbeck. By then, it was too late. Moyes’ choice to replace Juan Mata with
Ferdinand after Suarez added Liverpool’s third was the ultimate sign of
capitulation; a desperate hope to avoid further embarrassment in a fixture that
had already gotten out of hand.
And that’s perhaps the weirdest thing about this season.
It’s not just that Man U lost – most people would expect that given Liverpool’s
recent form. It’s the way the hosts lost. Conceding three penalties at Old
Trafford when United had never conceded more than one in the Premier League
era. The utter lack of link-up play, as if Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie
play on a different team from everyone else. One shot on target against a team
that allowed two goals to Fulham and three to Swansea just last month. The
shirts remain the same, but the on-field product bears little resemblance to
United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
It probably hasn’t helped that Sir Alex remains a towering
presence at the club, presiding over games at the director’s box – it’s still
unclear whether the Ferguson NBC Sports showed toward the end of their
broadcast was alive or dead, such was the blankness of his expression. Maybe
Ferguson knew something and got out at just the right time.
The way I see it, the disaster of 2013-14 starts with one
underlying truth – last year’s team overachieved. Moyes didn’t begin the season
with one of the three strongest squads in the league, and once United lost a
few games early, the players may have begun to doubt themselves just as the
rest of the league became more confident. As the losses kept piling up, that
Man U aura dissipated, leading to a day like Sunday, when a referee is brave
enough to give three penalties against United.
The Red Devils sit in seventh place, and even Europa League
football will be difficult with fifth-place Spurs five points up on them
(though United has a game in hand). Man U hasn’t finished lower than sixth
since 1990 (and even then, it won the FA Cup); in the Premier League era, its
lowest finish is third. It’s a dark time to live in the red half of Manchester,
and could get darker still if City adds the league title to the Capital One Cup
it won earlier this month. I can’t offer advice to Moyes – his management has
been far from perfect, but there’s only so much one can do with inferior
talent. And that, when you get down to it, was what Sunday’s game was about. As
much as I enjoy trying to explain this game and put things in perspective,
United was comprehensively beaten by a vastly superior side in Liverpool. That
sentence, more than any fact or figure, describes just how far Man U has fallen
in 2014.
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