It says alot when your former players and most of the media don’t consider your football worthy of winning much this season.
Manchester United great Peter Schmeichel does not believe the team can win the title given the way they are playing under Louis van Gaal. On Sky Sports, the Dane said: “I don’t think they can win the title. I don’t think the team’s good enough. I don’t think the team enjoy playing the way they play.”
And although van Gaal appears to have made changes recently, their 3-2 win over Arsenal papered over the cracks and, in truth, Arsenal made them look better than they are.
However, everything in balance. Maybe van Gaal is letting the team play without the amount of restrictions that were imposed on them earlier in the season. With the amount of injuries at Old Trafford right now, van Gaal has been forced into playing the second string and kids.
But when all is said and done, nothing that van Gaal does now will save his job anyway, but there are five good reasons why Manchester United may as well go on holiday now…
The League
Former players have already dismissed the Old Trafford club’s chances of winning the league.
Leicester are so far ahead of them that The Red Devils will be lucky to get 5th place. With 13 points dividing the two clubs, there are only the very die-hard and delusional reds fans still hopefully clinging on to the vain anticipation of the trophy heading to Manchester’s red half.
Their inept and lacklustre style has dogged the team from day one and van Gaal’s style and tactics are not that of a Manchester United team. Never before have so many fans been driven to read text messages on their phones instead of watching their team. Either that or they are asleep.
So the Premier League has disappeared this term and any hopes of a top four finish are unlikely. And that would be a disaster. No Champions League for another year, lost revenue and the lost chance of big name signings for the most successful club in English footballing history. T
he divide between the big teams and the so called lesser teams is not so big anymore and this year has proved that.
Lack Of Players
Spending money is not a guarantee of success and when you look at the £250m van Gaal has spent, what exactly is there to show for it? Clubs need to build, so surely you can’t just lob a couple of players into the mix and hope they gel.
The defeat against Norwich only goes to show the decline of the Old Trafford club and the fact that top players are not attracted to the them anymore doesn’t help matters. Having decided to pay top money to buy young, emerging stars such as Anthony Martial last year, they now need to concentrate on bringing in the finished article.
And top-class talent at that.
Work Out The Defence
Gone are the days of Bruce and Pallister.
Losing Luke Shaw was a huge blow and Rojo hasn’t played as much, but no-one has really emerged with much credit. Matteo Darmian has been moved to left back then back to the right, Antonio Valencia has stepped in on the right and Ashley Young has filled in on both sides.
Chaos.
Europa League
Frankly, there are better teams in the Europa League when you consider the likes of Lazio and Dortmund are still in the competition.
United are fighting to stay in the same sporting bracket as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, who are also in the market for world-class players to work with Pep Guardiola, to stay in that top five in Europe.
With their humiliating exit from the Champions League, this trophy is one of two that there is a chance of winning, but United are no longer top draw and will struggle.
Goals
United have recently started scoring goals again, but generally they have seen a distinctive lack of them this season. Why Falcao was ever anywhere near Old Trafford is ludicrous, as was loaning out Wilson to Brighton and before his return, Januzaj being loaned to Dortmund.
And what’s worse of all is that Hernandez is now scoring for fun with Leverkusen. Van Persie had gone to Turkey and Rooney was being played out of position. Every club wants a top class striker, but United have the money and the heritage – they should be able to solve problems like these.
In yet another disaster struck van Gaal this season, United will look back on 2015-16 with some dismay and nothing in the trophy cabinet. A new face at the helm, some players leaving and some fresh talent coming in will add extra impetus for the next season, but in reality, United have stalled and gone backwards.
Maybe next year, eh?