By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
Manchester
United fans who made the short trip to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday will be
wondering why they even bothered to show up.
Their side put in an appalling defensive display and were crushed by
their neighbours Manchester City 4-1.
The result
leaves the Red Devils down in eighth place in the table below Southampton,
Everton, Liverpool and the other sides that finished in last season’s Premier
League top five.
Should the
alarm bells be ringing at Old Trafford, or is it too soon to be talking about a
crisis?
United don’t
always make perfect starts. In the
glorious Sir Alex Ferguson era, the Red Devils were often efficient in the opening
months and stayed in the pack ready to make their move into the New Year.
For David
Moyes he fixture schedule was totally unkind this season as his side have had
to play Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in the first five matches. Therefore it was always going to be difficult
to come out of these games with maximum points.
It has to be said though that one point only from the three games is
well below expectations.
It isn’t just
the results though in these crunch matches.
United sides normally put up a great fight in losing, and over a 38-game
season, will probably lose around three to five games – maybe twice being
comprehensively outplayed or having a real off-day. The fact of the matter is they barely
threatened at home to Chelsea in that drab Monday night encounter a month
ago. It was a similar case at Anfield a
week later when they were defeated by Daniel Sturridge’s third minute goal. On Sunday at Eastlands it was exactly the
same.
Wayne Rooney (pictured looking stunned with Michael Carrick) might be in brilliant form when fit and focused and his stunning free-kick at
least won the goal of the day award in the closing stages, but that wasn’t even
consolation. Robin van Persie didn’t
play due to a groin injury and has looked well below his best since his
dynamite double on the opening weekend away at Swansea. The strikers are getting no support also from
the midfield. Apart from a strong
performance by Antonio Valencia in the Champions League victory in midweek, the
likes of Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck have had mediocre starts
while Ryan Giggs is possibly in the worst form of his glorious career and is
perhaps just starting to show that his influence on games at the age of 39 is
just not the same anymore.
Defensive
lapses were a real concern for the visiting supporters who were left stunned
when Samir Nasri thumped City into a 4-0 lead in the 51st
minute. Surely there were flashbacks of
that horror day at Old Trafford when they were humiliated 6-1 less than two
years ago. There was a real lack of
cohesion and communication in the backline between Nemanja Vidic, Chris
Smalling, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.
You would struggle to argue that apart from Smalling, three of these
defenders are part of the club’s best back four combination.
Never write
Manchester United off at your peril.
They are only five points off the top of the table and it is only late September. Plus they have some
favourable fixtures in the coming weeks but this is not the start the new
manager wanted.
Embarrassed
and red-faced at the Etihad on Sunday, Manchester United have some way to go to
convince people they are still the real deal without Sir Alex. Results and confidence wise, Wednesday’s
night’s Capital One Cup tie at home to Liverpool now looks like a must-win
match for Moyes.
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