MAN UNITED HORROR SHOW

The beautiful game has finally returned for another season after what has a been a long hot summer. Whilst we patiently awaited kick off for the 2022-23 season, we were treated to what was a successful Women’s European Championship. Yes, believe it or not, football finally came home (well sort of). The England Women’s football team did the country proud as they won the competition on home soil in front of a capacity crowd at Wembley stadium defeating Germany 2-1. So, a massive congratulations to the Lionesses on their extraordinary achievement and lets us their success rubs off on the 3 Lions in their quest for World Cup glory in Qatar (here’s hoping!!).

In the present moment, this Premier League season in particular potentially could serve up a four-horse race for the title with the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal bolstering their respective squads and both Manchester City and Liverpool making some impressive acquisitions. Chelsea have also made changes to their squad as they continue life under new owners. Manchester United on the other hand seem to be lagging behind their rivals. With the Ronaldo saga continuing to be a distraction, United Manager Erik Ten Hag may not last 8 games in the league and could the first managerial casualty.

Now, I will admit that I was one of those individuals who bought into Man United’s pre season performances and was highly convinced they had turned a corner under Ten Hag (even Martial was finding the back of the net……this doesn’t happen often). However, their opening game at Old Trafford against Brighton told another story. It exposed various weaknesses that United have yet to address. We can give credit to Brighton for their performance and deserved 2-1 victory away from home, however, you can’t help but to critique Man United’s display in that game.

Perhaps the match against Brighton was a blip, a stumble or even a slip on a banana skin, United could be forgiven by their fans. However, their second game of the season which culminated in their heavy defeat to Brentford away suggests that the Brighton game was not an anomaly. Manchester United were appalling, embarrassingly awful and for the most part shocking. For those that remember the Fergie era, the successful dominant trophy filled cabinets of Old Trafford, season in season out, this current crop of players are a far cry of that past glory.

Brentford approached the game with confidence and belief. They seemed the more determined of the two sides and took 10 minutes to find the back of the net through Dasilva. Jensen added a second goal in the 18^th minute whilst Mee bagged a third in the 30^th minute and Mbeumo sealed victory in the 35^th minute. Manchester United looked dejected and could not respond to the onslaught. We could argue that De Gea may have gifted Brentford two goals, however that does not negate the fact that United were simply terrible across the park. The quickest fix for United and Ten Hag is to relief Ronaldo of all duties and ship him out (why keep a wantaway player? It only creates negativity and unbalance within the squad-GET RID ASAP!!).

The race for the golden boot will be an interesting one this season as we welcome newly acquired forwards in Erling Haaland (Manchester City) & Darwin Nunez (Liverpool). House hold names such as Salah, Kane and Son will also have their eyes on the prize. You can’t help but assume that who ever wins the golden boot will also be a member of the team crowned as premier league champions. With that being said Arsenal’s Jesus has been on fire and this only bodes well for the gunners as they’ve made it 2 wins out of two whilst a Liverpool side without Mane may require more time even with Nunez and Diaz in the side.