As the saying goes: If you can hide from the first day, you can't hide from the fifteenth.
Manchester United's 2021/22 season can already be declared empty, Manchester United can now prepare for the 2022/23 season in advance, as long as the right planning, maybe the club's reconstruction will be promising.
In the third round of the FA Cup, Manchester United eliminated the visiting Villa at home with a score of 1-0 with McTominay's goal to advance to the fourth round, but the referee's key goal and Manchester United's performance in the game became the focus of debate between the media and fans after the game, which can be summed up as Manchester United's victory and Villa's more deserving of promotion. But the result can not be changed, and after Manchester United survives, there is still hope to compete for the only championship trophy that can be fought for this season.
However, the last thoughts of this season have also been completely shattered in this Premier League winter break.
Last night and this morning, the FA Cup round 4 started, and Manchester United continued to sit at Old Trafford to face Championship side Middlesbrough. In the face of low-level opponents, coach Ronnick did not dare to be careless, almost the strongest lineup. C Ronaldo, B- Fernandez, Pogba, Sancho, Rashford, Varane, Maguire and other main coefficients appeared, without the slightest toddler.
In the last Premier League game before the winter break, Manchester United relied on Rashford's second-reading kill to defeat rival West Ham United to return to the top four, the morale of the team is high, Lonnick naturally wants to hit the iron while it is hot, impact the FA Cup title, and crown his temporary coaching career.
However, this imaginary game became Manchester United's Waterloo, and it was unlucky with C Ronaldo.
Middlesbrough is currently only seventh in the Championship, not on the same level as Manchester United, who are fourth in the Premier League. After the opening, Manchester United firmly controlled the initiative of the game, with more than 70% of the possession rate, and the whole game exploded 30 shots on goal, and 9 feet were on target.
This should be the best data that Lonnick has handed over on the offensive end since he took charge of Manchester United, but unfortunately, Manchester United has never been able to turn the victory into a victory on the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo missed the penalty, did not score the barb, passed himself after passing the goalkeeper, B- Fernandez pushed the empty goal in the middle of the post... In short, apart from Sancho's burst shot, whether it is a lead or a draw, United's performance on the offensive end is lackluster.
C Ronaldo 1 man slammed 10 feet at the Middlesbrough goal, but found nothing, and also lost the penalty that could have taken away the victory, and this day happened to be C Ronaldo's 37th birthday, which was really depressed plus a little back.
After all, Middlesbrough has also mixed with the Premier League, seen the world, and played quite tenaciously in this game. In addition to withstanding Manchester United's indiscriminate bombardment, the counterattack was also very sharp. Lonnick sent the full force but replaced De Gea with Henderson alone, and although Matt Klocks' equalising goal didn't have much to do with him, the young goalkeeper's zero save in the penalty shootout was the root of United's exit.
In the penalty shootout, Manchester United made 7 of 8 free throws, Middlesbrough made 8 of 8 free throws, and Manchester United's FA Cup dream came to an end.
The exit of the FA Cup means that Manchester United only have two competitions left this season, the Premier League and the Champions League, the Premier League title is hopeless, and Manchester United's realistic goal is still to compete for four. At present, Manchester United is only 2 points ahead of Arsenal in the case of 1 more game, and only 2 points more than Tottenham Hotspur, which has one less game, and the pressure to compete for four is still huge. As for the Champions League, it seems that there has been no Manchester United from the beginning to the end, even if there are illusions about the attacking line, looking at the defensive line that was broken by Middlesbrough's poke, you will understand that this fantasy is also a mirror.
Saion lost his horse and knew the misfortune. It may be a good thing that Manchester United are out of the game, there is only one goal left to fight for four, and Lonnick no longer needs to be distracted and concentrate on the Premier League. And Manchester United, which has a huge difference in the strength of the main force and the substitutes, can really rely on a set of squads to fight to the end.