Considerate talk丨Ten questions Manchester United, where is your lower limit?

Written 丨Wake up naturally at three o'clock in the morning

Editor丨 Feng Xiao

Don't even want a face!

This time it is not the Chinese men's football team, nor the Chinese men's basketball team, but the Red Devils Manchester United.

In the fifth round of the 2023-24 Premier League season, Manchester United lost 3-1 at home to Brighton. It stands to reason that it is not too humiliating for any Premier League team to lose to Brighton now, after all, Brighton were the biggest dark horse last season, and this season is still strong.

But the reason why Manchester United's defeat is particularly dazzling, firstly, because the process of losing is very humiliating, secondly, it has created a very humiliating record, and then the commotion of manager Ten Hag has once again become the focus of everyone's heated discussion. To sum up, there are ten problems with the Red Devils:

1. How bad is Manchester United?

The score of 1-3 in itself cannot be said to be particularly ugly. But the same result of a 3-1 loss can have a different type of process.

You go one first and then be reversed by your opponent, and the two sides go back and forth to make it 1-3, or after being scored three times in a row, you score an insignificant goal. These situations make people feel different.

Manchester United's 1-3 is clearly catching up with the worst way to open. Sitting at home, they only resisted for 71 minutes before being defeated by their opponents, and the goal scored by young player Hannibal in the 73rd minute may not even save face.

Behind the disappointing result was an even more disappointing process.

Rashford has had several chances to play 1-1 with opposing defenders, but either kicks or deflects. Casemiro, Erikson and Scott McTominay in midfield were blown up by Gross, Dahoud and Lallana, who were significantly lower than themselves. As for Onana, who is in the goalkeeper position, he has gradually become the "king on target".

The magical scene of B Fei going to play guard has stunned countless fans.

2. Where is the lower limit for Manchester United?

The defeat gave United the following key records:

For the first time since 1979, United have conceded more than one goal in four consecutive league games.

For the first time in 34 years, United have lost three of their five league games in the opening season games.

Manchester United suffered four consecutive defeats against Brighton in the Premier League.

In the first five rounds of the league, Manchester United have 2 wins, 3 losses and 6 points, sitting 13th in the table. If there is a more intuitive way to judge Manchester United's current status, it is that Manchester United is no longer visible on the "first screen".

Take my mobile phone as an example, if you want to see Manchester United, you have to take Manchester City out of sight.

In the first five rounds, Manchester United won Wolves and Nottingham Forest, while losing Tottenham, Arsenal and Brighton. In Fan Zhiyi's words, after losing Brighton, then losing to Burnley, Crystal Palace... Then there is no need to lose?

Of course not, there are 20 teams in the Premier League, and as long as Manchester United dare to continue the wave, there will always be someone who can step up and win them.

3. Who is the problem?

As mentioned earlier, Manchester United are not in form from goalkeeper to striker now, are these players really that bad?

Goalkeeper Onana, who made a name for himself at Ajax, has been consistent at Inter in previous years and helped the team reach the Champions League final last season. Casemiro, Erikson, B Fei and others have already proven their strength, if they say that they are not capable, those who look at penalties will definitely not believe it.

Although Manchester United are indeed affected by injuries now, with the quality of their current squad, they should not be beaten by Brighton at home.

So what's the problem? Coach Ten Hag naturally became the focus of criticism.

4. Why cronyism?

To say that Ten Hag is incapable may not be very objective. It was remarkable that he was able to lead Ajax to the last four of the Champions League in previous years. After all, in an era where the dominance of the supergiants is getting stronger, it is very difficult for non-top league teams to go very far in the Champions League.

The success of managing Ajax shows that Ten Hag is very good at developing young players. It's good to be good at tapping into the potential of young players, but you don't have to dig all the players you develop to Manchester United, do you?

Looking closely at the resumes of Manchester United players today, players with Ajax or Eredivisie backgrounds include Leonana, Sandro Martinez, Malaysia, Donny van de Beek, Eriksen, Anthony... Rasmus Hoylen has not played at Ajax, but is in the same agent as Ten Hag.

Among the players brought by Ten Hag, the hottest eye is undoubtedly the "billion-dollar compass" Anthony, even if he did not perform well on the court, and now he is even caught in a domestic violence scandal, and it is still a question of whether he can return to normal games in the future.

What is even more chilling is that if Ten Hag had not insisted on buying those Ajax concubines, Ajax would not have dared to ask for a sky-high price.

Ten Hag's exploits at Manchester United are not yet easy to judge, but he has absolutely done his best for Ajax.

5. Why drive away meritorious achievements?

Ten Hag is tolerant enough of his own players, but very mean to Manchester United's old age.

At the beginning, he didn't want to use Ronaldo, but he can still be understood by many people. But then he sent De Gea away and fell out with Sancho, who was led by Solskjaer, which has to make people wonder about his motives.

The meme of "picturesque up front, De Gea at the back" speaks volumes about the importance of De Gea to Manchester United. Keten Hag drove De Gea away in his second season after his arrival, and the person he found to replace De Gea was Onana, who he himself coached.

It's intriguing.

6. Is the crash imminent?

The use of "concubinage" or "acquaintance" is a double-edged sword, and when used well, it can become a good story, and if it is not used well, it can also become a laughing stock.

Klopp likes to buy people from the Bundesliga, Guardiola likes to buy people from La Liga, Li Tie likes to choose people from Wuhan... Even without any tendency, it is normal to find people from places you know.

The point is, regardless of where people come from, in the end, it is up to their grades to speak. Obviously, Ten Hag's current situation is neither like Guardiola nor Klopp, but most like Li Tie.

Ten Hag arrived last season and ended up in third place in the Premier League after a bad start, which can be said to be relatively successful.

In the second season, the club gave Teng full trust, thinking that he would lead Manchester United further, but now it is about to collapse.

7. When does Ten Hag end class?

The important question arises, should Ten Hag leave class? Or when will he leave class?

Some time ago, Germany coach Frick left class, which made many fans discover for the first time that he was the first manager in the history of the German team to be fired. In the 123-year history of the German team, Frick is only the 11th manager.

Manchester United are much better than Germany in terms of changing managers. Since Ferguson's retirement, United have gone through eight managers: Moyes, Giggs, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Solskjaer, Carrick, Rangnick and Ten Hag in a decade. Even if Giggs and Carrick, who have a short transition, the rhythm of coach changes in 10 years and 6 is frequent enough.

Before managers like Jose Mourinho and Van Gaal, Manchester United also said that it was fried, how long can Ten Hag last?

But then again, look at Manchester United's post-Ferguson managers, whether they are world-famous managers or managers like David Moyes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who are less famous but have proven themselves.

One thing they have in common is that they have all been successful elsewhere, but by Manchester United they have all gone from "holy" to "hi".

So the manager of Manchester United is actually an innocent backer?

8, the Glazer family does not back the pot?

Whenever a team loses, fans always discuss whether the players are not good or the coaches are not good? Of course, there will be more far-sighted fans who ask, is it not the football association, or the boss is not?

Since Manchester United have spent less money over the years, players have not been bought less, and coaches have not been changed, but they have never been able to get on the right track of revival. So the real problem, will it be the boss?

The Glazer family is going to say, I don't carry this pot. Over the years, Manchester United's investment in the top three in Europe can burn more money than Manchester City, I still feel a loss, if I have the opportunity, I also want to sell Manchester United.

In fact, the Glazer family really had a chance to sell Manchester United, and even once only made an official announcement.

In November last year, Manchester United officially announced the sale of the team, and the Qatari consortium was infinitely close to buying Manchester United, and this summer it was reported that the Qatari consortium's acquisition of Manchester United was about to be officially announced. But later, as the Glazer family sat on the ground and backtracked, Manchester United finally failed to usher in a new owner.

Many fans want the Glazer family to sell Manchester United, because in their years at the helm, Manchester United's results have been tepid, and perhaps the biggest obstacle to Manchester United's revival is the Glazer family.

9. Toss, when is it a head?

Manchester United was once one of the best performing and most popular football clubs in the world. Alex Ferguson, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, as long as you are a football fan, you can definitely say the names of these Manchester United celebrities.

Manchester United's popularity is still high, but the results have plummeted. Regardless of the level of the team and the competition, the path Manchester United has traveled in the post-Ferguson era is increasingly reminiscent of the national football team...

Constantly pushing back and reinventing, constantly repeating the mistakes of the past, whenever I see a little hope, it is quickly ruthlessly extinguished by the cold reality. Or in the words of Fan Zhiyi: "Change the soup without changing the medicine!" ”

Endless blind tossing, when is it a head?

10. When will revival come?

In the difficult years of Manchester United -

Liverpool, who were once removed from the throne by Manchester United, have regained the Champions League and Premier League titles. Manchester United's city rivals, Manchester City, have become the dominant Premier League and have also reached the Champions League. AC Milan regained the Serie A title and Inter Milan were able to reach the Champions League final. Barcelona can also stand on the La Liga championship podium again after losing Messi.

Even Arsenal have shown a complete transformation.

What about Manchester United? When will the true path to revival begin?