An injury ravaged Manchester United travelled to Craven Cottage this afternoon with only one first-choice defender in Patrice Evra. As if the defensive situation wasn't bad enough, Ferguson made it a whole lot worse when he gambled when electing to play three at the back. It would have been hard enough if the manager was able to select his first choice defenders, but expecting a makeshift three to deal with Fulham's in-form strikers' was frankly nothing short of ridiculous.
The champions went on to lost three nil thanks to goals by Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff. The result was a fair reflection of the game and United have no excuses as there was precious little effort from those in red shirts.
On the plus side, the manager did at least start with two strikers in Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, but despite flooding midfield, the engine room was pretty much none existent and as far as senior players like Paul Scholes was concerned he went missing in action along Darron Gibson, Anderson, Evra and Valencia.
United didn't trouble Mark Schwarzer all afternoon - a damning fact even allowing for the injury problems.
The United players on duty at Craven Cottage today were a total disgrace and not one of them deserves more than 2 out of 10. The performance level was without doubt the worst of the season so far, in fact it was the worst for a very long time.
Ferguson has had a long running dispute with the BBC and so he no longer speaks to the corporation; but there is no excuse for not facing the music and the Sky cameras. Sending out Mike Phelan is not what the fans expect following such a poor performance.
United have now lost five league games already this season; it remains to be seen if the team and manager will respond because the champions grip on the title is slipping badly.
Sigh, what can you say ? I mean yeah he got it so wrong. The midfield is lacking something and it's pretty serious, even full strength its missing that bite/class and it could be our downfall. Relying on Giggs and Scholes has got to stop but the players brought in to replace them are not looking like they can step up. This season is bananas though.
ReplyDeleteReally well put. I'm glad to see you didn't make one excuse for that display of bullsh*t.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, reading the first sentence I thought you might go for the obvious one - '...injury ravaged Manchester United...' - but it's good to see you immediately dismiss that and instead look at the 2 main issues of the day: the team selection and the heart of the players. Both were non-existent and utterly below par. I really don't know where the genuine, long-lasting challenge is going to come from.
Not sure if you agree or not, but I'm getting pretty tired with all the 'yeh but we've got more points than last season and scored more goals' rubbish that's being used to condone our poor display after poor display. It's ridiculous for any United to honestly think we're doing better than last year. We ARE worse and we DO need a change.
Another good point you made that I agree with was Evra not showing up. He has been by FAR our best player this season, so for him to not play well speaks volumes for the general display and integrity.
pos,
ReplyDeleteI cannot remember the last time (Milan away 2007?) when the team failed collectively without putting up a fight.
The lack of effort and desire from United on Saturday was shocking.
Fergie should have faced the music too and I'm going to be banging on about that from now on.
fbhotw,
ReplyDeleteIt is bananas, by rights our season should be effectively over given the games we've lost so far.
great blogg, been looking for one of theses for a while. Couldnt agree with you more; if we can play with 2 forwards then we should play with two forwards, always.
ReplyDeletecheers from sweden.
I don't know why Sir Alex is not interested in winning the trophy this season?
ReplyDeleteHe must buy some good players in this transfer window. Losing is not in our habit and if the margin is 3-0 then it is not at all acceptable.
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