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There were no fans inside Old Trafford on Sunday, but if Ed Woodward left the stadium via the exit behind the Stretford End, he would have seen a banner with a rather uncomfortable message: ‘Glazers Out, Woodward Out – More than £ 1bn stolen from MUFC. ‘
Only a handful of followers were present, but their feelings are expressed by many, many more.
His team had just been humiliated by opponents led by José Mourinho, a man who was fired by United in December 2018 as the club’s hierarchy felt that progress was not being made after a second place the previous season.
That summer, Mourinho had fought with the club over his signing.
United are now languishing at 16th, albeit with one game in hand for most Premier League teams, three games in a season after one in which they finished third.
Although they hope to complete a couple of transfers before the transfer window closes at 23:00 BST on Monday, it is easy to see why so many of those supporters blame the people running Manchester United rather than the manager, especially when the boss is someone. as popular as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
On Sunday night, there was no sense of knee-jerk reaction to the 6-1 loss to Tottenham. If anything, there was a shrug from being caught up in what has been a strange start to the season across the league and a day in which there were three outcomes that no one would have predicted at the beginning of the proceedings.
But while champions Liverpool and, to some extent, Leicester, may dismiss their losses as horrible days in the office and move on, at United it’s not that easy – not when fans like those outside Old Trafford continue to shine a light. about the decisions that those responsible are making.
Club leaders highlight the positive aspect of the imminent arrival of Edinson cavani Y Alex Telles. To be fair, Cavani’s goal statistics are impressive, roughly one in two games in all forms, including the Champions League and internationals.
They are not so interested in discussing why it took a few hours before the deadline to sign a 33-year-old who has not had a club since leaving Paris St-Germain on June 30 and has not played. a match since March.
United’s database of potential signings is huge, boiling down to a manageable number before players are scouted and pursued, so there must be something special about Telles given that he will be getting a four-year contract, with the option from another year, in the 27 years.
When the deal ends, there will be little resale value in the Brazilian.
Judgment on both players should be reserved until they actually start playing, which for Cavani may come sooner than he first imagined, now Anthony Martial, who was sent off against Tottenham, must serve a three-game national suspension that excludes until the Everton trip on November 7.
But none smell like the kind of long-term vision United insisted they had after Mourinho’s departure. Neither of them feel part of the cultural reboot, which was also talked about in those days.
And they are definitely not the product of a sporting director either, whose appointment was said to be a priority when Solskjaer was installed in his role as interim manager, but has now been quietly scrapped on the grounds that all parts of the job are already in place. is carried out.
“We’re not going to get into that here,” said Solskjaer, when asked if it was acceptable that a club of the stature of United should be in this position so close to the close of the transfer window. “We need to look at what we have here and do more than we have.”
It’s the kind of response Woodward should appreciate: Unlike Mourinho, Solskjaer doesn’t play politics.
It is impossible to imagine that the Norwegian has a motive beyond what is best for the club. But fans see through this.
They recall the Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla in the summer, when Solskjaer waited until the 87th minute to make a change, and feel it underscored a lack of faith in the depth of their squad. After that match, Solskjaer said: “We need to strengthen the depth of the team, of course.”
Now he is talking about doing more than he has and crossing his fingers his latest signings come off and two of last year’s, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, may return to some kind of form, because they are a shadow of his previous . myself right now.
Under Louis van Gaal, Mourinho and now Solskjaer, United achieved the top four. The seasons that followed saw United fall back, both in position and points, and lose the Champions League.
These are very early days, but the evidence indicates that history is about to repeat itself. Again.
