Following a successive 3-0 home defeat to an excellent Bournemouth side in the swirling wind and rain at Old Trafford, there are a multitude of statistics that do not look good for Manchester United.
It was only the second time in its history that the club have lost consecutive home games to the same opponents by three or more goals – Burnley in 1961 and 1962 was the other.
It was the fourth time that United have conceded three goals at home in the league so far this season; all four defeats. United have lost as many at home as they’ve won and have a negative goal difference in what should be their fortress at Old Trafford.
Such statistics would have been unheard of when United last won the title in 2013 – and Bournemouth were a third-tier side attracting crowds of 5,000.
The English giants are in the bottom half of the table during the festive period for the first time since 1989, when they eventually finished 13th. The current United team are 13th. True, United fans didn’t expect to win the league this season, but they hardly expected to be in the bottom half of the table.
Under new manager Ruben Amorim, United have conceded 17 goals in 9 games, including seven in the last two games. Of United’s goals conceded, 42 per cent have been from set pieces, a trend which continued against Bournemouth.
United have now gone behind in six consecutive games and already another awkward pattern is emerging under Amorim: win two then lose two. The Portuguese is barely through the door but he still enjoys substantial goodwill since little of this mess is of his making.
The 39-year-old is a superb communicator and even managed to be optimistic in the post-match press conference. He took his share of the blame, told of his frustration, used the word “anxiety” to describe the mood in the stadium several times and made it clear that he knows how to right the wrongs.
“This is one of the lowest moments in our club, so we have to face it,” said Amorim. “I just want to win.” So do the fans, who are tired of their club underachieving season after season.
Defender Lisandro Martinez, who looks a shadow of the man who excelled in his first season in England, claimed that United did enough to win the game.
Such comments will always raise eyebrows when you’ve been defeated 3-0 at home, but he had a point: United had 23 shots to Bournemouth’s 10, enjoyed 60 per cent of possession and had 45 touches in the opposition box to 15, but the result is what will be remembered in a month where United have already lost four times. It was five last December, the worst since 1933.
United struggle to score goals. Over half the home goals came in two games against struggling Everton and Leicester, and the team continue to concede in blocks – two goals in two minutes v Bournemouth. Injuries don’t help, unkind cup draws too.
The team were eliminated from the League Cup at Spurs on Thursday and will travel back to North London to play Arsenal in the FA Cup third round at the start of January.
United are structured to play Champions League football and while the Premier League remains tight around the middle – just six points separate United in 13th and Bournemouth in fifth, the league table doesn’t lie: United look miles off where they should be.
The squad is full of players on top end Uefa Champions League wages putting in mid ranking Europa League performances. It's a consistently colossal underachievement.
United have a talented coach and players who were competent enough to defeat out-of-form Manchester City away last week, but Amorim likes to rotate his teams and there should be strength in depth to do so. He inherited a complex dressing room and a team assembled by six different managers.
Like those before him, he has to try to unpick the dysfunction, usually at great expense and via a multitude of new signings but even there United have little room for manoeuvre. The club have simply spent too much on too many failed signings and need to pay for them.
United’s mistakes have included letting managers control almost all the recruitment and awarding vast contracts to young players who haven’t been worth it. They create monsters. Hype hits players as soon as they hit the first team where there is a lack of leaders.
United have big name players on vast contracts who are always injured. There are leaks – and people who call themselves fans happy to leak teams before matches, which undermines the tactical plans of coaches.
“[Alex] Ferguson’s success was as much about discipline rather than scouting or data,” one leading sports director told The National. “No player would be allowed to do an unauthorised interview.
“The coaches have had far too much power and there’s no solid foundation. It’s better to lose a young player rather than give them a huge contract before they’ve won a single title.”
Next week marks a year since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos took control of the football making decisions at United. They’ve made significant changes at significant cost, but the road remains bumpier than ever.
