Let’s start with the defense. United are plagued by extensive decay. Bruno Fernandes, perhaps the team’s biggest superstar, could not play against Crystal Palace due to health reasons. Almost all the stoppers were also missing, so veteran Johnny Evans started in the center of defense with defensive midfielder Casemir. That Hag was missing a total of ten players.
But even that shouldn’t mean that his wards will get a four from the fourteenth team in the league.
In addition, looking at the statistics, it is evident that Hag’s style of play is not working. That is, if you manage to find one in the United game, which is sometimes a superhuman task. The opposing team in the Premier League let in 618 shots. Derby County, which in the 2007/08 season fell completely among the elite and dropped from the last place with eleven points, allowed a record 629 of them to the opponents. For a complete season. The team from Manchester still have three games to play.
In addition, until the current season, United have never lost more than twelve times in the league. Monday’s debacle was already the thirteenth failure of the year.
“I’ve seen few worse-managed teams,” said ex-England international Jamie Carragher to The Hague. “Even junior United shouldn’t lose 4:0 against Crystal Palace.”
“This tasted like the final nail in the coffin. The team didn’t show anything at all,” added Scholes.
According to him, Steve McClaren, Haga’s current assistant, should take the coaching chair by the end of the season. “Although he already works for the team, he has absolutely no say. I know the style he works in,” said Scholes. “McClaren is a great coach and this team is not coached at all,” added Michael Owen, the best footballer on the planet in 2001.
United fans are understandably upset too. They still have vivid memories of how the Red Devils under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson swept Europe. And now? “You’re all fucked up,” they yelled at the players, who rushed down the tunnel to the cabins after the humiliating defeat.
What about the Hag criticized everywhere?
“We are at the bottom. But we can certainly rise from it,” hopes the Dutchman.
The question is whether it will succeed with him at the helm. United are eighth in the league and two points off the cup. They will have a chance to save the season on May 25, when they face rivals City in the FA Cup final.
In the current state of mind, even the biggest gambler wouldn’t bet on them. “If they play like this against City, they will embarrass themselves in front of millions of people,” Owen aptly observed.
