Manchester United is in 18th place as the Premier League heads into a two-week international break. The start — Manchester United’s worst since 1986 — is unthinkable for one of the world’s richest and most popular clubs. Just last season, it finished third behind Arsenal and Manchester City and showed signs of competing for a title in the near future.
Now it’s in disarray. Much of the blame has been placed on manager Michael Carrick, who is expected to be relieved of his duties as soon as this week.
The most glaring issues are defensive, as United has conceded 19 goals in the Premier League. That’s the same number as newly promoted side Coventry City, whose squad costs about one-third as much as United’s. Injuries and lack of roster depth have forced the team to shuffle different combinations of players from game to game. Fans have bemoaned the club’s decision not to sign any new defenders over the summer.
Critics have also pointed to one of the simplest parts of the game — running. Per Gradient Sports data, Manchester United is 19th out of 20 in the league in both distance covered and average maximum speed. Statistics like those never tell the full story, but covering ground is essential to winning back the ball effectively.
The situation has gotten so bad that even star midfielder Bruno Fernandes called out his team after a 4-1 loss at Como in Italy last month in the UEFA Champions League.
“It’s not the first time we started on the wrong foot and they scored very early,” said Fernandes, who was benched the next game for his comments. “Not much pressure on the ball, not really many good movements without the ball, not many things going our way.”
But while Carrick has received criticism, many fans don’t appear ready to completely turn on their manager, continuing to sing his name after recent defeats. After all, Carrick was a beloved player for Manchester United who manned the proverbial engine room in midfield during the late 2000s — one of the most successful stretches in club history.
The supporters’ anxiety appears to be caused more by the players and ownership. During the draw with Villa, fans chanted “You’re not fit to wear the shirt” at the 11 men on the field. Last week against AS Roma, fans released thousands of green and gold balloons — the colors the club wore at its founding in 1878 before it rebranded to red in 1902 — in protest of the Glazer family, which owns a majority interest in the club.
The balloons were back at the Aston Villa game Sunday. Fans also unfurled signs that read “We don’t want a new stadium, we want new owners,” and “Your funeral, not ours. Sell up.” The escalating protests come just a week after Gary Neville, a former United player and one of the most prominent pundits in the sport, called for the Glazers to sell their stake.
Recent comments by co-owner Avram Glazer added fuel to the fire that the family doesn’t care about winning as long as its asset remains profitable.
Last week, an anonymous source from a September Deutsche Bank investment conference told The Athletic that Glazer said Manchester United can be commercially powerful without success on the field. The report said Glazer compared his club to American franchises like the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys, who have not won a Super Bowl for 30 years and counting.
Regardless of the on-field success, you can’t deny that the Glazers have overseen massive investment in the team.
