December 28, (THEWILL) – Manchester United’s return to Premier League action on Monday night away to Newcastle was abysmal and not for the first time this season. They escaped St James’ Park with a deserved 1-1 draw against Newcastle United, who are now second from bottom and have only one win all season.
If it needs to be stated again, this United team is in disarray. And a change of manager has not solved the problem, and it is unlikely to do so if they keep playing like this.
During their first-half disaster class against the Magpies, Gary Neville crystallised the flaws in his angry half-time comments.
“There’s no pressing, there’s no urgency and the basics of the game are not there,” Neville railed in his half-time analysis.
“Every single battle they’ve lost. It has been a really poor performance and not one single thing has gone right as a team. They’ve not done one single thing right and there’s not one single player who can go in at half-time and say that they’ve done their jobs or done themselves justice.”
It was not a team with any overarching ideology; rather, it was a group of players who lacked the necessary passion and ambition to compete against a Magpies team that has struggled this season despite a change in management.
Neville pointed this out in his tirade: “[You need to do] the basics of the game properly, which is win your battles, go in for tackles properly and show a little bit of urgency.
”They are a bunch of whinge-bags. I’m not going to go into the names. But, honestly, they are whining at each other and their arms are up in the air and they are complaining about everything.
“Honestly that is absolutely shocking out there and, to be honest with you, they got the last manager the sack and they’ll get a lot of managers the sack if they carry on like that. It’s only 45 minutes but they’ve got to sort themselves out because that is massively below what’s expected.”
For good reason, even after Edinson Cavani came off the bench to salvage a draw, Neville’s half-time criticisms were not lessened when the full time whistle went. He went as far as mentioning names, this time.
“That’s not what Ralf Rangnick has come in to do at Manchester United. That was a mess.
“The two centre backs were absolutely atrocious from the first minute to the last. It’s devastating for the younger players in the team that the two best players [Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo] are running off at the end and whingeing.
“They have to be the father and the grandparent in the team. They should have a go but also put your arm around [the younger players]. Bruno is whining all the time. The two players at the front who can carry that team have to be there when your teammates need you.
“The attitude and the basics just aren’t right. I don’t think they are all together at this time.”
If it stopped with just Neville and the majority of United fans like him, who made their displeasure with the team performance heard online, it could have been a regular feature of the bad commentary that follows an upset in football analysis. But, it went deeper especially taking the reaction of Rangnick to the display of his side.
The German gaffer was unfiltered in his dissatisfaction and remarked that there were “no excuses” for his team’s performance: “I didn’t like the performance at all. Today we didn’t control the game apart from a few moments.
“It’s all about energy, physicality and who wins the second balls. In all those areas we weren’t at our best. The good thing is we got a point but the performance needs to be better.
“Today it was not a question of formation – it was a question of how aggressive we were. In three days we have the next game. We can do better but we have to do it.
“We shouldn’t look for excuses – we need to be better and get more physical. I was not happy with our performance with the ball or when we had to press. What kind of energy mode do we play with the ball and without the ball?”
Under Rangnick, Eddie Howe became the first manager to earn a point against Manchester United, but he was upset that his team was unable to go one step further after a performance that deserved all three points.
For the present crop of United’s team, which was put together at enormous expense, a desperate and comprehensive makeover is long overdue and it must go all the way to the director level. A lot of quality signings have come to Old Trafford, but the results and trophy cabinet have not lent credence to justify the investments in signings.
It might be unfair to heap much of the blame on Rangnick as he is still new in the role and these issues predate his arrival but it is his responsibility now and he might begin to feel the heat burning under him if things do not improve and quickly too, as he himself alluded to.
It will take everything Rangnick knows about bringing the best out of his team and, as Neville hammered on, the very essential dedication, commitment, passion, drive and determination of each Red Devils’ player to begin the tedious overhauling task that is required to shake off the lethargy that marked the game against Newcastle.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
