– The club’s core rots almost every day, with every defeat and with every change of manager. It is a fall of such enormous dimensions. The profiled United.no journalist Eivind Holth has followed the big team from Manchester for a number of years, but now almost has to rub his eyes when he looks at the condition of one of the biggest clubs in the world. Check the “problem list” Monday are the reds the devils host Liverpool at home at Old Trafford, but if we are to believe the oddsmakers, the arch-rivals from Merseyside have a rare favorite stamp. Most bookmakers give United wins over 5 in odds, which means that they think it is very unlikely that the Old Trafford crowd will get anything to cheer about. MUCH TO THINK ABOUT: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. Photo: DAVID KLEIN / Reuters Right now the list of problems at the club is long: Manchester United opened with two defeats (against Brighton and Brentford), and are at the bottom of the Premier League. It hasn’t happened in 30 years. The relationship between the fans and the owners is at the boiling point, and there are reports of a supporter boycott against Liverpool. The biggest star of them all – Cristiano Ronaldo – was in charge of several of the training matches this summer. According to the British press, he wants to leave, but the Portuguese himself has called the reports lies. There are reports of a divided dressing room, and the local newspaper Manchester Evening News reported loud arguments before the 4-0 loss to Brentford. The club has struggled to attract star players. The recent signing of Casemiro is nevertheless a bright spot. There is still nothing new with long lists of challenges in the red part of Manchester. The last time United went top in the Premier League was in 2013. Then it was manager legend Alex Ferguson who steered the ship. Since then, several great managers have come, failed and gone. – It is difficult to imagine that it could be this bad ten years ago, says Holth. – I would like to think that if you talk to someone who followed United in the 70s, it was probably quite bad, but as I understand it, there were different expectations then too. Manchester United was a big club, but they went and dug in the mud in a slightly different way. But how did it actually go wrong? Unpopular Owners – That’s a huge question. If you want to include it in an article, we are talking about half a book, says Thore Haugstad. news’s football writer nevertheless makes an attempt to explain why Stoda is the way he is at Manchester United. He believes it all started with the Glazer family, who own the club. IN HARD WEATHER: Avie Glazer represented the owners at Old Trafford during the opening match against Brighton on 7 August. Even with a 2-1 loss. Photo: TOBY MELVILLE / Reuters – The Glazers are more concerned with getting dividends, getting money out of the club, than they are with getting the club back at the top. They do not seem to have enough sporting expertise on how to do this. They have bosses, directors and intermediaries between them and the sports doctor, who are very good at commercial matters, but who actually have no experience of how to build a top club, says Haugstad. The football writer points out that the club has consistently appointed people in key sporting roles, who have no experience in this area. A lack of competence pervades the club, Haugstad believes. – Even if they get a good coach, it is not enough. The coach is like completely alone. It says something about the modern requirements in a top club, that you have to have those roles in place, he says. The Meiner Solskjær picture has been turned In other words, there have been few arrows that have turned after Ole Gunnar Solskjær was fired on 21 November last year. A humiliating 5-0 loss at home to Liverpool was followed by a 4-1 loss away to Watford. The Norwegian was finished the next day. A few months earlier, Solskjær had led the club to 2nd place in the Premier League. Solskjær’s work appears better today than in the past, believes Haugstad. – These are exactly the same players who collapsed completely under (Ralf) Rangnick, and who are now struggling under Erik ten Hag. There is no doubt that Solskjær’s time at the club seems to be getting better and better, and that he is the one who has gotten the best out of them, says Haugstad. THANK YOU: Ole Gunnar Solskjær sat in the manager’s chair at Old Trafford from December 2018 to November 2021. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP Holth points out that this image changed quite quickly. When Solskjær was fired, “everyone” agreed that something had to happen. Then Rangnick took over. – It was half a year where all the problems in Manchester United were just unfolded for the whole world. A because Manchester United still played very bad football, and B because Rangnick was as honest as he was. I never think that Solskjær’s reputation was in danger at Old Trafford, precisely because he was the legend he was as a player, but as a manager I undoubtedly think that many have thought twice, and are left with the impression that he might got more out of that bunch – not less. As one might think, says Holth. Now ten Hag faces a formidable task of turning the tide. It is made even more difficult by very unpopular owners. Even before the 4-0 loss to Brentford, supporter actions were announced in connection with the match against Liverpool on Monday. But where most Manchester United supporters are united in their displeasure against the Glazers, there are many different opinions about how this displeasure should be shown. The various initiatives vary from boycotting the match, protest march before the match and leaving the stadium during the match. – I can only say that the owners want to win, and we want the supporters to stand behind the team. I haven’t been at the club long enough to understand the whole background, but we are forced to fight together anyway, said Erik ten Hag at the press conference on Friday.
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