Where is the anger from Manchester United fans?
Liam Brady didn’t even need the second half in Sevilla to decide how this game was going. Did anyone?
United are a far, far cry from the trailblazing identity that once set them apart. They’re still one of the biggest clubs in the world, they’ll always have a global audience but you have to wonder how far their respect is falling every time mass crowds tune into these big games.
Three managers later, hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds spent and a culmination of the best players on the planet residing at Old Trafford and United aren’t even interested in trying to take the game to anyone.
Jose Mourinho has transformed their mentality into an overachieving collection of underdogs who are instructed to count publicly the Community Shield as one of the trophies they won last season and the most worrying thing is that the very same mindset adopted by the manager is festering beyond the camp.
No-one’s asking why they bought Alexis Sanchez just to stand him next to Ashley Young. Too few are querying why they bought Matic in the first place if he needs one or two like-minded partners standing next to him to babysit him for the whole game. And the line that United are improving is just an insult to the United that used to be.
At half time of the game against Sevilla where there must clearly have been an instruction not to create risk by attacking – remember, this is a team that left out Pogba and an attacking midfielder, usually Lingard, to bring in two extra solid generals in the middle – Liam Brady thought back to what he remembered about the great United.
The Matt Busby United. The Alex Ferguson United. The fearsome United.
“This is Manchester United,” he said, exasperated at what he was watching.
“This guy doesnt fit Manchester United.”
Darragh Maloney played devil’s advocate like any good anchor would but he was fighting a losing battle.
His defence that this was just the first leg away from home was quickly batted away by Brady who just repeated the same line to great effect.
“This is Manchester United, Darragh.”
He went on to talk about how Mourinho isn’t a fit for the club and what he did with Real Madrid too before hammering home that he was never going to be the right man for the job.
“The Manchester United manager is at the other side of the city.”
But, because of how it panned out, it’s Manchester City, the Eastlands club, the once noisy neighbours who are establishing themselves as the force that want to – and can – go on to conquer everything.
And, under Mourinho, United fans will be told to believe that they’re punching above their weight.
