Beyond Management
Despite the constant change in management over the last few years, Manchester United has continued to produce poor results. United’s current manager, Erik Ten Hag, is no exception. Ten Hag has become the first United manager to lose his first two games. As if it couldn't get any worse, we also saw the team at the bottom of the league for the first time in 30 years. As Manchester United faces embarrassing results, many critics have been quick to blame the manager, calling for yet another change. However, it must be noted that there are deeper issues with the club.
Underperforming Players
One big problem is that there are various players who are constantly failing to meet expectations and can be to blame for Manchester United’s poor results. In the 2022-2023 season, Manchester United spent roughly 200 million pounds, ranking among the most in all of Europe. Despite these astronomical signings, many of the players are still underperforming.
Jaden Sancho
Once thought of as one of the world’s best upcoming stars, Jaden Sancho was finding plenty of success at Borussia Dortmund. In 2021, Manchester United signed Sancho for 72.9 million pounds. However, the prodigy's exciting talents seemed to have left him as he joined the club. Eventually, the player even lost his starting position and is now looking to return to Dortmund. Disappointing would be an understatement!
Antony
Brazilian winger Antony is just another example of a failed signing. Antony was having much success at Dutch club, Ajax. In 2022, Manchester United signed him for a whopping 86 million pounds. In September 2023, Antony faced allegations of violence against women. This ongoing conflict is clearly affecting him on the pitch. “I can explain and I think it’s very simple, his off-field issues stop him playing,” noted his manager, Ten Hag, in a news conference.
Ownership
The Glazer family began their controlling interest in Manchester United in 2005. Since this year the club has sunk to its lowest point in Premier league history and it seems that nothing has changed for the better. In the last 13 years, the issues are becoming more prevalent. For instance, since 2013 the club has spent 517 million dollars in interest payments, a number that is three times any other English club. Despite their heavy spending, the club has not produced much to be proud of. There has been not revamp of their stadium and they have not been able to sign a true star. "The embedded failure over a 10-year period to where the club is currently at has to come back to the ownership," said club legend Gary Neville. Neville is one of countless people that are turning to the ownership when criticizing Manchester United.
Clearly, the club needs to fix these changes, and they must do it quickly as the team continues to fall apart.
-Brendan Gray
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