The season began with excitement as fans celebrated the return of the prodigal son, Cristiano Ronaldo, back into the team after 12 years. Who knew that nine months down the line, this football season would turn out to be the worst in decades for Manchester United. Going through a tumultuous season, the infighting of team members, lack of a team spirit, continuously changing management, and even a lack of responsibility from the owners can all be attributed as reasons for the awful performance this season. This time, it is not just the players and coaches facing backlash for the performance. After being dubbed as the worst owners in the premiere league this season, the owners of the Manchester United Football Club the Glazer family are also being held massively responsible for the poor performance of the team.
Manchester United’s shocking performance:
Being one of the top-performing teams of all time, Manchester United shocked everyone this season with its unbelievably inferior performance. Finishing 6th with 58 points on the table, 35 points short of the season champions and local rivals Manchester City, the football season, which opened strongly, got haywire pretty quickly. There were so many factors contributing simultaneously to the ultimate fall from grace for this revered club, that it can easily be dubbed “a successful recipe for disaster.”
The return of Cristiano Ronaldo:
As one of the most prominent figures in football, Cristiano Ronaldo returned, certain ill feelings among other team members came to the forefront. In fact, the agent of a certain senior member has even been highlighted to have complained to the club about not giving as much prominence to their client as they were to Cristiano Ronaldo. This complaint came as the player observed Ronaldo get preference for promotional campaigns. The harboring of ill feelings gradually made its impact on an already dysfunctional team. Starting the season off with a spark, Manchester United Football Club quickly started performing quite badly, to the point where the owners decided to change management and find a new coach, mid-season. This decision added fuel to the fire.
About Ole Gunnar Solksjaer:
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, who had been the manager for the Manchester United Football Club since 2019, had led the team to various victories. Known as a club legend ever since he led the club to victories in his capacity as a player and then rose to the authority of the coach, Gunnar’s removal mid-season acted directly toward the continuously falling performance standards of the team. However, his disappointing performance as a coach, his inability to take major decisions, and his backing up from the resolve to adopt a more attacking approach all led to his dismissal. Remarking before the beginning of the season that the team would be undertaking a 4-3-3 attacking style of playing, the coach quickly reverted them back to the 4-2-3-1 style, which is still considered a mousy move from his end.
Tensions in the team continue to creep:
In addition to this, the manhandling of certain top players including Cavani, Rashford, and Martial were also major reasons behind the growing tensions within the team. Edinson Cavani, for example, had been allowed by Gunnar, to delay his entry into the season and take two weeks off for vacationing in Uruguay, as the former Paris Saint Germain striker, who had a difficult time during the covid pandemic wished to spend time with family. While some contemplated that this allowance was granted to ensure Cavani’s loyalty to the club, all agree that Gunnar’s move to instruct Cavani to renounce his No. 7 jersey for Cristiano Ronaldo quickly acted against any former ideas of extending goodwill towards the player. Cavani was soon upon losing his spot on the team and his jersey to Ronaldo, seen eager to quit Manchester United and join Barcelona, towards the end of the transfer window. However, Manchester United refused to give up the player to Barca, which ultimately did not completely bode for the squad.
Ole Gunnar removed:
Upon Gunnar’s removal, an interim manager was found in Michael Carrick who only coached the team for a couple of games, leading them to emerge victorious and gain some stability, before being replaced by Ralf Rangnick. Ralf Rangnick’s arrival spelled doom for Manchester United. The now-former manager, Rangnick who is also a big name in the football club management world took on a somewhat broken team and made it completely dysfunctional. Rangnick’s style of coaching left the players unimpressed and even pushed a lot of them to stand firmly against him. In fact, sources have reported that Cristiano Ronaldo had issued a statement to the club that if Rangnick was taken up permanently, then the player would quit the club again. Rangnick’s failure on various fronts including strategic planning, gaining players’ trust and confidence, and ensuring team cooperation, all led to the continuous humiliation and defeat faced by Manchester United this season.
With continuous change in management especially mid-season, the expectations of performing well were already starting to vanish. As the managers and players struggled to understand each other’s styles and devise strategies for the games, other teams were able to knock them down repeatedly, thereby humiliating the players. Rangnick was known for his infuriating coaching style, passing off remarks to players that instilled feelings of distrust in their coach. Adding to that was a stark difference between coaching styles that the players were used to or preferred and Rangnick’s own style which he described as “high-press football”, which basically required every player to keep chasing the ball actively, even if it was not working well for the team.
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The 5-0 loss!
The 5-0 loss against Liverpool despite the home-ground advantage and the exits from three very important cups including the Champions League Cup at Atletico Madrid, the FA Cup at Middlesbrough, and the Carabo cup at West Ham; acted as nails in the coffin for the Manchester United Football Club. Squad tensions extended beyond the confines of the game and even infected personal relationships of the team members, and at a certain point, started affecting their families and representatives of the players as well. As per reports, there are two or three groups formed who often got into serious arguments, including a particularly heated argument between two sides just before the game in Madrid, the Champions League round against Atletico which took place in February.
Comments made in press:
As pressure for performing well piled on, and Rangnick’s comments to the press continued to increase squad tension, there was no way Manchester United could come together and play as a team, let alone win. With the departure of Rangnick towards the end of the season, a lot of players seemed to find relief in the fact that he decided to drop this team for Austria. Some were even remarked as saying that Rangnick did Manchester United the biggest favor by leaving the team.
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While it’s difficult to find positives in such a disastrous season, there still are a few for United. They have found a new manager in Erik Ten Hag, the former Ajax coach, one who is regarded as one of the best tacticians in Europe currently. Given how proactively he is taking over reigns at United, given the board backing and the right team, he can truly transform Manchester United into a winning team. Given how he likes promoting new talent, United still has great academy prospects such as the likes of Anthony Elanga, and Hannibal Mejbi. These combined with Jadon Sancho, Amad Diallo, as well as Donny Van Der Beek, and United could have a young and potent lineup. While United’s defense was in shambles this season, Rafael Varane still showed that given time, he can become one of the best in EPL, similar to the beast he was at Real Madrid. While nothing can be confirmed about the transfers, if ETH can bring Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona to United, we can see a great midfield shaping up with Jadon Sancho, De Jong, Fernandes, and Van Der Beek.
New personnel within the team:
Along with a new coach, Manchester has also welcomed a new Chief Executive for the club, Richard Arnold, who has already since his joining at end of January 2022, made quite an impact on the players. This guy knows he is in charge and is clear on his goals for the team. In pursuit of his goals, Arnold is often found canvassing former team members, trying to figure out where the strengths and weaknesses of the team lie and strategizing the best methods for harnessing the team’s full potential. Applying a more hands-on approach than the former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, looking into club matters more closely, and trying to form a better rapport with the players, Arnold, who often approaches players as well as coaches to devise strategies for improvement, is expected to pull Manchester United from the ashes of its disastrous 2021-2022 season and launch it back to its former days of glory.
Conclusion:
Will this rise of a new and dynamic team of leaders really work for United, only time will tell, but Man United needs to get going if they want to make sure they don’t repeat what happened this season.
