Manchester United A Sitting Duck
Last night there was a major upset when 4th division Grimsby Town football club defeated Manchester United from the Premier League. We all know Manchester United are not very good, but even this is a new low even by their standards.
The scary part is Grimsby should have won the game in normal time and not on penalties as they had a goal ruled out which would have seen them leading 3-1. The game eventually ended with the scores tied at 2-2 and they went on to win the penalty shoot out 13-12.
When we look at the squad values it tells us very little as what counts is the performance on the pitch and make no mistake Grimsby would have raised their game having such a big carrot especially with a televised live game.
The price of each squad has a difference of 248 x so one would expect a team with a £769 million price tag would crush a team valued at £3.1 million. The wages would be an interesting stat to see and I would comfortably say that one players weekly wages of United would cover all the wages of the Grimsby team.
The difference is not the value or the reputation of certain players, but the passion of the Grimsby team. You cannot buy passion and flair which is non existent in this Manchester United team. This season United have been the biggest spenders this far in this transfer window having spent north of £250 million and has made zero difference in their results. The difference between all the sides in the Premiership is very small as there are no easy games and United are now seen as fragile and a sitting duck.
What was telling in this transfer window is not one defending player has been purchased and they have bought attacking options. Last season saw United have the most goals conceded in one season since 1976-77 season totaling 81 in all competitions. Surely any statistician would be targeting this area for improvement, but no they have not bothered.
Last season Manchester United finished 15th and in all honesty got lucky during the season to not be relegated with some results going their way. For most of the season they were on par with the teams that were eventually relegated. Nothing is a given with this team and this is the clubs fault for not doing a rebuild like they should have over the last 10 years.
The problem United have is their history and the name of the club so players that are being purchased are over priced due to the name of the buying club. The players they are trying to move on in this transfer window have interest for loan spells, but selling them seems a tougher deal showing the quality and value of the players is not there.
The bigger problem United have is their shirt sponsorship deal with Adidas which has penalty clauses embedded in the agreement which United now owe a £10 million penalty. This is for failing to qualify for Champions League football which for those that do not know is the top 4 teams in the league. This contract requires them to qualify every 2 years and this season even though only after 2 league games has them down near the bottom and every team in the Premier League is looking forward to a United game. These are seen as easy pickings as the team is not cohesive and up for the fight.
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ManU is incredible after changing coach and players are not giving the expected results at the start of the 25-26 season but for the good I hope Amorim can get the team back and start a good run because he has the material to achieve the place if not in the Champions League then in the Europa League which from my point of view due to the amount spent would be a failure
The difference in the squads is abysmal, but that doesn't come from the field, only the desire to succeed and advance to the next round. Perhaps it's the beginning of something big for this modest 4th division team. Seeing the crowd celebrate after that long penalty shootout is something that, honestly, not all the money in the world can buy. That final outpouring of relief is worth everything to me, because football is the most beautiful sport, and then they tell us it's just 22 men kicking a ball, nothing could be further from the truth.
Its crazy how much United have fallen and become a laughing stock. 1 point from 6 in the Prem and dumped out of the cup by minnows. He won't see Christmas if he doesn't turn things around quickly.
Tough time to be a United fan!! They had their good days in the past though.
Everything is cyclical
Everybody is talking about how bad United are, but almost nobody talks about how good Grimsby were against such a big team, even with only 30% possession they managed 10 shots, 4 shots on target, 2 goals and 2 more big chances to score. They deserve some credit as well. :))
I just watched the Sacha Baron Cohen movie, The Brothers Grimsby, for the first time. I found the movie funny, but I wasn't really expecting to hear anything more about Grimsby any time soon. What a surprise! I am in a league with some friends where we pick the Premier League winners each week, and I have to say a part of me still pictures the glory days with this team when I keep picking them. They are often a disappointment these days, but damn has this club had some moments of greatness. Truly an iconic team. Hope they can get their shit together at some point.
No don't be disappointed no one likes them and if they cannot fix things then they need to suffer the consequences. The problem is the club and supporters are living in the past and until they are realistic about their expectations nothing will change. Every good result now actually does more damage long term as this problem will persist.
I love Manu matches... You'll never know what you'll see😭😭😂😂
The matches are always comedy😂😭
Yes they are a good for a laugh and no one wants them to win.
don't follow the sport but this is crazy. wow... all that money and for what. It should be an absolute blowout in the other direction.
Should be one sides I agree and for some reason with this team this is not the case. Today they won 3-2 against another weak team and got lucky with a penalty in injury time.