Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson left their ranks, Manchester United have been a much lesser threat to other Premier League teams. Having grown tired of their team not being at the very top, fans vigorously requested that something major be changed, and the team complied by spending hundreds of millions to bring the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho to the Old Trafford.
These new arrivals were supposed to bring a new era of strength and stability to the club, and they may very well yet do so, but the early weeks of the new season have not gone as well as they had hoped. In fact, Paul Pogba has only just managed his first goal, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn’t done as much as the fans may have hoped as Mourinho’s side are already trailing 6 points behind their city rivals.
The question in everyone’s mind is why exactly United have managed to drop 6 points in the opening 6 rounds and why the new team is not every team they come across.
Problem With The New Or With The Old?
Manchester United have failed to impress during the first weeks of the Premiership, yet just this Saturday they managed to absolutely annihilate the reigning champions Leicester City, scoring four first half goals, with Paul Pogba finally on the score sheet.
Naturally, everyone is wondering why this is and the answer may very well be in the absence of just one man from the starting 11, the one and only Wayne Rooney. Once the superstar of the team, the aging Rooney simply seemed slower and weaker on the pitch than ever before. Being the team captain and one of the crucial players on the pitch, Rooney may very well have been slowing down the whole team.
In the absence of Wayne Rooney, the entire team seemed reinvigorated, faster and more relaxed with the ball, which resulted in one heck of a performance during the first 45 minutes of the Leicester City clash. Whether United can keep playing like this without the captain and whether Rooney will be back in the starting 11 soon is up to Jose Mourinho and we are sure to find out in the weeks to come.
Of course, if there is one player who deserves the benefit of the doubt from United fans, it is certainly Wayne Rooney, if we consider everything he has done for the team in the past. If Rooney can recover his form soon, it is sure that the fans will be all too happy to see him back on the pitch, but if not it may simply be time for Rooney to accept the defeat and let the new generations take over.
Why Is Pogba Failing To Produce?
Paul Pogba was the one player who was supposed to truly reinvent United’s game as the midfielder was brought from Juventus in a massive £90 Million transfer with this foal in mind. However, not only has Pogba failed to score any goals prior to the Leicester trashing, but he also failed to assist any goals and was not very impressive on the pitch whatsoever.
The record breaking transfer has been a flop so far as he failed to leave a crucial impact on any of the games at United so far and everyone is wondering if his price tag was even justified. While some are blaming Pogba, others believe that it may all be Mourinho’s fault for not playing the player in the right position and the right way.
After all, in most cases the final burden is on the coach to utilize the squad he has, and we shall have to wait and see if Mourinho has finally solved the puzzle of Manchester United or if the Leicester performance was more luck and poor performance by the champions than Mourinho’s brilliance.
Can United Pull It Off?
Whether United can turn things around is a matter of much debate, but having already lost the initial Manchester derby and performing poorly in their away fixture to Watford has left them 6 points behind the top of the table already. The bookies now have Manchester United at 9/1 to win the Premier League outright, significantly longer than it was at the start of the season.