As the two shiny, celebrated knights of the Empire sat with their hearts nourishing vibrant hope and their eyes transfixed upon the proceedings on the pitch before them, they must surely have been dumbfounded and immensely disappointed into speechlessness by the ensuing charades and a playing pattern – now almost wholly characteristic of the Manchester United game philosophy and style – that resembles more of a dance routine rather than a game strategy from the pages of a supposedly comprehensive football master plan brilliantly masterminded by the once-erstwhile Old Trafford club’s new generation of football architects to regain their early years dominance and dazzling past glories.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Dave Brailsford. One the man single-handedly associated with, and directly responsible for, having elevated United to the pinnacle of the sport in the British empire. And the other the indivisual now tasked with demolishing the current United football structure – both from the boardroom to the pitch – right from its foundations with the key priority of elevating the Old Trafford club, and its crumbling reputation, to the summit again.
A most unenviable task, most assuredly, especially after both the gallant knights had whatever remaining vestiges of their pre-match vibrant hopes and enthusiasm dashed into hundreds of kaleidoscopic pieces, witnessing with their own eyes the shambolic charade played out before them under the harsh glare of the stadium floodlights that stripped the United players bare.
No singular expletive – deleted or otherwise – would suffice to sum up the appalling United attitude and turn of events after their resurgent, hope-inducing victory over a magnificent Aston Villa side only four days earlier.
As their self-preening, glib-talking, self-assured manager tried so hard to peddle the doubtful wares desperately on offer to the club’s new minority owner and his INEOS troupe regarding the prowess and abilities of his pitiful football charges only a few days ago after their totally unexpected come-from-behind victory over the magnificent Villans, the frail façade could only but tumble as the current United structure is but only the proverbial house of cards. The original foundation has been long eroded and is now virtually non-existent.
Only a quixotic manager – one clearly lacking the essential prerequisites of global-level football nous and proven top-level savvy – riding on his imaginary steed would be foolhardy enough to attempt to kickstart and rebuild a once world-dominating football gargantuan where even real managerial luminaries have feared to cross the Old Trafford threshold. Those who have in the past after the glorious Fergie era have all fallen by the wayside.
The manager in question at this juncture is obviously one unfortunately similarly beguiled by denial of the true circumstances and crumbling reality of what surround him and only sees a distorted mirror reflection of the truth. He, unfortunately for himself, the club and its horrified multitudes of fans globally, had charged in thrusting his lance at real, instead of the fabled storybook’s, predators. Needless to say there is of course the occasional rare occasion when the beguiled knight does triumph unexpectedly – which is where the dance with its deceptive, yet mesmerizing rhythm and steps, comes into play.
Erik ten Hag is but one of the many managers after the passing of the Fergie regime who has sadly needed to resort to self-denial to shut out the persistent noise surrounding his precarious position vis-à-vis this flaky Manchester United side. The United sides post-Fergie are inevitably unpredictable as they have been unavoidably flaky, thanks no less to the undeniable legacy bequeathed to the club courtesy of the lack of cohesion and management from the boardroom. This is where it all began from.
Things can only get worse before they can begin to get better, a step at a time.
This loss to Nottingham Forrest is the 14th defeat of the season across all categorieis. The last time they lost as many games before the turn of the year was 1930-31. While a lucky Marcus Rashford pounced on a rare opportunity and cancelled out Nicolás Domínguez’s effort, giving United hope of staging another late comeback, an inspirted Gibbs-White tenaciously wrapped his right foot around the ball from the edge of the box and gallons of cold water cascaded onto United’s momentary flames of hopeful dominance in the match.
In a flash, the vibrant hopes of a Manchester United fresh dawn being ushered in to announce the crossing of a threshold into their new long-awaited era – especially after their encouraging comeback against Aston Villa – were dashed as a dopey, largely uncommitted United selection once again fell into their now characteristic zombie mode to re-enact their one-step-forward-but-two-steps-back dance routine on the pitch. Where this routine was once as fascinating as it was bewildering then when it had first appeared many campaigns ago, it is now clearly to be painfully accepted as the current United mojo.
All this should not in any way take anything away from a definitely praise-worthy, resurgent Nottingham Forest side who most creditably picked up their second win under new manager Nuno Espírito Santo of former Wolverhampton Wanderers good reputation.
Although both of these teams wanted to end the year with another positive result and a chance to build anew, it was Nuno who was this time used by the football gods to once again expose the United football debauchery for what it now is. The Portuguese and his indomitable team truly deserved the credit for this historic win after 29 years of repeated failure.
it was to get that first home win of his tenure and add to the impressive away victory at St James’ Park on Boxing Day, while United wanted to show that the comeback against Aston Villa was the marker of a new start after news of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment last week.
Strategically seated alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Dave Brailsford witnessed the United humpty-dumpty plummet to their first Premier League defeat against Nottingham Forest in 29 years.
Another way to view this United scenario that plays out repleatedly is to approach it like a gambler approaching the gaming tables. Without true blood-sweat-and-tears commitment from a team enjoying the solid backing and support of a fully-invested management all the way from the Boardroom, there are only so many times any United manager can hope to roll a dice and get the number and then clasp your hands together and hope fervently for the best.
Manchester United’s past and future visionaries – fantasy-besotted self-appointed knights trysting with windmills visualized as fierce dragons aside –were both at hand to witness the continuation of the club’s on-going predicament and state of rot.
One can only surmise what would Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Dave Brailsford have made of this latest embarrassment of another debacle, which can only positively serve to emphasize the mammoth task facing Sir Jim Ratcliffe ahead of 2024?
Brailsford is the key individual Ratcliffe has tasked with overseeing the audit for a complete rebuilding job, and all the recent examples of mismanagement were clear to see here from haphazard recruitment, a failing manager and a clearly and totally non-existent midfield.
The INEOS chief would have finally received the vital revelation that the biggest club in English football are indeed nothing but dead average – and this realization should prop him up good and proper in order to prep him well in advance on how to move forward to haul this unresponsive dead weight forward.