Dismal defeat to Fulham shows magnitude of Man United rebuild،
MANCHESTER, England – Manchester United began the week with new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe declaring he had arrived to “knock Manchester City off their perch” and ended it with a home defeat to a team with one of the worst external records in history. the Premier League.
If there was ever a day to remind Ratcliffe, the 71-year-old British billionaire, of the scale of the work that awaits him as co-owner of United, this was it.
Only the bottom team, Sheffield United, had won fewer points on the road this season, but Fulham still managed to win 2-1 at Old Trafford. It was their first away win since August and, having been the better team for most of the match, it was deserved.
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United looked to have clawed back an unlikely point through Harry Maguire's 89th-minute equalizer, but then conspired to concede Fulham's winner in the seventh minute of injury time.
It has been a calamitous campaign at times for United and their manager Erik ten Hag and this was yet another example. Ratcliffe was not in the stands, but his man on the field, Sir Dave Brailsford, was. It was a performance that will not convince those who will now decide the direction the club takes that Ten Hag is the man to lead the new era.
Ten Hag is adamant that he is.
“You have to look at the bigger picture and the bigger picture looks very good,” insisted Ten Hag. “We need to recover from injuries, then we will be more balanced and also strengthen the team in the transfer windows.
“There are a lot of good players and players with high potential coming soon, so we are definitely going in the right direction. So when they are available, we have a very good team.”
The issue, however, is whether Ratcliffe and Brailsford are on the same page and it won't help that the first game since the partial takeover was confirmed was among United's worst performances of the season.
Fulham, deprived of their best player, João Palhinha, due to suspension, dominated the first half and created two good chances for Alex Iwobi. Rodrigo Muniz, a clutch striker, hit the post and former United midfielder Andreas Pereira produced a fine save from Andre Onana.
It was a poor first half from the Ten Hag side but somehow they managed to get even worse after the break, and when Calvin Bassey scored his first goal at Fulham to give the visitors the lead was no surprise.
United only decided to start playing in the final minutes and equalized through Maguire. They looked most likely to find a winner after nine minutes of added time, but their defensive vulnerability was exposed. Substitute Adama Traore got past Maguire and replaced Iwobi to score and give Fulham their first win at Old Trafford for 21 years.
At the final whistle, Alejandro Garnacho, United's best player, lay face down on the turf and the Fulham fans began chanting: “How you must be, we are winning.”
It needed a last-minute winner, but it certainly wasn't a smash-and-grap.
“It's clear in my opinion that the best team on the pitch won the game,” Fulham manager Marco Silva said. “We are the team that created more chances, played better and tried to win most moments of the match.”
It was a damning assessment.
As he has done so often this season, Ten Hag was keen to point out that his growing list of injuries was the major factor in United's poor season. Against Fulham, he was without Luke Shaw and Rasmus Højlund, as well as long-term absentees Lisandro Martínez and Mason Mount.
This meant that the Dutch coach was forced to pick Victor Lindelöf at left-back and give 19-year-old striker Omari Forson a full debut. It didn't help that Casemiro left the match early with a head injury, but Fulham were also not at full strength due to Palhinha's suspension and injuries to Raúl Jiménez and Willian.
“We don’t have a left-back,” Ten Hag said. “Then the abandonment of Casemiro, a big abandonment. Licha Martinez [is out] but we still have players in the team and even today we could win this game and we should.”
After Fulham's five-game winning streak was ended, it's now a very big week for Ten Hag.
On Wednesday he secured an FA Cup fifth round tie with Nottingham Forest before a derby against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Two positive results and Ten Hag can continue to argue, with some merit, that he should get the first chance at success under Ratcliffe. But two more setbacks add to a nightmarish display against Fulham and his words will start to sound very empty.
Ratcliffe's arrival has made it clear to everyone that they are fighting for their place in the journey to return to the top of English football. Less than a week after Ratcliffe's investment finally got the green light, Ten Hag's hearing got off to the worst possible start.
