A decade of decline for Man Utd

10 years have passed since the 0-1 defeat to Newcastle on December 9, 2013, witnessing Man Utd gradually decline compared to their previous position.

On December 9, 2013, Newcastle defeated hosts Man Utd thanks to a goal from Yohan Cabaye to win at Old Trafford for the first time since 1972. This result gave David Moyes' Man Utd their fifth defeat in the 2013-2014 Premier League season, and their second defeat in four days, after losing 0-1 to Everton. Man Utd - as defending champions - dropped to ninth place, 12 points behind leaders Arsenal and their dream of defending the title was shattered before Christmas.

Goalkeeper De Gea and centre-back Jonny Evans look dejected after Man Utd conceded a goal to Yohann Cabaye in their 1-0 Premier League defeat to Newcastle at Old Trafford on December 9, 2013. Photo: PA

After that defeat to Everton, Moyes openly admitted the team’s shortcomings. Man Utd’s Twitter account – now renamed X – summed it up this way: “David Moyes says Man Utd must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending.” It’s hard to imagine any official club channel posting such worrying information these days.

Over the past 10 years, every time Man Utd changed managers without improving results, posts about Moyes' comments were brought up. There were comments from 2014, when Moyes was sacked after just 10 months as Man Utd's "Chosen One" in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, 2017 when Jose Mourinho was in charge, 2020 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and even 2022 when Erik ten Hag struggled at first. That's not to mention other short-lived spells with Louis van Gaal and interim coach Ralf Rangnick.

"The tweet about Moyes' statement is symbolic of a decade of mediocrity and decline at England's biggest club. 10 years on, it is difficult to say whether Ten Hag's Man Utd have made any positive changes," commented British newspaper Sportmail .

Man Utd's tweet on 9/12/2013 shows coach Moyes' disappointment after losing 0-1 to Newcastle at Old Trafford.

In the past 10 years, United have won two League Cups, an FA Cup, a Europa League, and reached two FA Cup finals and a Europa League final. Most English clubs would be pleased with that, but for United it is still evidence of decline and results that are considered too mediocre for the powerhouse they once were under Ferguson. In the previous decade - 2003 to 2013 - the Red Devils won five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

In the Premier League, seventh place under Moyes was the lowest result in the post-Ferguson era, but Man Utd have also finished sixth three times. The Old Trafford side have also finished second twice, but far behind champions Man City, with 19 points in 2017-18 and 12 points in 2020-21.

Losses to Newcastle and Everton under Moyes in 2013 were rare, but have now become the norm. In December, Moyes's Man Utd were still in the League Cup and topped their Champions League group. Meanwhile, Man Utd have now lost 3-0 to Newcastle in the fourth round of the League Cup and are bottom of their Champions League group. Sportmail believes Ten Hag's chances of winning a trophy would be greater if they were to drop into the Europa League.

Before their latest game - a 0-3 defeat at Bournemouth - United had lost 10 games in all competitions - double the number at the same time a decade ago - and were struggling in both attack and defence. Ten Hag's side had scored 33 and conceded 35 goals in 22 games so far this season. In the first 22 games of the 2013-14 season, United had scored 38 and conceded just 22.

Defender Marcos Senesi (center) celebrates scoring the winning goal in Bournemouth's 3-0 win over Man Utd in the Premier League round of 16 at Old Trafford on December 9, 2023. Photo: AFP

If Moyes was complaining and worried about Man Utd's defence then, the situation is much worse now. Ten years ago, the Scot still had many good players such as Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and highly rated names such as Phil Jones, Jonny Evans, Antonio Valencia, Rafael Da Silva and Chris Smalling. Ironically, Evans, now 35, returned to Old Trafford on a short-term contract and was fully fit to start if not for injury.

In 2013, after losing to Newcastle, Moyes complained about having to play Robin van Persie for 90 minutes when he was not at his best. But what Moyes once complained about is a dream for Ten Hag now. The current Man Utd manager is craving a striker of the same calibre as his former compatriot, with Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Antony all disappointing. Man Utd's top scorer this season is Scott McTominay - a midfielder who was pushed to the transfer market in the summer of 2023 - with six goals.

In the Premier League alone, Man Utd created 26 clear chances in the first 15 matches up to the end of the victory over Chelsea on December 6, an average of 1.73 clear chances per 90 minutes. This figure for the entire 2013-2014 season was only an average of 1.39 clear chances per 90 minutes. This was a disappointing result because at that time, Man Utd still had a highly rated midfield with Valencia, Juan Mata, Shinji Kagawa, Tom Cleverley, Adnan Januzaj, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini.

Van Persie has a header blocked by goalkeeper Tim Krul during Man Utd's 0-1 loss to Newcastle at Old Trafford on December 9, 2013. Photo: Reuters

Over the past 10 years, Man Utd have spent £1.2 billion (more than $1.5 billion) on new players, but have shown no signs of improvement. Blockbusters like Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Fred, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Angel Di Maria and Memphis Depay all had high expectations, then left without making much of an impact. The same could soon happen to Jadon Sancho, Donny van de Beek, Raphael Varane or Casemiro.

The change of manager did not work either. Moyes lost too many games, Van Gaal’s boring football did not endear him to the fans, while Mourinho failed to revive United despite initial successes. Solskjaer saw his legendary status at the club erode rapidly, and is the only manager to fail to win a trophy in the post-Ferguson era.

Ten Hag also had a positive first season, but has been under a lot of pressure since the start of the new season. Man Utd are currently criticized for being unstable, lacking identity, having a clear playing style and being unconvincing even when winning. The positive point is probably that Ten Hag's team is currently sixth in the Premier League with 30 points, only six points behind Man City - the club in fourth place.

"Maybe the 2-1 win over Chelsea marked a new turning point, but after all, Man Utd are still behind Man City on the scoreboard. And in the 10 years that have passed since that tweet on December 9, 2013, it is difficult to see any signs of progress from Man Utd," commented the Sport Mail .

Coach Erik ten Hag directs Harry Maguire during Man Utd's 2-1 win over Chelsea in round 15 of the Premier League at Old Trafford on December 6. Photo: Reuters

However, the "transformation" that Sport Mail mentioned seems to have not appeared yet with Man Utd. In the most recent match, also on December 9, exactly 10 years after the defeat at the hands of Newcastle, the "Red Devils" once again made their fans numb when they were defeated 0-3 by Bournemouth.

Hong Duy

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/mot-thap-ky-sa-sut-cua-man-utd-4687530.html