{"id":11097,"date":"2026-08-27T21:13:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T21:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaisan.com\/blogs\/?p=11097"},"modified":"2026-08-27T21:13:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T21:13:34","slug":"utd-drive-me-mad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaisan.com\/blogs\/?p=11097","title":{"rendered":"Utd drive me mad"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a follow up to a post of 2 years ago<\/a> written when very frustrated with Manchester United. A lot has happened in the past few years but I’m back to being very frustrated watching them play. Indeed, I actually switched off the tv about 5 minutes before the game ended because it was so bad. How did we get here? Last year was a definite improvement from my perspective. Sure, they didn’t win a trophy but against the big teams they actually put in some very good performances and showed they could chase a game they were losing with gritty determination.<\/p>\n

This year has seen some shit shows by comparison. Losing to Brighton. Throwing away a chance too beat Wolves. Getting beaten by Derby. None of these teams are very good. Don’t let anyone suggest Utd were somehow up against a great team or a team that played out of their skin. The problems were of Utd’s own making.<\/p>\n

I expected this year to be a slog but hoped we’d be close enough by Xmas to sign a few players and get back into contention to win something, or at least finish in the top 4. That looks a pipe dream right now and I have some ideas as to why the situation is so dire.<\/p>\n

Mourinho is depressed<\/strong><\/p>\n

He’ll claim he isn’t but he looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He wasn’t backed during the summer with both Jose and Woodward leaking information to the press about what they did \/ didn’t expect about the transfer window. It’s incredible that a list of targets given to Woodward months before the window opened somehow ended up in 2 first team signings (and one of them an under 20 defender) but that’s what happened. Jose’s been acting like a man who protests he wasn’t betrayed but wants everyone to know he was. His frustration with the limitations of some of his players has blinded him to their talents and he’s overcome with negativity.<\/p>\n

I like Jose. I’ve liked him as a manager for years but it seems he decided that this team isn’t good enough to win the EPL or UCL and so he’s going to punish the players he has for that. This can’t end well.<\/p>\n

Conflict Everywhere<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pogba and Mourinho are both winners but they’re in constant conflict over the past few months \u00a0it seems. Why is that?
\nWell, it appears that they both want better players on the pitch but they find fault in the other for poor performances. Mourinho is correct that Pogba is indisciplined at times. He’s pretty much revamped the side to give Pogba more freedom to get forward but the problems in defence mean that’s a risky proposition. In turn, Pogba blames Mourinho for Utd not attacking more but the attackers Utd have keep losing the ball in the opposition 3rd and they’re not taking the chances that present themselves. Mourinho was genuinely too defensive agains West Ham. It was a terrible mistake to setup to try to counteract them rather than play an attacking game ourselves. On the other hand, Mourinho will look at Pogba in attack and think he could have done more and been less sloppy. They’re both correct but that doesn’t in itself suggest a solution.<\/p>\n

It’s just a microcosm of a club where the management, players and owners have different agenda and don’t seem to be pulling in the same direction. Before the EPL started this season, Utd had a terrible preseason, disagreements about transfers and disagreements about when players should return from holidays. That’s a terrible start.<\/p>\n

The squad isn’t good enough<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve watched the following players for years and they each have a flaw or flaws so great that they don’t deserve to be in this Utd team. A bit like Jose, sometimes all I can see are the flaws but they frustrate me every time I see them on the pitch.<\/p>\n