Manchester United could only draw 1-1 against Chelsea and that should be the final nail in their coffin of what has been a miserable season for the Red Devils.
It started off in pre season when Jose Mourinho seemingly moaned about everything from missing out on transfers, not feeling the support of the board and not having all of his players on their American tour, and it has never really let up.
Yes his sacking was needed even if by and large certain players were not pulling their weight- a new a manager had to step in and at first Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked like that man. The team went the next 3 months unbeaten and flirted with the top 4 when in December it looked impossible.
Confidence cannot be underestimated and the happiness and let’s face it love that the Norwegian brought to the club even extended outside of the Premier League when they stunned PSG in Paris to knock them out, with some luck, in the Champions League. And then it all went wrong.
Now in the quarter finals of the Champions League and top 4 of the Premier League, United gave Solskjaer the job full time, and the results started to go stale. Wolves knocked them out of the FA Cup and Barcelona made light work of them in the Champions League. Wolves also beat United in the league, something was wrong and the mood in the camp was back to five months ago.
This was brought to a head when Everton slaughtered United 4-0 and then they lost the derby to Manchester City. This Chelsea match was seen as the final roll of the dice and even though ex Chelsea player Juan Mata put his side in front, Chelsea struck back to earn a draw.
United have won just 1 game in their past five and people are searching for scapegoats. This is unfair of course, because surely you win and lose and draw as a team. However the spotlight has been shone on two players. Romelu Lukaku who rarely scores now and looks unfit and David De Gea one of the best goal keepers in Europe who has been poor in the clubs last four games. De Gea isn’t just having bad games, he is making blunder upon blunder which is completely unlike him, but his performances are mirroring United’s season.
The Draw against Chelsea will most probably mean United will not be playing Champions League football next season. With 2 games to go Tottenham are 5 points clear of United and home and dry. Chelsea are 3 points. It just seems too far a stretch to come back from now.
United will play Huddersfield next and that should be 3 points and Cardiff could make it two wins. But it seems too much to ask to see both Chelsea and Arsenal simply collapse in their final two games. Having said that Arsenal are experiencing their worst form of the season and much like United have imploded at the final jump.
One thing for United is sure- none of this latest form should be blamed on Solskjaer- the Norwegian needs a summer transfer window and a full season to be judged properly.
Though it is clear that the roses have been tossed in the bin, and the gloves are off.
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