MANCHESTER, Aug 19: Frenzied talk of billionaires wanting – or, in the case of Elon Musk, not wanting – to buy Manchester United has topped the sports agenda in Britain this week.
A future without the Glazer family as owners? Yes please, many increasingly disheartened United fans would say after nearly a decade of underperformance by one of the world’s most storied sports teams.
And however unlikely that immediate prospect is – after all, the club is not for sale despite Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest people, expressing interest this week – it’s something many of those supporters will be calling for during an anti-Glazer march planned by a fans’ group ahead of United’s game against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Monday.
There cannot be many United fans looking forward to the prospect of Liverpool, the team’s fiercest rival, coming to Old Trafford given what has transpired in the opening two rounds of the season. In fact, it’s enough to fill them with dread.
Two games. Two losses. Six goals conceded. Only one goal scored, and even that was an own-goal. Oh, and to top it off, United is in last place.
If the 2-1 opening-weekend loss at home to Brighton was bad, the ensuing 4-0 thrashing by Brentford was widely deemed to be one of the worst results in their history.
Hence, the inevitable hysteria. Is Erik ten Hag, who joined from Ajax in the offseason, the wrong appointment as manager? Is Lisandro Martinez the wrong signing at center back? Why hasn’t United signed a defensive midfielder yet? Is this the end for Cristiano Ronaldo at United?
It’s rarely quiet around United, whether the team is doing well or badly. And imagine if United is beaten again on Monday, to open a season with three straight defeats for the first time in the Premier League era (from 1992). How huge would the fourth game – against Southampton away – be for Ten Hag then?
Liverpool keep getting off to slow starts too, having conceded first in eight of all its last nine matches.
If United was to win, suddenly a lot of the heat might switch to Jurgen Klopp. On current form, though, that looks unlikely. Stretching back to the end of last season, United is on a four-match losing run and its players are still getting used to Ten Hag’s methods. (AP)
