MANCHESTER UNITED start pre-season preparations in Perth today at one of the most crucial points in their recent history. Not for nearly three decades has the club been in such a state of uncertainty. Their £89million record signing Paul Pogba is heading to be the most disliked player ever at Old Trafford. It was not even clear by midday yesterday if he would be on the tour. But he did turn up at the airport. Good for him. Right now you only have to look at the responses to any social media post by this current crop of players to see the mood among the Red Devils fans. They can forgive defeats but they cannot forgive highly-paid players simply not trying — and in the final two months of last season that is what they saw. How did it come to this? On March 6 it seemed like United were returning to a force to be reckoned with. An incredible comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League knockout clash in the Parc des Princes had their fans giddy. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was at the wheel and some supporters claimed they had never enjoyed a period following the club like this one. One of their own had lifted up the stumbling giant and set it back on course again. Yet from the moment Solskjaer was installed permanently as the new boss things went wrong. Few disagreed with the appointment at the time having witnessed the way the 1999 treble hero had turned things around. At that point, United’s No 1 target for the manager’s seat Mauricio Pochettino was having a bit of a wobble at Spurs and Solskjaer was talking of eclipsing them into third. Yet by the end of the campaign Spurs had finished third and reached the Champions League final and United were back in the Europa League after finishing sixth. The question then was, had executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward acted in haste in giving Solskjaer a three-year deal? Right now the biggest task for United is not bridging the gap between themselves and Manchester City and Liverpool. The worry is keeping the likes of Wolves and Leicester at bay. They are heading for mid table — not top of the table and the two signings made so far — Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace for £45m and Dan James from Swansea for £15m — are not going to change that quickly. The same players, bar Ander Herrera, that completed that embarrassing lap of appreciation at a sparsely populated Old Trafford on the final day of last season, are still there. And the laborious journey to Perth, Singapore and Shanghai, Norway, and Wales over the next few weeks is not going to improve anyone’s mood. David Moyes was just trying to get his feet under the manager’s table when he was being hawked around Thailand and Australia in his first pre-season. Sir Alex Ferguson himself said he always preferred just a couple of weeks in northern Europe rather than these epic trips to countries where the heat reaches three figures on the thermometer. Solskjaer is taking a squad of players away that is b
Man Utd start pre-season at one of the most crucial points in their history
MANCHESTER UNITED start pre-season preparations in Perth today at one of the most crucial points in their recent history. Not for nearly three decades has the club been in such a state of uncertainty. Their £89million record signing Paul Pogba is heading to be the most disliked player ever at Old Trafford. It was not even clear by midday yesterday if he would be on the tour. But he did turn up at the airport. Good for him. Right now you only have to look at the responses to any social media post by this current crop of players to see the mood among the Red Devils fans. They can forgive defeats but they cannot forgive highly-paid players simply not trying — and in the final two months of last season that is what they saw. How did it come to this? On March 6 it seemed like United were returning to a force to be reckoned with. An incredible comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League knockout clash in the Parc des Princes had their fans giddy. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was at the wheel and some supporters claimed they had never enjoyed a period following the club like this one. One of their own had lifted up the stumbling giant and set it back on course again. Yet from the moment Solskjaer was installed permanently as the new boss things went wrong. Few disagreed with the appointment at the time having witnessed the way the 1999 treble hero had turned things around. At that point, United’s No 1 target for the manager’s seat Mauricio Pochettino was having a bit of a wobble at Spurs and Solskjaer was talking of eclipsing them into third. Yet by the end of the campaign Spurs had finished third and reached the Champions League final and United were back in the Europa League after finishing sixth. The question then was, had executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward acted in haste in giving Solskjaer a three-year deal? Right now the biggest task for United is not bridging the gap between themselves and Manchester City and Liverpool. The worry is keeping the likes of Wolves and Leicester at bay. They are heading for mid table — not top of the table and the two signings made so far — Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace for £45m and Dan James from Swansea for £15m — are not going to change that quickly. The same players, bar Ander Herrera, that completed that embarrassing lap of appreciation at a sparsely populated Old Trafford on the final day of last season, are still there. And the laborious journey to Perth, Singapore and Shanghai, Norway, and Wales over the next few weeks is not going to improve anyone’s mood. David Moyes was just trying to get his feet under the manager’s table when he was being hawked around Thailand and Australia in his first pre-season. Sir Alex Ferguson himself said he always preferred just a couple of weeks in northern Europe rather than these epic trips to countries where the heat reaches three figures on the thermometer. Solskjaer is taking a squad of players away that is b
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