Manchester United closed out the 2018/2019 Premier League season with another poor performance in a 2-0 home loss to Cardiff City. Contributing writer, Nathan Quao, observed the tie and has put down his thoughts.
Horrible end to a horrible season
If for nothing at all, one would have expected a good effort to close things out at Old Trafford. A good showing at home for the fans to give something to smile about but it was anything but that.
Too many poor decisions at critical times at almost every turn of the game, not enough life and no proper quality to open Cardiff City up. Marcus Rashford was the guiltiest of the lot as he failed to take the best decisions to help the team.
The rest of the team just could not wake up on the day while Cardiff played the freedom and ease. Granted, the penalty that put them ahead was soft but they got themselves into that position to get that chance.
It was another bad day but what made it more marked was that it was the last day of the season and the pain will stay with the fans until the first day of the next day.
Rebuild or die
A lot has been said of how much work Man United has to do to get back to the top of the tree again. It is very immense and time and money cannot be wasted on the project and that means a lot of calculated steps need to be taken.
Players will have to be thrown off the ship and there should no fear in moving players on. There is no need to tolerate thoughts of loyalty and English bias. Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones are just three of the many players who should not be at the club next season.
Right wing needs solving. A decision must be taken on Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. There are lots of fans who have a lot of love for these two players but when you compare them to their peers, like Kylian Mbappe and Leroy Sane, in the rest of Europe, the truth shows itself. They are still below the needed grade and they will have to improve massively.
The talk of Scott McTominay being a fixture going forward should not be countenanced. He may show lot of heart and effort but in this current context, these two cannot take a team far. Skill, superiority and super ability are the things that can bring success.
What about Lukaku? Is he staying or going? Who replaces him should he leave? If he stays, can Man United work out how to bring out the best in him?
It is time to rebuild or else the ship will drift into further and further out into sea until Man United finds itself in a very poor place.
Time is ticking for Ole
The fun is over. The honeymoon is over. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer must get down to some serious work. In his favour, a lot of arguments can be made.
It is not his team. He is now learning more about the team. He needs time to build his own team.
Fair but are there any indications that Solksjaer has an idea of what he wants and where he wants to take Man United? There are doubts on that and they grow out of the poor results after the Norwegian was confirmed as manager. Only two wins were recorded and in the final two games of the season against Huddersfield and Cardiff City, only one point was gained.
No matter which way one looks at it, the results do not look good for Solksjaer at all and he has to work overtime to get things right.
He may be loved by the club but he needs to show that he is actually capable of doing the job because when one looks at the other managers in the mix for the big prizes, Solksjaer looks completely out of his depth.
The lovely Solsjaer interviews cannot mask the horrible stench of rot at the club and he must know that it is time to work.
All in all, the season has not gone well. There were great times in the league. The lovely run under Solksjaer when he first came in, the comeback victory against Southampton but the campaign has left fans with more questions on their mind.
Can the right answers be given? Time will tell.
Bring on next season!!!
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