AZ Alkmaar 0 Man Utd 0: Solskjaer’s side make history as they fail to register a shot on target in Holland
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER is trying to give Manchester United fans a vision of the future.
Right now it is one they would rather not see.
If nights like this are anything to go by the 750 who travelled to support their team here in Holland will be staying at home next time.
The Europa League is hardly a great pull, and when you play as badly as this, less so.
It is coming to a point with United where it is unfair to judge this group against teams of the past, they are that far away.
The fans sing of Cantona and Giggs etc because they have no modern day heroes worthy of a chant.
Manager Solskjaer made eight changes from the side that played out a 1-1 draw with Arsenal last Sunday.
That would suggest a weakened side.
But whoever plays nowadays for United it doesn’t seem to matter or change things.
It is pretty much like for like.
There was a time when the absence of a star player like record signing Paul Pogba would make a huge difference.
Indeed in the past Roy Keane’s influence on the team was most notable in his absence.
Not with Pogba. They are as bad with him as they are without.
In their black shirts with luminous orange numbers this is a United team as unrecognisable to their fans as any they can recall for 30 years.
How does someone like Diogo Dalot get into a position that Gary Neville used to play in, or Fred in one Paul Scholes used to stride about in as the best midfielder on the planet.
The fans I met yesterday admit trips like these becoming as much a social occasion as a trip to see football.
There was certainly precious little of it to see last night in The Hague.
Goodness me this was dull. United did not have a single shot on target, not one.
Not one against the third best team in Holland.
That is not to denigrate AZ Alkmaar but the strength in depth of the Eredivisie is nothing like the Premier League.
United fans looked to the youth in the side to lift them last night.
But Mason Greenwood who has just turned 18 had nothing to celebrate.
The one effort he did have was blocked by Ron Vlaar.
Daniel James made no inroads with his pace.
Angel Gomes showed nothing to suggest that he is going to replicate one of the class of ’92.
Juan Mata is supposed to be one of the experienced players to look to on a night like this.
You had to keep checking he was actually on the pitch.
Again, the problem is that the time has gone now to compare and contrast.
This is simply where Manchester United are at the minute.
Last night they were an average team, in an average competition, playing average football.
Well, average is probably being fair.
Sir Alex Ferguson used to go on about ‘great European nights’ with this team.
The last one actually came just before things started to go south for this club.
When they beat PSG 3-2 away from home to progress into the quarter-finals of the Champions League you thought, this team is back.
It is back, back to where it was before Sir Alex Ferguson took over.
That was their last away win, stretching back ten games to last March.
Even Bury have won away more recently and they no longer exist.
The excuses and explanations are starting to wear very thin now.
The rebuild has been going on through four managers and six years.
The foundations that Sir Alex laid down as he built his empire have all crumbled, all gone.
It might sound extreme given this was just a Europa League group game but it could be said of any match of late.
I should really be telling you about the match, but what is there to tell.
Well AZ Alkmaar were much better.
They had a goal ruled out for offside on 11 minutes when Myron Boadu turned the ball into the net.
They forced David De Gea into the odd save.
Solskjaer moaned that they should have had a penalty. He had a point when Stijn Wuytens brought down Marcus Rashford.
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Then again a Brandon Williams handball and Fred foul could also have resulted in a spot kick for Alkmaar.
At the end of the game the home fans gave their side a standing ovation as they did a lap of honour.
That, historically, is what it means to get a result against Manchester United. Nowadays it is not a big deal.