This Manchester United team has an identity crisis, and it’s nothing to do with the colour of their shirts this time
Sponsored by
THERE was a time when Manchester United changed shirts at half-time on a visit to Southampton because Sir Alex Ferguson claimed his players couldn’t see each other properly while wearing grey clobber.
But for some years now, it has often been hard for anyone to recognise Manchester United at all.
We got a fleeting glimpse of an authentic United side here, not least when Dan James - Ryan Giggs re-born if you believe the travelling Red Army - netted a classy opener.
Yet it ended up as a familiar tale, United failing to win for a 13th time in their last 16 games, still unable to keep a clean sheet on the road since February and already looking way adrift of arch rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.
This was against a Saints team who had to play with ten men for more than 20 minutes, after Kevin Danso was shown a second yellow card for chopping down Scott McTominay.
A draw at Wolves and a shock home defeat by Crystal Palace, both scarred by penalty misses, had already severely tempered the early optimism of a thumping 4-0 win over Chelsea on the opening weekend.
But a second-half performance which was often ragged and lethargic leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the brink of crisis.
The Norwegian’s squad is thinner than last season after a clear-out of the Ed Woodward deadwood.
Yes, there were signs of youthful vigour - especially when James collected a pass from Scott McTominay, cut inside and walloped home in the tenth-minute.
The United fans adapted their old Giggs hymn: "James will tear you apart again".
James was certainly United’s brightest player here but these are very early days for comparisons with his fellow Welshman, a 13-time Premier League champion.
The 17-year-old Mason Greenwood looked sharp as a late sub, forcing one decent save from Angus Gunn.
But the truth is that United simply do not possess enough quality to challenge for the title.
Paul Pogba, their one obvious world-class outfield player, showed a few moments of class but he rarely seizes matches by the scruff of the neck to lift his less experienced team-mates.
MORE MAN UTD STORIES
United might have won each of their first four matches, as Solskjaer is sure to argue.
But the fact is that they didn’t - and United are a club who always used to find a way to win.
These days, they are contriving unlikely ways not to do so.