You’re only as good as your last (fill in the blank). Manchester United built an empire through the long and successful tenure of Alex Ferguson. Now? All that’s left is the financial success, as the media are portraying the mood within the club before their Chelsea encounter this Sunday as a group that’s awaiting an unavoidable disaster.
Chelsea lead the Premier League with 22 points from the first eight matches, only dropping two in a draw at Manchester City. They have a five point lead over second place, but are 10 points ahead of Manchester United, currently in sixth place with three wins from the first eight matches and still no victory away from home.
Luckily for them it’s a home match against a Blues side with a manager that doesn’t like to take risks on away matches against teams with a dangerous attacking side. There are a lot of troubles and weaknesses on this Manchester United team, but finding the net and creating chances isn’t one of them.
But the question might be if Chelsea even regard Manchester United as a big club? When Chelsea played at the Etihad against Manchester City, they came quite close to parking the bus for 90 minutes. Last season Jose Mourinho didn’t even use a striker in his lineup for his Old Trafford visit, ending in a 0-0 draw.
Even though Louis van Gaal is in charge now and not David Moyes, it feels like Manchester United are even more vulnerable and primed for the taking. Diego Costa might not be playing, but Mourinho has made those claims before. Nothing that comes out of his mouth is trustworthy if you’re counting on him telling the media the true injury status for some of his players.
There’s no mention of Manchester United possibly finding themselves back in the championship race. Nothing about showing how big and good this club & team are at this point. Only about avoiding a humiliating defeat and maybe poaching this match somehow. How the mighty have fallen.
No longer the biggest match in the Premier League, Manchester United don’t have any right to complain about Chelsea’s spending, especially after the amounts of money thrown by the Red Devils at new players over the last 14 months. How quickly it’s turned into what on the outside looks like a one-sided rivalry, with Manchester United possibly happy to walk away from a home match with a draw.