How long can Manchester United live out this perpetual game of footballing Snakes and Ladders?
If you took the scoreline alone—a 3-1 win for Manchester United—you might think it was a routine victory and a continuation of the uptick in form that saw them nearly vanquish Liverpool in the league and show a steely resolve against Arsenal by winning with ten men via penalties in the FA Cup.
Amad Can Only Do So Much…
But much like their December win against Manchester City, it was an Amad Diallo-shaped paper covering the canyon-wide cracks of another abject performance.
Ruben Amorim is a manager very confident in his ability, but even he must be thinking ruefully about the decision to leave his brilliant Sporting Lisbon team behind to deal with a squad that, for the most part, works hard in ten-minute bursts (normally when already behind in a match), then for the rest of the game plays as if collectively struck with locked-in syndrome.
Amorim is nearly solely relying on Amad Diallo to pull something out of the hat, and on Thursday night, against a Southampton team bottom of the league, he did so with a stunning hat-trick that turned a 0-1 battering into a 3-1 reprieve.
Make no mistake, Southampton were by far the better team. They played with a constant fluidity and purpose that United seem to stumble upon by accident when pushed to the brink of embarrassment.
Zirkzee Improving Under Pressure
If not for some poor finishing, they would have been three or four clear by the time Amad put on his afterburners. Not until the much-maligned Joshua Zirkzee came on did United look close to creating a meaningful period of attack and this, in a microcosm, is the issue.
Zirkzee came to United last summer with high expectations after an excellent season with Bologna in Serie A. But, like dozens before him, he has stagnated under the pressure to perform consistently for the team.
He is not alone, though. This is modern-day Man United, where new signings, seasoned veterans, and academy players all get caught up in the tractor beam of inertia.
Muscle memory or embarrassment occasionally kick in, leading to spells of frantic attacking football that increasingly feel like an insidious trick to gaslight fans into believing, 'those other dawns were really false; this is the real one.’
United Must Show Consistency
The club itself, hierarchically, has been a basket case for years – this is not fresh news. However, the current squad of players is, pound for pound, a group that should be at least challenging for European competition.
Against Liverpool and Arsenal, they showed what they are capable of, but they do not seem to be able to come to terms with the fact that they are currently not as good as either of these teams.
They need to treat the Southamptons and Wolves the same way they do Liverpool. Amorim is still transitioning to his new role and trying to find a balance that can drag his team out of their malaise.
He is rightfully choosing who he feels are best capable of being faithful to his style. The players need to play their part, or it will be just another season of Snakes and Ladders—or maybe even snakes and more snakes—if they cannot accept the reality that they are a mid-table team.
This fortuitous win has given them a chance to look forward, not backward. With Brighton up next at home, it will be interesting to see what kind of Manchester United emerges from the lucky dip this Sunday.