After a day that brought so many storylines together for suitably fitting endings, the wonder is whether this 4-1 Watford rout also brings an end to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as Manchester United manager. Read it again: 4-1! Look at it again. This absurd afternoon ended with Bruno Fernandes reproaching the away end for booing both Solskjaer and the players that had bothered to go over. That was a landmark moment.
It is not an exaggeration to describe this as the worst performance of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. The scale of ineptitude was simply remarkable.
It also puts United in as bad a position as they’ve been in that time, seventh in the league after 12 games, but with just four points from seven games and that despite the highest wage bill in football.
The contrast between that and Watford should of course mean the story is as much about Claudio Ranieri’s brilliantly enthusiastic team, but it is even difficult not to put that down to how bad United were.
Everyone was awful bar David De Gea and substitute Donny van de Beek, who of course scored. Cristiano Ronaldo was now just missing chances. Harry Maguire was sent off after two bookings in seven minutes, and the most ludicrous of second yellow cards. The centre-half, like his team, just played himself into trouble.
Leading by example. There were no fingers in ears this time. There was, bizarrely, a high-five from Solskjaer.
FOLLOW US ON – Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, and Google News