From Watford to Como: Manchester United have learnt nothing from past mistakes.
When Emmanuel Dennis slotted the ball past a hapless David de Gea to make it 4-1 to Watford, Ole Gunnar Solskjær's time as Manchester United manager appeared to be nearing its end. The lethargic performance at Vicarage Road proved to be his final match in charge, with the Norwegian dismissed the following day.
“I feel for the fans, and I feel the same as them. We are embarrassed losing the way we did,” Solskjær admitted after the match. For a manager who had once been serenaded with chants of ‘Ole's at the wheel’, the defeat was a sobering reminder of how quickly things can change at Old Trafford.
Five years later, United have suffered another 4-1 humiliation, this time against Como. The result was so damning that The Athletic's Andy Mitten described it as “an affront to the name of Manchester United”. The parallels with that day at Vicarage Road are difficult to ignore. Just as Solskjær's final match exposed the team's lack of fight, this latest defeat has raised fresh questions about United's future and direction under Michael Carrick.
The scoreline could have been even more emphatic had Cesc Fàbregas not instructed his players to take their feet off the gas. Speaking after the match, the former Chelsea midfielder said, “I told them to slow down at 4-0.” Whether Como could have inflicted further damage is another matter, but the margin of defeat alone makes for sorry reading. United struggled to match Como's intensity from the outset and appeared second to almost every ball. Their performance offered little evidence of a side capable of imposing itself on the opposition.
More importantly, the result raises questions about Carrick's credentials. Like Solskjær, Carrick initially took charge in an interim capacity before being handed the permanent job following an impressive spell. A strong run of results, culminating in a top three finish and Champions League qualification, helped convince United's hierarchy that he was the right man for the job. Carrick's appointment invites a familiar question; has Manchester United mistaken a promising spell for evidence of long-term managerial suitability? The answer is an emphatic yes.
At a club of United's stature, a managerial appointment must be judged on more than an encouraging run of results. Beating Arsenal 3-2 away from home was an impressive achievement, but isolated victories cannot, on their own, establish a manager's long-term suitability. Tactical adaptability and the ability to respond when opponents expose weaknesses must all form part of the assessment.
United's performances this season have raised concerns on several fronts. The team has struggled to retain possession, looked disjointed without the ball and, at times, appeared overly reliant on individual brilliance. These are not problems that can be dismissed simply because of a handful of encouraging results, which have eluded the team this season. They demand a closer examination of Carrick's tactical approach and his ability to establish a consistent identity.
If the defeat to Como is indicative of deeper problems rather than an isolated bad performance, Carrick and United's hierarchy have serious questions to answer. The club cannot afford to repeat a familiar cycle. The challenge now is to establish whether Manchester United have genuinely learned from their past or are simply repeating the same mistakes under a different manager. Only time will tell.