da dobrowin： A strange night for Manchester United saw them lauded as highly as they have been all season, yet slump to another win-less game and drop to sixth in the league – they could find themselves 11 points behind Arsenal at the end of this evening – as they drew 3-3 at Newcastle.
da esport bet： That’s the paradox Man United fans seem to be living with at the moment: they want to see their team entertain them, they want to see attacking football, but surely they also want results, too.
The most important thing seems to be the entertainment value of the one-time lions of the Premier League savannah. United were the most feared predator, but like all nature documentaries, the fans of the lion are usually entertained.
These days, United are a cowering and tranquilised beast, who finds himself stuck in a cage at a local circus, dreaming of better days. No longer are they the team to back with the best bonus offer for Matchbook. It’s there to entertain, but all it does is bring sadness to the assembled public, like a depressed elephant in the zoo walking around in circles, unable to comprehend the nature of its captive life. It is both boring and tear-inducing.
A gap of 11 points is surely too much for United to bridge this season. In seasons gone by, you’d never totally rule them out, but this term you just have to. It’s not really all that surprising, though. Before the season started, few tipped United to actually win the league, though maybe we expected more of a challenge.
What we have instead is a real battle for fourth place.
Leicester’s new, more cautious approach, has seen them go on a three game winless run in the league, but they’ve only conceded one goal in that time. That may be the sign they’re fading, but it may also be a sign that they’ve become a more pragmatic side, shoring up a well-drilled defence in order to keep themselves high up the table. Even if they don’t challenge hard for the title come May, if they can continue to defend well, that could allow them to cope with a drop-off in form from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, and that in turn could be a threat to Manchester United’s Champions League spot.
Even worse from a United point of view could be the rise of West Ham, Crystal Palace (despite their deeply shocking defeat to Aston Villa) and Liverpool, who are all within striking distance of United after their draw with Newcastle.
Wins for Watford and Stoke tonight could put those sides within a two points of United, and their game against Liverpool this weekend might look very important if Liverpool win tonight, too. United’s bad run during December could see them not only dumped out of this season’s Champions League, but next season’s, too.
In light of all of this, it’s just so strange to see last night’s performance lauded. They were thrilling in attack, and although Van Gaal feels aggrieved at refereeing decisions and his own defence for getting themselves into that position, they did play well enough to win the game.
But reality bites hard for United today, as it seems to do all the time at Old Trafford these days. It’s the old balance between entertainment and results. For while United had results without the fun, then for a while they had neither, last night they had the fun, but not the result. Now, looking at the table, they could be in real danger if they do prioritise the fun over the results.
Last night was another strange night in a strange few years for the king of the Premier League pride. And at a time when the Premier League themselves are getting rid of the lion on their logo, perhaps that’s the enduring metaphor for United’s greatness. A new Premier League era is being ushered in, and United could well be the ones who lose out.
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