mason greenwood | carlosartorial

United is a soap opera at the best of times, but this last month played out as if there’s a team of behind-the-scenes scriptwriters devising the scarcely credible stream of calamities occurring on an almost daily basis. It’s been absolutely relentless. So much so that you’d be forgiven for thinking the much vaunted “cultural reset” that occurred during ETH’s first year in charge was somewhat overstated. One might even go as far to suggest that it could be time for another.

Firstly (and predictably) Mason Greenwood got shunted off to Getafe once the realisation hit that Arnold & Co weren’t going to be able to re-integrate him into the squad without causing a major PR stink. Quite how it took an internal investigation lasting several months to reach this conclusion I’ve no idea, given it was patently obvious from the moment that video started circulating he would never play for the club again. Naturally in taking an excruciatingly long time to make the decision (not to mention performing a u-turn en-route) United managed (also predictably) to score a PR own goal anyway. Absolutely brilliant work all round lads, well done.

Greenwood’s new employers wasted no time in confirming how they would handle any potential fallout caused by their new acquisition. Now you might think given his notoriety, a carefully worded statement exuding calm and sensitivity might be in order. Nope, scrub that. Instead, their socials manager demonstrated the composure of a 15 year old boy fresh off a 48 hour Fortnite bender, amped up on Prime and Strawberry Elf Bars. “Our guy Mase” was heralded in a stream of training ground pics as they revelled in the attention and hoovered up new followers on twitter. Still, if a few thousand “Starboy” apologists have now switched allegiances to Getafe this could turn out to be a positive thing.

During the post-mortem that followed defeat at the Emirates, it was revealed that Jadon Sancho had been omitted from the squad following sub-par performances in training that week. It comes as no surprise to learn he isn’t cutting it during practice sessions given his underwhelming contribution to the vast majority of games he’s appeared in over the last 2 years. Indeed, such is the player’s complete lack of impact at United, Ten Hag’s interview was the first time it occurred to me that he hadn’t featured that day. Normally you’d expect a player to take a public dressing down on the chin and vow to improve. Unfortunately not, as nothing emitting from the confines of Carrington can be described as normal at present.

In his infinite wisdom, Sancho took to twitter to refute the allegations, claiming “I have been a scapegoat for a long time.” I’m not certain if this broadside was aimed solely at Ten Hag, given that he’s only the latest in a number of managers and coaches to question the player’s discipline and take umbrage at his timekeeping. One can only assume being granted a 3 month leave of absence last season to work on his fitness levels was a part of this scapegoating process as well? Poor misunderstood Jadon.

Given this occurred at the start of the international break, Sancho had ample opportunity to sort this out quietly but you figured something was amiss when he was pictured at some event in NYC a couple of days later. Nothing was resolved at a Carrington summit meeting scheduled for the following Monday, so the club then issued a statement announcing the player would be training alone for the foreseeable, “pending resolution of a squad discipline issue.” Cool. Quite honestly, I don’t require any further updates to this story as I’ve heard enough already. See you later, sunshine – don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

The next bombshell to drop concerned Antony and allegations of domestic abuse that first surfaced in South America a few months back. The story gained traction after a couple more women presented evidence to the media, leading to him being dropped from the Brazilian national squad. United responded by granting him an indefinite leave of absence, so in the space of 4 days we were now £150M-worth of highly erratic wingers down. Ten Hag must have felt some relief at his own baldness at this point, otherwise I’m certain he would’ve been pulling his hair out.

Away from all the off-the-pitch shenanigans, match days have provided little respite. Numerous mitigating factors have conspired against us so far. A full blown injury crisis, key players out of form and some refereeing shockers haven’t helped, but it’s not overly critical to state that it’s been a fairly abysmal start to the season. A fortuitous win over Wolves (masking the fact that we were outplayed for long stretches) and a stirring comeback after being 0-2 down to Forest after 4 minutes being the only highlights. Aside from that, it’s been grim viewing for the most part.

The point has been made before, but it’s pretty clear that prioritising lucrative exhibition games and racking up thousands of air miles ahead of proper pre-season training is terrible preparation for a fresh campaign. Every opponent faced so far has looked fit, fresh and hungry whereas United have struggled to maintain focus and intensity for 90 minutes. We start brightly enough, miss a couple of sitters, concede and then capitulate completely. It’s all becoming a bit predictable. Rinse and repeat.

I’m duty-bound to give a nod to the Glazers for their role in this mess, so shoutout to them too for ensuring new faces rock up at the last possible moment leaving no time to integrate them into the squad. The fact that a club of United’s size has to rely on loan signings at all is quite ridiculous, yet here we are again with Sergio Reguilon arriving on deadline day to go straight in as first choice left-back. Don’t even get me started on the options available at right-back, where you’ve got the equally abysmal Wan Bissaka and Dalot competing in their weekly “who’s looking the least shit to ensure selection” duel.

There’s little doubt that once we get some players back and things settle down, results will start to improve. Unfortunately, that’s going to take some time and until then the noise surrounding the club and pressure is only going to intensify. Plugging the omnipresent leaks and driving out malignant dressing room influences remains an ongoing process and there’s no quick fix. As I’m sure the manager is quite aware by now, this is just how it is at Manchester United. Clearly, the quickest way to end this current “crisis” is to start winning football matches again. Turning this around in the next few weeks is Ten Hag’s biggest test so far.

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Despite a couple of disappointing results in the few weeks, it’s hard not to feel quite enthused about all things United at present. For the first time since the upturn in form at the beginning of Solskjaer’s tenure we’re seeing real progress on the pitch. The contrast with what we witnessed throughout the entirety of last season is stark, with the team looking motivated, players committed and the crowd in full support as opposed to disengaged. What we’ve seen since the resumption after the World Cup has exceeded pretty much all expectations; going to Old Trafford is something to look forward to again and no longer feels like a chore.

Whilst the players deserve much of the credit, the architect of this has been the manager. The more I hear him speak, the more I like him. No histrionics, no emoting, no fuss – he’s just quietly cracking on with the biggest job in football under unparalleled scrutiny and crucially, getting the big decisions right. Showing faith in Rashford, ruthlessly cutting Maguire and catapulting Ronaldo into the footballing wilderness were each huge calls, but they have quickly paid dividends and results speak for themselves. Both Martinez and Casemiro (much to Graeme Souness’ chagrin no doubt) are proving to be fantastic signings.

We’re still a way off being the finished article, but all evidence points to the fact that Ten Hag knows what needs to be done and has plans in place to achieve this. If the club wasn’t up for sale we might have been in position to pick up a better option than Wout Weghorst to supplement the attack in the short term. Unfortunately, loan signings from Burnley are indicative of the financial reality facing the club as it seeks new investors or ownership. It’s doubly frustrating as the likelihood is that 80-odd points will win the league this season and we aren’t far off that target. 2 or 3 more key additions and this team could have been genuine title contenders.

The football world is always a much nicer place when Blues’ heads are falling off and after defeat in the recent derby, there were more fantastic scenes following the release of their lengthy rap sheet at the conclusion of the Premier League’s 4 year investigation into City’s financial affairs. Reactions to this were mixed from those of my acquaintance, some are unmoved and find it all very amusing whereas others are extremely twitchy, aware that the consequences of a guilty verdict could be far-reaching. Vincent Kompany may well roll his eyes and Guardiola can blame everyone else for their predicament, but the evidence available in the public domain looks to be damning.

Whether or not Manchester City ever actually receive punishment remains a moot point. We live in a country where people with wealth and power routinely evade justice for circumventing financial laws and regulations. Football has functioned within its own peculiar bubble for years and club owners are well versed in acting with financial impunity without sanction. City’s statement claiming they were “surprised” by the charges isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds. As far as they’re concerned they’re just playing the lucky hand they’ve been dealt in a game that’s been rigged for decades.

Irrespective of whether anything comes of these particular charges, whilst football club ownership rules remain anything but “fit and proper” the game is only likely to face similar issues in future. Arab states, Russian oligarchs and US-based venture capitalists should never have been allowed to take control of 100+ year old community assets. City’s alleged transgressions are just the latest consequence of the Premier League and the FA deliberately choosing to look the other way and give tacit approval to unscrupulous foreign investors. The current mess wouldn’t require cleaning up if they’d maintained a semblance of common sense and integrity instead of welcoming these suitors in the first place.

You would assume that with results improving there might be a drop off in the toxic bile spewed out by certain MUFC-affiliated content providers on social media. You’d be wrong. Harmony and positivity doesn’t tend to drive clicks so instead it’s full speed ahead with the usual attention-seeking knobhead agenda. Having declared war against Harry Maguire last season they’re having to dream up new scapegoats now and the latest, incredibly, is Alejandro Garnacho. A couple of less than stellar performances and he’s deemed “shit” and written off completely. Now I’m aware I’m also guilty of the odd knee-jerk reaction but this is taking the piss when talking about an 18 year old kid who’s made a great impact so far this season.

I’m aware I’d be better served by not getting wound up by these people and their grift. I’m not their target audience and I could choose to simply ignore them. However, their very existence is a stain on the club and it’s support. I don’t like these people speaking as United fans on a public platform because they aren’t representative of United fans and they know nothing of our history and culture beyond what they’re read on the internet or seen on television. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were left to fester on their own YouTube channel but they’re now permeating the mainstream with the likes of SSN providing an outlet that further legitimises their bullshit. You know what I mean, fam?

The weirdest sub-section of United online fandom are undoubtedly the twitter users who faithfully kept the Mason Greenwood flying throughout the duration of his absence over the last 12 months. Barely a week went by without seeing his name trending, with huge numbers of predominately overseas-based reds parroting their support and demanding their “starboy” be welcomed back with open arms. News that the CPS has dropped all charges last month sent these lads into overdrive. Apparently with Greenwood back and under Ten Hag’s tutelage, United would soon be “cooking”, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

The club obviously has a decision to make over the coming months. There’s a lot to consider but it’s difficult to see any conclusion to this sorry episode other than Greenwood leaving at the end of the season. United is a commercial behemoth in thrall to multiple commercial partners, and that’s before you start to consider the opinions of individual stakeholders and how they might feel about implicit support for a player initially charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. There’s a decision to be made here, certainly – but it’s very clear what needs to happen.

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