FULHAM FRUSTRATION FOR MANU: THE WORST START SINCE 2014

In the tough struggle of the fifth week of the English Premier League, Manchester United caused a massive disappointment to its devoted fans by drawing 1-1 with its strong opponent Fulham. The Red Devils, who started the new season with extremely high expectations, large-budget transfers, and ambitious goals, literally hit rock bottom with the stiff football they displayed on the pitch and the consecutive point losses. After this surprising draw received against Fulham, the standings of the team in the first five weeks brought one of the darkest periods of club history to mind again. Manchester United, which could only leave the pitch with one point at the end of the tough ninety minutes, signed an incredibly bad statistic by collecting only five points in total in its first five official matches in the league. According to the striking data shared by sports data platforms immediately after the match, this shocking picture came to exactly the same point as that nightmare-like league start that Manchester United experienced in the two thousand fourteen and fifteen season. The rooted English club, which could only get five points in the first five matches in that turbulent period as well, had to face a similar management and on-pitch crisis again years later. Against Fulham, both the massive gaps the team gave in defense and the surprising productivity problem in the attacking paths increased the dose of criticism much more. The technical committee and out-of-form star players, who could not take control of the game throughout the match, were directly placed on the target board of the English sports press after the final whistle. Football authorities evaluated this rare decline experienced in the first five weeks by a team with such a massive budget and a wide player pool as a concrete reflection of the structural crises within the club. On the Manchester United front, which moved away from the championship race by taking a very heavy wound already, how the management would implement an emergency action plan against possible new point losses became a matter of great curiosity in the sports public. Large fan groups cut the bill of failure directly to the technical team while continuing their anxious wait.

IMAGE: BELFAST TELEGRAPH