The 2021-22 season has been nothing short of a disaster for Manchester United and we’ve rounded up 17 stats that emphasise just how difficult things have been.
After finishing second in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020-21, there was an expectation that the Red Devils would mount a title challenge – especially with the acquisitions of Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo last summer.
But how wrong we were. With a handful of matches remaining in the campaign, United seem a million miles away from returning to the glory days they enjoyed under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The club are clinging on to wafer-thin hopes of a top-four finish, but the prospect of Conference League football looks more probable at this point.
It was just three months into the season when Solskjaer was sacked as his side served up consistent dismal performances and results – a 5-0 Old Trafford humiliation at the hands of arch-rivals Liverpool being the worst of the bunch.
Ralf Rangnick replaced the club legend. The German was placed in Interim charge until the end of the season.
Hailed as a mentor by two of the Premier League’s great managers, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, United fans hoped that the 63-year-old could reignite a squad littered with international stars.
During his time at Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, Rangnick was famed for implementing a high pressing style. But since his arrival, we’ve seen very little of that approach from the United crop, or any on-pitch improvements at all from what we saw near the end of Solskjaer’s reign.
“Again, I think we have shown in the past couple of months we were able to raise the level but not in the same sustainable way that I would have wished. That’s the reason I’m not happy at all with what we’ve done and achieved so far,” Rangnick said in April.
It’s been a hard watch for the club’s supporters, but also for ex-players who were used to winning bucket loads of trophies at Old…