Wout Weghorst is in trouble with a tiny subset of very angry Manchester United supporters for the heinous crime of touching the ‘This is Anfield’ sign.
In the aftermath of their 7-0 mauling at Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, there was no shortage of scapegoats for angry Manchester United supporters. If anything, it’s a easier to put together a list of those who emerged from their worst league defeat since Boxing Day 1931 with their reputations untarnished.
But this result came out of the blue to such an extent that the post-match recriminations have started to become somewhat muddled. The debate over Bruno Fernandes and The Importance of the Captaincy has already reached saturation point, with defences already being offered after he was hauled over the coals by Gary Neville on Sky Sports. Erik ten Hag may have got it tactically wrong on this occasion, but he still has plenty of credit in the bank from the transformation that he’s already led the team through this season. Harry Maguire didn’t play. And Marcus Rashford foolishly drove his car.
For a proportion of supporters, a scapegoat has been found and it comes in the form of man-mountain Wout Weghorst, and the crime with which he has been charged is amongst the most heinous imaginable. He touched the Anfield sign and with that, it has been decided (by a statistically tiny number of very angry and very online United supporters), he has broken some sort of unwritten code and must now be summarily drummed out of the club.
It seems fair to say that Weghorst was an unusual signing for United to make in January. To a point, it made logical sense. The club isn’t exactly awash with money, and an international striker on a long-term loan to the end of the season afforded their recruitment department a little more time to look for a more permanent solution. And he was another player with whom Erik ten Hag was already very familiar.
But this was not an arrival that was ever likely to quicken the pulse of the club’s supporters. Weghorst’s only involvement in the Premier League had been a half-season last year, when he gallantly failed to lead Burnley’s attack to the goals they needed to keep them in the top flight.
And while their build doesn’t have to be an indicator of a footballer’s ability or even skill-set – as can be demonstrated in the absurd commentary that Lisandro Martinez couldn’t possibly be a central defender because he’s 5’9″ tall – it did…
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