David De Gea’s horror mistake gifted West Ham their goal, but more worrying for Manchester United will be the lack of response in a tame 1-0 defeat.
A distinctly unpleasant possibility is starting to loom for Manchester United after this alarmingly sloppy non-performance at West Ham.
The talk of quadruples was always daft – and as we’ve said before never emanated from players, coaches or staff at United – but the fact it was even a theoretical possibility now has a distinct note of the absurd about it.
Not only did the title charge never materialise, but United now find themselves in an unseemly scrap for the top-four spot that has appeared a certainty for much of the campaign.
And the worry now is not just that they might lose that spot, but that they might lose it to a Liverpool side whose fast-finishing season currently resembles a reverse of United’s. Fitting in its way for these two great rivals, but it will be a mortifying way to lose out if it comes to pass. Brighton are still involved as well, the scamps.
There is mitigation for United in the cup runs that have left them the busiest side in the country in the most uniquely busy of seasons. But the recent form is now a huge worry. In the last 18 days, United have been humbled at Sevilla, scraped past Brighton on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final, come away from Spurs with a 2-2 draw that felt like a defeat, edged Aston Villa 1-0 and now lost by the same score at both Brighton and West Ham.
The way these points are being squandered isn’t pretty. Switching off completely at 2-0 and allowing a physically and mentally broken Spurs team to ease their way back into the match. Conceding a daft injury-time penalty at Brighton. A goalkeeping howler here.
United have a lot of tired minds and weary bodies trying to crawl over the line for a top-four finish, and all while trying to ensure they have something left to give in the FA Cup final against City. Trying to secure a top-four finish while worrying about an FA Cup final are undoubtedly the sort of worries plenty of clubs would dearly love to have, but there is a growing sense of a season just starting to fade away.
The goal United conceded here is, obviously, a disaster. Quite how David De Gea managed to get a full hand to a shot quite literally trickling towards him yet barely managing to alter its course at all is a genuine mystery physicists will ponder for generations to come, but while it will inevitably attract all the attention…
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