Manchester United head into Sunday’s clash against Huddersfield with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread, but also somehow very much alive.
All four protagonists in the race for the top four – United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea – have stuttered down the Premier League home straight. And with United facing two relegated sides in their final two fixtures – the Terriers and Cardiff, who were sent down on Saturday following defeat to Crystal Palace – on paper, at least, they must realise they have a chance.
But they simply have to start finding form in order to get out of their funk, and that issue is how we kick off our talking points.
CHERRIES PICK UP WIN, UNITED PICK HEADS UP
They’ve been saying for weeks that no one wants the last two spots for the Champions League as top-four candidates continue to falter and surprise results keep occurring.
After David de Gea gifted Chelsea an equaliser and both they plus United meandered to a dull 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last week, the Red Devils’ hopes of elite European football next term were rendered bleak.
But Spurs’ slip at Bournemouth on Saturday means United’s faint hopes are somehow still flickering – and now they have to try and fan those flames by hammering Huddersfield to ramp up the heat on the rest of their rivals.
Nothing but a commanding victory will do for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side at the John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday. United are in desperate need of not only a victory but a vibrant performance after a month of poor, lifeless displays.
Whereas with eight games to go Arsenal appeared in the driving seat for the top four with a kind set of fixtures, Unai Emery’s men have faltered, with their struggles on the road continuing in defeats at Wolves and Leicester, as well as a home loss to Crystal Palace.
Stuttering Spurs have suffered four defeats in their last seven games – their nine men losing 1-0 to the Cherries meant they failed to secure Champions League qualification. They also end the season with a tough test against Everton at home.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are also out of sorts, having won just three of their last seven, and they are winless in three games.
United simply must shake off the rust.
DE GEA HANDED A REPRIEVE
Many critics predicted and many United fans had called for David de Gea to be taken out of the firing line following his latest blunder against Chelsea last week.
De Gea’s gaffe, allowing Antonio Rudiger’s long-range strike to escape his grasp which was then seized upon by Marcos Alonso, was the latest in a season of high-profile mistakes the United custodian has made, following errors at the World Cup with Spain.
But Solskjaer resisted calls for a change between the sticks – but the decision was seemingly taken out of his hands when No2 keeper Sergio Romero was ruled out of the Huddersfield trip through injury.
“Of course we trust him, he’s been fantastic this season,” Solskjaer said of De Gea in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“Towards the end now he’s been in the headlines maybe for the wrong reasons, but, as I’ve said so many times, he has to deal with that.”
Speculation about his future, plus a wrangle over a purported new contract, surely aren’t helping the Spaniard’s fragile mindset, and the 28-year-old stopper needs a decent performance in Yorkshire just as much as his team do.
United’s player of the year for four of the last five seasons had been the best keeper in the world for a number of years prior to this season but has slipped behind Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak over the previous 10 months.
He’s in need of a summer break so that his future can finally be sorted out and so he can receive a vital break, both physically and mentally. But, right now, he just needs to switch on and perform at his highest for another 180 minutes.
CAN FRAUD SANCHEZ FIND ANY FORM?
Alexis Sanchez was one of the Premier League’s deadliest finishers and silkiest forwards when he swapped the Emirates Stadium for Old Trafford a little over a year ago.
Sure, his final six months at Arsenal was circumspect. He had definitely lost a step in terms of pace and the miles travelled constantly for Chile, as well as club exertions, looked like they were beginning to take a toll on a set of then 29-year-old legs which have seen more action than most during their career.
But United fans were still salivating at the prospect of a genuine world class player arriving. It seemed a no-brainer of a deal.
A swap for confidence-sapped Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who never lived up to his exalted superstar status from his time in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. And while the Armenian has hardly pulled up any trees in north London, Gunners fans will still rightly feel they’ve enjoyed the better side of the deal.
Even in that porous final half season at the Emirates, Sanchez still scored a respectable eight goals in 22 appearances in all competitions. He netted three times in 18 games in alternate United red. This season his woeful return of two in 26 has him headed for the exit door this summer.
Since finding the net with a stylish opener against his former side as United dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup in January, Sanchez has failed to register a single goal or assist in his ensuing 12 outings.
He hasn’t started a game in two months – the 3-2 win over Southampton at the start of March – but looks likely to be in the first XI as United desperately go in search of three points on Sunday.
It is a disastrous return for any top player, let alone one earning £400,000 a week. He has become a fraud.
They’ll take a hit if they get rid of the South American this summer, but it’s a price United must pay as Solskjaer gets set to stamp his mark on the club in the off-season.
He’s living on borrowed time but can Sanchez belatedly stamp his own class on Old Trafford in the final two games of the season and show everyone he’s far from finished?
