Paltry spending and a looming defensive disaster - why Man United failed in 2018/19

MORE MONEY, SAME PROBLEMS

Mourinho was mocked in August for stating “It is difficult to believe that we finished second” and “last season was one of my biggest achievements in the game”.

This ridicule would soon make way to reality as United endured their worst start in 28 years, prior to the Portuguese’s rancorous exit.

His tactical and motivational faults are noteworthy. But so too is the ruinous impact that a lack of funding from the board had.

An estimated spend of £67.5 million throughout 2018/19 on Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred, Porto prospect Diogo Dalot and Stoke City’s back-up goalkeeper Lee Grant represented 11.7 per cent of their £578.5m revenue contained in the 2017/18 Deloitte Football Money League. Within the top 10 of this list, only Bayern Munich (3.1 per cent) and Tottenham Hotspur (0 per cent) were more miserly.

The comparison to Liverpool is stark. They, ambitiously, went from fourth to second when lavishing £160.8m on the likes of Roma No1 Alisson and RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, with this figure representing 36 per cent of revenue.

United’s invisible senior recruits, also, averaged just 11 Premier League run-outs. This was the least inside the top six – excluding non-spending Spurs – and still considerably less than Chelsea’s 19.8, even though two of Chelsea’s six inductees throughout the campaign were reserve shot-stopper Robert Green plus United States winger Christian Pulisic who was loaned straight back to Borussia Dortmund in January.

Oh, for a director of football…

NO CASE FOR THE DEFENCE

Whether under Mourinho or – now permanent – successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United’s defending has been laughably bad.

A shameful concession of 54 goals in 38 top-flight matches was their highest return in 40 years. Their ongoing run of 15 matches, in all competitions, without a clean sheet has not been witnessed since 1970.

Such a precipitous decline should be a surprise after they let in just 28 Premier League goals in 2017/18 – only runaway champions Manchester City were better.

Discerning viewers and Mourinho, however, foretold impending disaster.

United’s xGA (expected goals against) was +15.5 in 2017/18, meaning they should have let in 44 goals. Only seventh-placed Burnley (+13.2) also got into double figures in that edition.

A smaller discrepancy of -1.7 (52.3 xGA/54 goals actually conceded) was notched in 2018/19.

Contrasting form for Spain goalkeeper David de Gea is a major cause. Rare fallibility saw him make four errors leading to goals last season in the Premier League.

This was double the two recorded in his trying debut campaign of 2011/12 and four more than a flawless 2018/19.

The 28-year-old can, legitimately, point to a lack of protection that necessitated a career-high 122 saves. This was the fourth most in 2018/19.

In 2016/17, he produced only 74.

Blame can be attached, of course, to outfield players. Champions Manchester City averaged, per top-flight game, 64-per-cent possession and 9.5 interceptions, while lethargic United had much less of the ball (53.3 per cent) and still made fewer interceptions (9.3).

Contract renewals for calamity centre-backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling make them easy targets. But the defensive rot has set in far deeper than a suspect rearguard.

STRIKING OUT

United were the fourth-highest goal scorers in 2018/19, meaning you’d expect this area of the park to provide some of their smallest worries.

This would be a generous viewing, however, of the numbers.

Their tally of 65 goals in 38 matches was 30 less than City and 24 fewer than Liverpool.

Their xG (expected goals) stood at 68.6, creating a negative differential of +3.6. This was comfortably the worst from the Premier League’s top six, with only third-placed Chelsea’s +1 comparable.

United and fifth-placed Arsenal were the only clubs with two players in the Premier League’s top-10 for big chances missed.

Joint Golden Boot winner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette wasted 23 and 13. For United, Marcus Rashford spurned 16 and Romelu Lukaku 15.

But Arsenal’s duo still managed to notch 35 times, in contrast to the United strikers’ lesser 22.

A whopping 42.7 per cent of United’s Premier League attempts on goal were off target. This was comfortably the highest in the top six, with Liverpool next on 39.5 per cent.

Quality of opportunity is another issue.

From the top six, only Chelsea had fewer attempts as a percentage from inside the six-yard box than United (6 per cent/8 per cent), while United’s 51 per cent of attempts being from inside the 18-yard box was the 16th worst in the Premier League and six-per-cent inferior to City’s 57 per cent.

United’s average of 10.1 key passes per top-flight match was only good enough for the joint-fifth best with Leicester. It was also 3.5 fewer than leaders City and 1.1 less than Liverpool.

Defence and midfield are oft highlighted when debating United’s summer business. It would be remiss, however, of legendary ex-striker Solskjaer to ignore the area of the pitch he knows so well.