Manchester United won’t progress until they lose their firefighter mentality – Man United News And Transfer News

3

Manchester United fans used to complain that superstar midfielder Paul Pogba could only play in a team that was winning.

The theory went that Pogba required confidence and positivity around him to shine. Put him in a struggling United side and he became one of the worst players on the team. Put him in a successful France side and the same player became world class.

Some have said the same about Marcus Rashford. When things are going well for United, Rashford is sensational. When the team is struggling, so is he.

But are there players where the reverse is true? Are there United players who tend to be at their best in a struggling side?

Former goalkeeper David de Gea was an obvious example, winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award four times during some of the team’s darkest years. The current incumbent in goal, Andre Onana, a Ballon d’Or nominee for high-flying Inter Milan last season, is not the same. He, too, may belong in the Pogba category when right now, United perhaps need that De Gea mentality.

But there are two other names we could add to the “best in a struggling side” list: Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay. These are two players who were a whisker away from leaving the club last summer as they were considered surplus to requirements in a confident squad that was going places.

How times have changed. Maguire has been voted Premier League player of the month for November despite his defence conceding three or more goals in half the games played in that month. Luckily for him, none of those games were in the Premier League (they were against Newcastle United, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray).

McTominay, meanwhile, is riding high as United’s top goalscorer this season and enjoying comparisons to the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard from various pundits and journalists.

Isn’t it funny how both are always among United’s best players when the side is doing badly? Is it a coincidence or do they have a certain mentality that brings out the best in them when surrounded by mediocrity or panic? Are they, by nature, firefighters?

It’s obviously really important to be able to put out fires but the problem with having the core of your team composed of experts at putting them out is that there needs to be a fire for them to show their worth.

Put Maguire and McTominay in a United side making a title charge and they have no function. There is no fire to put out. They might even need to become arsonists and start a few fires so that they can then come to the rescue and extinguish them.

Every United manager that has come and gone since Sir Alex Ferguson has reached a crisis point and each, at that stage, has turned to his firefighters. But in each case, ultimately they were unable to save him. Now, it is starting to look as if Erik ten Hag’s fate will be the same as that of those who went before him.

The problem is that United are not supposed to be heroic relegation battlers, the kind of team where firefighters thrive. They are supposed to be title contenders. That requires Michelin Star chefs, who can take the ingredients of football and create something extra special.

If Ten Hag sees flames and populates his team with firefighters, then United’s business will be about going from one crisis to another. If he sees flames and picks masterchefs to cook magical dishes on them, then United’s business will be to become the brilliant best.

Maguire and McTominay have been among United’s best performers recently, without question. So in one sense it seems insane to call for their heads. But we are Manchester United. We have a Michelin star defender in Raphael Varane sitting on the bench. We can put in a deep lying playmaker in midfield in place of Fireman Scott. We need to stop firefighting and start cooking.