FIVE ASIDES Premier League: Brighton 4, United 0
In a season of lows, this was the lowest. Being thrashed by City or Liverpool is one thing, being bullied by Brighton another. As 4-0 defeats go, it was as bad as Everton away in 2019, the nadir of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s early days. It wasn’t quite as bad as the 4-0 at MK Dons in 2014, but that was a 2nd XI playing in the League Cup, with names like Saidy Janko and Reece James on the team sheet – not Ronaldo, Fernandes and Varane. This game, like those two, will be remembered. And it deserves to be.
United have gone from good travellers to terrible ones, losing five away games in a row. They have conceded 56 goals this season, their worst ever in the Premier League. Has any team ever played this badly and still been in the top six?
Ralf Rangnick should resign. He should have resigned a month ago, when there was still a chance of making the Champions League. Since the end of February, he hasn’t even been able to organise United. Graham Potter showed him what management looks like by sending out 11 players who were motivated, drilled, attuned to one another – in a word, united. Rangnick’s game management, never great, was particularly poor here: he was right to bring on Fred, but wrong to take off Nemanja Matic, who had been United’s best player, rather than Scott McTominay, who was committing so many fouls that he was lucky to be still on the pitch.
The thing Rangnick does best is identifying talent. And we now know that he was blocked from doing that by the board, acting on the advice of the scouting department, when he wanted to sign a forward as the transfer window was closing. He could have resigned then, as a matter of principle, and left with his head held high.
United can still finish sixth, as West Ham have to play Man City. Even if David Moyes’ boys win their other two games, a draw at Palace on the last day would get United into the Europa League. If only we could rely on them to manage it.