Drudging despondently down the Old Trafford touchline towards the tunnel, it’s becoming an all too familiar action for David Moyes this season.
On Sunday his Manchester United side were knocked out of the FA Cup 2-1 by Swansea City, as Wilfried Bony’s last-minute winner piled more agony onto a sorry state of affairs for United in the 2013-14 campaign. They are now out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, sit seventh in the Premier League and are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal.
But in their cup defeat, an all too familiar story unraveled as United failed to finish chances and have now scored just 13 goals in 11 PL and FA Cup games at home this season. That lack of creativity in front of over 75,00o expectant fans is annoying Moyes as the Red Devils have regularly turned on the attacking magic away from home.
“We didn’t do enough to win it; we made some opportunities but they weren’t enough,” Moyes told BT Sport after the 2-1 defeat to Swansea. “When we went down to 10 men we just needed to see it out and try to force a replay, but we didn’t get that far. We kept trying to go for it and got caught a little bit and lost the second goal.”
That ‘didn’t do enough to win it’ theme has been going on all season.
And as some of Monday morning’s back pages in England alluded to a ‘crumbling Empire’ and other hyperbolic headlines relating to United’s demise, it’s hard not to get worked up about the situation Moyes’ men find themselves in.
(MORE: In 7th place and out of the FA Cup: Uncharted territory for Manchester United)
After all, it’s now four defeats in their last six home games in all competitions for United.
We all know Sir Alex Ferguson’s era saw Old Trafford become a fortress of indomitable solitude for the Red Devils, but now teams are coming to OT with no fear. United’s fans are worried but are sticking with Moyes as they always knew the transition from Fergie would be tough. On the bright side Untied are in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League and have a relatively easy draw against Olympiakos, plus they face Sunderland in the League Cup semifinals on Tuesday. Every cloud, and all that…
That ‘Empire’ that Ferguson built up so ferociously isn’t quite crumbling… if it carries on like this, it could be on the verge of a monumental collapse.
