he great thing about hitting rock bottom, Hollywood movies are fond of pointing out, is that there is only one way left to go. But there is another option. Hollywood movies: meetPerhaps the most brutal part of this night of calamitous, football‑style activity from the United defence and midfield at Old Trafford was the moments of hope in between, scattered like flowers in the rain.The worst part was pretty much everything else.
He started his sixth game in 19 days here because he’s the only real centre-forward at the club. He scored twice, the second a wonderful goal in the second half to put United 2-1 up. Davinson Sánchez slipped inside his own half. From there Højlund didn’t consider anything other than forward thrust, straight lines.
There is of course a sense of something mannered about all this, of learned behaviour. This is now a club where the only energy is dark energy, where the entire brand is now Hot Mess. This is a club now basically retailing their own disaster-drama. Despair, outrage, sackings, periods of tender hope, a cast of captivating ham characters: this is all still product.after newsletter promotion
How much more of this have they got left? How long before this mediocrity stops being cinematic and gripping? It is 10 years since Alex Ferguson left. United started winning 20 years before that. The post‑Fergie void is now half as long as the actual golden times. There will come a vanishing point at some stage, a moment where there is no more grand old family furniture left to throw into the fire.