I waited 24 days to watch Man United and it was a total car crash | Football | Sport

24 days of waiting. Some tedious international fare, some half-entertaining neutral watching of FA Cup fun and games and that’s been it for nearly a month as a United fan.

And then we get that 2-1 loss car crash at Old Trafford last night with what can only be described as a team that looked like it hadn’t played for nearly a month. United were awful in the first half, and an energetic and determined Leeds should have had the game dead and buried by half-time.

Leeds played as if their Premier League lives depended on it; United looked as if they couldn’t remember how to play and were bemused by reaching the lofty heights of third.

And what a shame, as a win for the Reds would surely have been a big step towards Champions League football next season. It was literally on a plate with a football-starved theatre of dreams expectant.

All that was needed was an assured front-foot performance to pick up the three points.

What we got was a stumbling, hesitant, error-strewn Ruben Amorim-style chaotic mess, especially in the first half, which felt schoolboy standard at times, so off the pace were United.

United only have themselves to blame for their self-enforced break. Why didn’t they arrange a friendly against anyone else in the world during their mega sojourn? Stockport, Barnsley, Salford, Bury, the reserves, the Dog and Duck XI – any of them must have fancied a decent kick about?

Believe me, the last thing these players needed was an extensive break. They are playing the fewest games (40) in a season since 1914/5 thanks to the cup farce at Grimsby and against Brighton.

It’s a bit like the England Ashes cricket nonsense. You can’t just rock up and expect to perform without being match fit and ready. United just turned up at OT and got what they deserved – a sound beating despite the perceived closeness of the scoreline. They were way off it and inexcusably so.

Not only did United fans have to endure a ludicrously long wait for football, but they were then confronted by pre-match news that key midfielder Kobbie Mainoo had picked up a knock in training and would not start.

Only United can manage not to play a competitive game during the time astronauts fly past the moon and back and still add to their injury list.

And of course that meant the only option in central midfield was the quite frankly not good enough Manuel Ugarte.

The Ugarte/Casemiro partnership has and never was going to work – any United fan can tell you that. The zippy Leeds boys ran rings around the leggy pair and coach Carrick has to take some blame for that. The midfield needs younger legs and energy and United desperately need a complete rebuild in that area in the summer. Elliott Anderson, Adam Wharton, Alex Scott we need you all.

All is certainly not lost in the race for Champions League football but at this rate they will need to improve a hell of a lot if they do manage to qualify and have to play two games a week against superior opposition – once a month is a struggle at the moment!

Next up is Chelsea away on Saturday. Lisandro Martinez won’t be there after tugging away at Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s bobbled locks. It surely was the tamest ever of red cards in the history of what is supposed to be a contact sport.

I have seen more violent conduct in a kindergarten. The game is dying in front of our eyes if we give a straight red and three game ban for that nonsense. But yes maybe the stupidity of the action meant he deserved it.

It will no doubt now be followed by a deluge of copycat footballers growing lustrous locks to encourage a serious tugging and is bad news for barbers everywhere.

As usual with this United team, I have zero confidence in what the result will be, especially with Chelsea also being in transition = total chaos.

One thing is for certain, there will be goals. United have now clocked up 102 in their 32 league games this season with only 57 of them their own.

I am going for a crazy 3-2 United win with a Marc Cucurella injury time own goal headed winner as he is put under severe hair-related but legal pressure by the advancing buzz-cutted Benjamin Sesko!