MANCHESTER UNITED'S TOP FOUR GOALS DEAD? MAYBE NOT! QUALITY FOOTBALL MUST BE SUSTAINED AT OLD TRAFFORD

  Top four is still within the grasp of Manchester United by the end of the season. Really? Is top really still within Manchester United’s grasp? With the history of the Premier League proving that in the past, a number of teams who start their season strong by grasping one of the top spots on the Premier League table tend to run out of energy and drop down in the Premier League table by the conclusion of the Premier League season, Manchester United might view this interesting drop off from club who start their season strong as a bit of life line for a top 4 Premier League table finish for Manchester United this season.

This will come as some level of positive news for Seventh placeholders Manchester United still hoping to end their current Premier League season with a place in the top 4 of the Premier League table but the question is in all honesty, has Manchester United's performance so far in the season been deserving of a place in top four spots of the Premier League table? Take a look at the teams whom currently hold a place in one of the top four spots of the Premier League table Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City, these teams have been playing non stop incredible football from the moment the current Premier League season kicked of till this seasons midway point. The expectation is that the current top four teams in the  Premier League table who have to continue showing the blistering good form from the start of the 2018-2019  season will continue to put up exceptional performances as the season advances past the New Year 2019. With no end in sight in the level of top quality football Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham have been operating on throughout the season, has Manchester United left their top four ambitions a little too late to salvage?

Manchester United is currently battling a December packed with matches that appeared at first glance as a schedule set to favor Manchester United immensely and yet Jose Mourinho and his troops consistently display immense attitudes simultaneous of a newly promoted club battling to avoid premier League regulation. It’s baffling to think that watching an almost complete healthy roster of a Manchester United team will make the trip down to the St Mary’s stadium to face a struggling Southampton side whom are currently sitting in the bottom three spot in the Premier League and subsequently drop two points at Saint Mary’s as a positive result. Frankly, no one apart from the football analyst and the Manchester United fans understands the magnitude of trouble Manchester United football club is facing at the moment. Manchester United simply cannot compete at a high level.

The issue with Manchester United's static level of success is that the problem is not just the presence of the static level of success but the fact of Manchester United themselves typically encouraging themselves to remain in a constant derivative state. Looking around the lead you see progressive clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham etc come out of games where the team played magnificent football and secured a victory yet during interviews the players are constantly demanding the club maintain their attacking hunger, as well as the club, maintain their positive attitude moving into the next game. Returning to Old Trafford, rather than experienced players and managers demand better football from themselves and their teammates moving forward, Manchester United players and managers would much rather encourage themselves to keep playing such pauperized style of football.

     Another problem with Manchester United is also that most of the Manchester United owners and Manchester United fans fail to understand is that Jose Mourinho was signed as Manchester United manager when the man had exhausted his magic.  Jose Mourinho is simply not right as Manchester United manager because if anyone tracked Mourinho's last years as Chelsea manager, hiring Jose Mourinho as Manchester United manager had every sign of leading Manchester United down to this current poor state. Manchester United simply can not still hope to break into the top four of the Premier League simply because under Jose Mourinho Manchester United simply do not deserve a place in the top four right now. After the match Manchester United had against Southampton two weeks ago, Manchester United had Jose Mourinho come out in an interview blaming his players once again for the poor performance against Southampton to weeks ago.

 The idea of a manager coming out in an interview blaming his own players for coming out in a match and implementing a strategy which the manager himself obviously mapped out simply shows how far away from progressive Manchester United is currently operating on. In other to be a top-four progressive club in the Premier League a club has to have a manager who thinks progressively, a manager who encourages progressive attacking football on the field, most importantly a manager who takes responsibility for failure and instills the will to do better in the future in his players. At the moment, Manchester United lack the presence of such a progressive-minded ambitious manager at Old Trafford dog out leading to the poor quality seen in Manchester United's recent style of football and until this matter of poor quality football is resolved Manchester United is destined to remain out of the list of succeeding elite football clubs for next three years at least. 

 

   Manchester United is set to play a host of winnable for the remainder of the month of December 2018 but a good chunk of Manchester United's matches for January 2019 will also packed with matches practical calling out for a Manchester United victory.
Considering the 7^th place Premier League table position Jose Mourinho team find themselves at the moment, should be a reasonable expectation to hope Manchester United intend on concluding the next remaining 7 matches in the Premier League with a solid 12 points in the bag. Victory against Spanish side Valencia today, 12^th of December, should secure Jose Mourinho team safe qualification to the next stage of the UEFA Champions League competition.  Knowing Jose Mourinho, expect to see Manchester United approach their match at the Mestalla stadium in a slow, cautionary-defensive state. Manchester United Fans might not mind seeing a completely defensive minded Manchester United tonight against Valencia as long as the defensive mindset does not spill onwards into Manchester United's Premier League matches.

Jose Mourinho and his team have clearly shown the potential to continue to struggle this season even against lower opponents. Therefore, there will be no controversy to say that Manchester United has a slim to none chance of actually winning the Premier League this season. However, the Silver Lining from Jose Mourinho will be that Qualification for the  Champions League knock out round and a place in the top four of the Premier League table is still within Manchester United's grasp by the end of December. Qualification for the next stage of the Champions League and a top 4 Premier League table finish might guarantee Jose Mourinho the job as Manchester United manager next season but Mourinho can use these as some level of his redemption to Manchester United for failing to deliver a single meaningful Trophy to Old Trafford for the past 3 seasons at least. But the process of building towards success at Old Trafford has to continue tonight with a good victory over Spanish side Valencia.