Manchester United’s opponents no longer intimidated, say Sunday Supplement panel

Manchester United may be bringing in huge revenue but on the pitch their opponents no longer fear them, say the Sunday Supplement panel.

United announced club-record revenue figures of £627.1m this week but narrowly avoided embarrassment with a midweek penalty shootout Carabao Cup win over League One Rochdale at Old Trafford.

United’s below-par performance in that fixture continued a frustrating start to the season, which has seen Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side drop Premier League points against Wolves and Southampton and lose to Crystal Palace and West Ham.

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They host Arsenal on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm, but won’t hold the same fear factor they have done in previous times, says Steve Bates, the chief football writer at the Sunday People.

He believes – on the field, at least – United’s standing has been damaged by their repeated seasons of struggle since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

“The aura and mystique is gone,” he told Sunday Supplement. “It went a long time ago, probably even around the time or before Fergie was going.

“Even when they won that last title in 2013, they won it by 11 points, but people were thinking ‘how did they win that?’ and that was the last time that’s happened.

“Do football teams go to Old Trafford and fear them? No. You saw the way Rochdale played there, a League One team, and put on a real performance.

“There is still something special about Manchester United but generally the aura and mystique about them as a football team has gone. Teams used to be beaten before they went out at Old Trafford in Fergie’s day, but that’s long gone.”

Martin Samuel, the chief sports writer at the Daily Mail, agreed – and pointed out that many of the players United face this season will be unfamiliar with their era of dominance.

“There are a lot of foreign players in the Premier League and they’re not intimidated by Old Trafford,” he said. “They don’t remember going there and seeing Ferguson’s teams or being at White Hart Lane when United were 3-0 down and winning 5-3.

“The [1999 Champions League final at the] Nou Camp is 20 years ago now and just think of how old you’ve got to be really aware of what happened there and the treble and things like that.

“Some players weren’t born then or they were too young or they were in another country where it was something that happened but teams win the European Cup every single year and we don’t necessarily remember them.

“That’s the problem United have got now: that aura around them was part of what is now an ancient history. In football, things move on so quickly and there are a whole generation of players out there for whom Manchester United are nothing special.”

Watch Manchester United vs Arsenal on Monday Night Football from 7pm on Sky Sports Premier League; Kick-off is at 8pm

(c) Sky Sports 2019: Manchester United’s opponents no longer intimidated, say Sunday Supplement panel