We stumbled upon this article written by Dan Coombs in his column on unitedinfocus.com, calling on Manchester United's fans to get behind the players after suffering a huge setback at Anfield last Sunday, and we decided to share it and throw light on pundits who are targeting Manchester United players and making a scapegoat out of them.
Just as Paul Pogba was a scapegoat for every game Manchester United lost while he was a player at Manchester United, it appears Bruno Fernandes is headed down that path.
The players as well as the manager, Erik Ten Hag, have been criticized for the shameful display, but the criticism has taken on another dimension as it appears some pundits have some personal ambitions, and the Red Devils' loss on Sunday was a good opportunity to push for it.
Well, it isn't an easy decision to wait for almost six months before you can happily glide around in the studio criticizing a team that is just 10 months into their project and already has a trophy to show for it. It's a huge pain to be forced to eat back your words after making dismissal statements about a club's signings, and they are breaking all expectations. Sunday's loss is a huge sign of how rivals are unhappy with the team's progress this season.
Dan Coombs article has given some insights on this:
"Manchester United’s 7-0 defeat to Liverpool was a historically bad result from a performance so terrible that nobody could really believe it.
And with this truly awful result hitting out of nowhere, it has unleashed a non-stop torrent of criticism heading the players' way. Now is the time for supporters to back the players and leave the criticism to the agenda-driven pundits.
It’s one thing to deconstruct a bad result and look at reasons for the poor performance. But many in the media are simply using the poor result to be either downright abusive towards the players or double down on bad takes."
Yes, that's the right conclusion to draw: Manchester United players are being targeted and made scapegoats by the media. Recently, they have had fewer chances to criticize due to the results they have gotten on a weekly basis and their eye-catching performances.
Dan Coombs picked on Paul Merson's manner of targeting midfielder Bruno Fernandes and making claims about an incident that happened on the pitch.
"Take Sky Sports‘ Paul Merson, who is still sticking to the line that Bruno Fernandes asked to be substituted, a notion denied by club sources across multiple outlets.
He now claims United "have been getting away with" poor performances for weeks and called Fernandes’ performance "scary."
One of the most ridiculous articles came from The Athletic, which ran a minute-by-minute breakdown of Fernandes' display, joining in the pile-on towards the Portugal star.
Then you have the other end of the spectrum, with Richard Keys calling Wout Weghorst the worst ever footballer to play for Manchester United [via mail] and Piers Morgan calling for Erik ten Hag to resign.
"It's a race to the bottom, with pundits and writers unleashing the anti-United takes they had been waiting for an excuse to rattle off and taking sheer glee in a poor result."
The article further stressed the need for Manchester United's faithful to get behind the players, as they needed them now more than ever.
"Manchester United fans had more right than anybody to be angry about the weekend’s meltdown." This wasn’t what we expected from the players.
But while the media pile-on continues two days after the game, United fans will be taking a more understanding tone towards players who have negotiated a non-stop fixture list and already won a trophy this season.
This squad has bounced back from bad results before. And while the severity of this defeat may not be simple to recover from, having two home matches up next helps.
United supporters will back the players at Old Trafford on Thursday night and demonstrate that one bad result will not turn a season sour.
It’s time to move forward, and ignore the media circus of who can shout the loudest to slate the players and manager who have brought us so much joy over the past few months."
It's obvious Man United are already a threat, and that shows the team have done a great job this season. Honestly, who expected that comeback against Barcelona, Manchester City, or dominating Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final?
We all know that without these players, some of these pundits would have no means of earning a living after their retirement from football, while the likes of Paul Merson need them to stay relevant.
Erik Ten Hag admitted during his post-match interview after his side won the Carabao Cup at Wembley that pundits' criticism has been having negative effects on his players. It's a proof of how much damage these pundits are causing while sitting in their various studios on match day.
Manchester United's legend Rio Ferdinand has already indicated that if Erik Ten Hag's side fails to win their next two games against Real Betis and Southampton, then eyebrows could be raised, but the defeat at Anfield on Sunday evening doesn't define the Red Devils' season.
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