Former Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham believes the Reds’ seismic defeat to Liverpool last weekend was no surprise. In fact, it was inevitable.
“I don’t think United can keep doing what they’re doing. There are obviously faults running through the team and you’d be a fool to say everything has been fine up until now and the Liverpool defeat was a freak result.
"Everyone has seen this result coming because you can’t keep coming from behind every time you play. Sunday was quite expected.”
Clearly unimpressed with what he’s seen so far this season at Old Trafford, Sheringham readily agrees that individuality is a concern, with United too reliant on superstars pulling off moments of magic rather than working together as a team.
For this, he squarely places responsibility at the feet of skipper Harry Maguire.
“You don’t get out of these problems by being individuals. Your captain has to be a leader and hit people hard for what they’re doing because there is a lot of people coasting out there and doing the wrong things at the wrong time.
"He needs to be leading, even if he’s not playing well. Harry is having a tough time himself and struggling but he’s still got to ensure everyone else is doing their jobs. That’s what the good captains did.”
Not that Maguire can solely be blamed for the Red Devils’ woes of course, though his dramatic loss of form has partly contributed to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side keeping just one clean sheet in their last 21 games.
Elsewhere, there are numerous issues that need to be resolved and soon if United are to have any hope of resurrecting their season.
In midfield, Fred and McTominay are too easily by-passed while up front Cristiano Ronaldo has looked disconnected from his new team-mates.
It hardly helps either that the Portuguese striker has started flailing his arms around in frustration at things not going United’s way.
“Ronaldo is at the club and part of the situation and part of the team that is struggling. So I wouldn’t start questioning who he’s playing alongside because there are a lot of good players at the club.
"He needs to start looking at his own performances and seeing if he can do more. If everyone did that then you’d like to think they’d improve as a team and no longer be pointing fingers at one another.
"It’s not about being a glory hunter and scoring a world class goal. It’s about digging deep and making tackles you don’t normally do, grafting hard to make sure your mate is looking good and he should do the same for you.
"You have to take yourselves out of the equation and make sure the team does better and gets results.”
If that’s the team firmly told by the treble-winner and England legend, he also refreshingly and admirably doesn’t spare Solskjaer, despite having played alongside the Norwegian for four highly successful campaigns.
When asked if criticism of the United boss is unfair at times, the 55-year-old dismisses the suggestion that it is out of hand.
"Does Ole get a fair deal? Yes, he gets a very fair deal. You’re managing Manchester United and you’ve stayed in the job for a long time and you haven’t won anything.
"Depending on how you look at it, he’s had a very fair deal to still be in a job. It does look like he’s been getting the club to progress, as a team, but that has faltered at the start of this season and that’s why so many have question marks.
"There has been a lot of protection for Ole from his former team-mates, and I’ve been just the same, but he’s not stupid and he knows that the noose is tightening.
"You just hope that it doesn’t happen and he finds a way out. He’ll certainly keep fighting because he’s a winner after all. He needs to change things around and very, very quickly to save this season and save his job.”
That process begins this weekend, as United take on another of Sheringham’s former clubs, Tottenham and they too are hardly flying at present; inconsistent and disjointed under new gaffer Nuno Espirito Santo.
With a defeat to West Ham plunging the North London giants down to sixth, again Sheringham focuses on the armband when identifying the main causes for their poor return.
“I think it’s a real tough time for Tottenham. When you have a striker who is also the captain like Harry Kane, he leads by example rather than telling everyone what to do, like a centre-half would or a central midfielder.
"They need a leader at the back or in midfield to dominate and dictate and tell people what they’re doing wrong.
"I’m really not a lover of a centre-forward being the captain and he’s not performing at the best of his capabilities either at the moment. So he’s not even leading by example.”
Is Kane’s loss of form a direct result of his move to Manchester City falling through, briefly leading to the forward staying away from pre-season training? Sheringham is convinced it is.
“It’s definitely the case that something has happened in the summer, and he was probably given assurances that he could leave.
"Those assurances haven’t been stuck to and it looks like Kane has the hump. He needs to change that around and realise he is still the Tottenham captain and still a Tottenham player and do better."
As for City, don’t be surprised if another attempt to sign last term’s Premier League Golden Boot winner is forthcoming, either in January or next year.
“I think they’d still love to have Harry Kane and they’d bite Tottenham’s hand off tomorrow to have the same deal they offered in the summer if that was to come about.”
An intriguing sidebar to Spurs’ struggles lies in Newcastle United’s recent takeover that might conceivably see the Magpies break into English football’s elite in the not too distant future.
Are either of Sheringham’s former sides in danger of losing their prized ‘top six’ status should this happen?
“Tottenham are at risk of losing their top six spot and so are Manchester United at the moment. That’s how big the problems are at both teams. It’s not great for either club at the moment and they both need to turn things around.”
There is an awful lot at stake at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Far more than a mere three points.
Teddy Sheringham Predictions:
Tottenham vs Manchester United score prediction?
Just because of previous years, I’ll go Tottenham 0 Manchester United 2. Cavani to score the first goal.
Who will win the Premier League?
I don’t like it but Chelsea!
Who will win the Premier League Golden Boot?
At this moment in time, Salah. He’s phenomenal. His desire and professionalism and attitude. I love it.
Who will win the Champions League?
Liverpool.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 26th October 2021
