Manchester United’s list of slip-ups at Old Trafford had the latest entry added to it as Fulham arrived and knocked them out from the FA Cup.
Wastefulness remained the theme of the game as Man Utd missed five big chances to Fulham’s two, with Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee’s missed penalties confirmed the defeat in the shootout.
Ruben Amorim’s abysmal record at home keeps reaching new lows and the single hope in the form of the Europa League doesn’t seem so positive right now.
The biggest problem at the club was summed up by what the Man Utd fans chanted in the 22nd minute against Fulham, the vicious cycle in full action.
Man Utd fans’ chant vs Fulham
Due to the results falling off a cliff, the Man Utd manager has maintained that there’s nothing more they can ask from the supporters, only give them something at this point.
A similar sentiment was also echoed by Erik ten Hag as he praised Old Trafford for their support during his time at the club.
However, therein lies the biggest problem at the club – the fans being made to feel unwelcome to the ground, as evidenced by the chants going around the stadium in the 22nd minute vs Fulham.
The whole of Old Trafford chanted, “66 quid, taking the p–s” repeatedly, in reference to the Ineos diktat of raising some ticket prices to £66 this season.
That announcement coming in the midst of the club’s worst-ever Premier League season, to add to almost weekly defeats at Old Trafford shows how disconnected Ineos is from the average Man Utd fan.
Fan discontent creating vicious cycle at Man Utd
The fans deserve full credit for the way they’ve kept believing and backing the team, but it’s impossible to ignore the elephant in the room.
If the supporters are made to feel unwelcome and the unrest rears itself in chants like these, it undoubtedly has a knock-on effect on the atmosphere in and around the stadium.
An already mentally fragile team can do without being reminded that the fans are being asked to pay a king’s ransom to effectively watch them lose every three days!
Ineos have taken plenty of good decisions at the club, and Amorim has backed their vision as well, but there is no doubt that this particular decision is creating a vicious cycle.
The fans are made to feel unwelcome, so they voice their unrest, the atmosphere suffers, the players’ confidence takes a hit, they lose, the £66 price looks even worse, so the unrest grows and so on.
Ineos can, and need to break this cycle urgently.
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