FORMER Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson has berated Manchester United for their performance against Fulham.
The Red Devils suffered a 2-1 defeat to Marco Silva’s side at Old Trafford on Saturday.
After a goalless first half, Fulham‘s Calvin Bassey broke the deadlock with a powerful strike in the 65th minute.
Harry Maguire equalised with a late tap-in, but Alex Iwobi restored Fulham’s lead deep into stoppage time.
Speaking after the game, Sky Sports pundit Merson suggested it was a reflection of United’s incompetency.
He said: “Man United were shocking, I’m not exaggerating. Absolutely shocking.
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“You know, how they can think they can get in the top four. And what’s the point of getting the top four anyway?
“Just to get into the Champions League. They’re not going to win it. So what’s the point in being in it?”
Referring to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s recent 25 per cent takeover, he continued: “They’re a gillion quid away.
“Honestly, I don’t know where they’re gonna catch up. Where he went, I want to take over Man City, whoa, pull it in to try and take over a couple of the others first.
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“Do you know what I mean? You go in like, ‘I’m gonna take Man City over’. Just go right bang, wait there a minute, you know, over the next couple of years, we’ve got to try and catch them and then we’ll catch them. I mean, no chance.
“This is going to be very slow. This ain’t gonna be overnight. This is going to be very very slow. If Man United went and won the league in the next five years whoever’s the manager should get knighted.”
Despite the defeat, Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag insisted that the club is moving in the right direction.
He said: “You have to see the bigger picture and the bigger picture looks very good.
“We have to catch up in many positions. We have to recover the injuries, then we will be more balanced.
“We have to also strengthen the squad in the transfer window. Many good players are coming up with really high potential.
“Definitely we are in the right direction. When we have the players available, we have a very good team.”
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Emillia Hawkins
