Does Manchester United’s dismal performance at Etihad summarize season of the club?

United’s 4-1 thrashing to Man City exposes Ranginck’s situation at the club.

Ralf Rangnick is struggling to get his squad to play consistently, with the Red Devils winning 2 games out of their last five games. The player’s standards are nowhere near the standard a Manchester United player needs to be, and it seems to be getting worse.

Manchester United suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat in the Manchester Derby as City extend their lead at the top of the table.

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United are struggling to get a grip of the top 4 as they are continuously dropping points, while Arsenal, Spurs, and West Ham are making the most of the opportunity. The Manchester derby was painful for United fans as every flaw of The Red’s was exposed in front of a joyous Etihad Stadium. Rangnick’s interim term seems to be getting worse by the day, and his ssuccessor’stask to rebuild a Manchester United worthy squad will take years’ worth of trust, patience, and talent-acquiring.

Rangnick may have lost vital players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw to injury and Covid, but at Etihad Stadium they looked like a team that was waiting for the misery to end.

Manchester United captain and most expensive defender, Harry Maguire, was involved in City’s first three goals. His sloppy defending fed the ball to Kevin De Bruyne who put City 2-1 up. He was not the sole reason for United’s disappointing defence but was a vital part of it. Although United spilt cash on their defenders, they do not have a single reliable centreback. Varane has been prone to injury, while Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly have not delivered this entire season.

United’s attacking problems are no better as Ronaldo and Cavani have a combined age of 72, and they are not a part of the future squad. Ronaldo might consider leaving the club if they fail to qualify for the Champions League, given his thirst for the European competition.

Anthony Elanga, the potential superstar, is a work in progress while Marcus Rashford is still struggling amidst transfer talk. David De Gea, the only player who has been constantly saving United from complete embarrassment, was also not able to stop Manchester City’s riot. The Spaniard played the only role in not letting the scoreboard get any worse.

Manchester United’s decision-makers have a huge task on hand if they want to finish in the op 4 seasonally.