And the binary debate produced by those fiery quotes following United’s 4-1 hammering in the Champions League is also a distraction that deviates from where the heftiest portion of the blame ought to be directed.
asserted
portion → produce → blame
The form of his captain, Bruno Fernandes, has not been much better, yet United were tempting fate right from the moment the summer transfer window shut.
asserted
window → tempt → moment
Veteran Casemiro was always going to be a big loss - his experience, his leadership skills, his set-piece threat - but directing 100 per cent of their transfer outlay on midfielders was a grim mistake.
Doing so left an ageing, injury-prone Luke Shaw as the club’s only recognised left-back.
asserted
Doing → go → back
It left Diogo Dalot, fine but never anything more, as the starting right-back.
asserted
It → leave → back
It left Harry Maguire, 33, expected to start in the Premier League and Champions League multiple times a week.
asserted
It → leave → League
It left no nominal striker good enough as back-up for Benjamin Sesko.
asserted
It → leave → Sesko
With the Slovenian out, Bryan Mbeumo has had to deputise: an excellent player, and versatile - but only to a point.
asserted
Mbeumo → have → point
Mbeumo is being asked to learn on the job how to lead a one-man forward line.
asserted
Mbeumo → ask → line
It is almost an irony that the way he has taken to that role - one which better squad-builders would have given to an actual striker - is just about the only tactical element to United’s game that is actually working for them right now.
asserted
that → take → them
And to assess how those midfielders they did sign have fared is to conclude not only that the funds were directed too heavily towards one area, but that the value for money Wilcox was able to extract once he’d set his mind to the midfield is just as deserving of fierce criticism.
asserted
he → assess → criticism
United’s catastrophic nosedive belongs to Wilcox as much as anyone
Youri Tielemans’s big-game experience was an understandably attractive proposition, but he has followed in the footsteps of countless others in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era in looking a shoddy imitation of the player he was before he joined.
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asserted
he → belong → player
was a good fee for a capable young player, yet even he made a critical error in the lead-up to a Como goal on Wednesday night.
asserted
he → make → night
Mistakes happen.
asserted
Mistakes → happen → ?
Risking all of £50m on Andrey Santos, however, is not one of those mistakes that 'just happen'.
asserted
that → risk → mistakes
Chelsea barely knew what to do with Santos last season because, though tidy in possession and OK at short-distance passing, it was never clear quite what type of player he actually is.
asserted
he → know → player
United’s midfield received the whole of their summer transfer outlay.
asserted
midfield → receive → outlay
The result: a unit that looks leggier than last season’s and which opponents are finding an utter joy to play against and straight through.
asserted
opponents → look → joy
People have described this United team as “unrecognisable” from the one that finished in title-winning form under Carrick last term.
asserted
that → describe → Carrick
Of course it is hard, therefore, to look beyond Wilcox.
asserted
it → look → Wilcox
United are a classic example of a club who have multiple directors to direct blame to, because bulging boardrooms and glitzy job titles are so in fashion in the modern game.
asserted
boardrooms → have → game
But with director of recruitment Christopher Vivell focused more on scouting than how far the budget stretches, it is Wilcox who is the man leading their overall transfer strategy and the day-to-day running of the club, so it is he who must bear the most responsibility.
asserted
who → focus → responsibility
United spent well last summer on Mbeumo, Sesko and Matheus Cunha to bring proven top-level quality in the final third.
asserted
United → spend → third
They spent poorly this summer to revamp a midfield that looks weaker as a result.
asserted
that → spend → result
Why is recruitment being done in three chunks?
asserted
recruitment → do → chunks
Why must a backline dreadfully short on quality wait until January or, more likely, next summer for its own injection of fresh athleticism and pedigree?
asserted
backline → wait → athleticism
Even in the age of financial regulation, improving the defence this summer was an obvious priority.
asserted
improving → improve → defence
Failure to do so was the fans' largest grievance once the window shut and the floodgates opened.
asserted
floodgates → shut → ?
The result of leaving the defence as it was: more Champions League goals conceded so far than PSV Eindhoven and Shakhtar Donetsk combined and more shipped in the Premier League than 19th-place Nottingham Forest.
asserted
Eindhoven → leave → Forest
United’s catastrophic nosedive belongs to Wilcox as much as it belongs to anyone.
asserted
it → belong → anyone
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