MANCHESTER UNITED have gotten off to their worst start to a season since 1989.
The last time they were this bad Sir Alex Ferguson, long before his days as a knight of the realm, nearly paid with his job.
Erik ten Hag’s crisis club have picked up just nine points from their opening seven matches – slumping to a dismal 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Back in 1989 Ferguson’s men managed just seven points in a period that included a shocking, infamous 5-1 defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road.
The United squad wasn’t short of players that would go on to deliver success at Old Trafford, with the likes of Paul Ince, Bryan Robson, Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce, Bryan McClair and Mark Hughes all there.
But to this point, Ferguson just couldn’t recapture the magic that had seen him shock Real Madrid to win the Cup Winners’ Cup with Aberdeen six years earlier.
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While the Red Devils were toiling, just two of their current players were even born.
Jonny Evans was a one-year-old, with veteran back-up goalkeeper Tom Heaton three.
Boss Ten Hag, meanwhile, was breaking into the FC Twente side as a 19-year-old and even sported a messy head of dirty blond hair.
His assistant Mitchell van der Gaag was getting his maiden taste of senior football at PSV, while first team coach Steve McClaren was playing in midfield for Oxford United.
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Off the pitch, fans were lapping up Ride on Time by Black Box – which was enjoying its fourth of six weeks atop the UK singles chart.
While at the pictures, Lethal Weapon 2 starring Mel Gibson was No1 at the UK Box Office.
Over in Westminster, Margaret Thatcher was in her tenth year in No10, with Neil Kinnock the leader of the opposition.
Around the time of United’s struggles, Thatcher visited Germany just a day after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
It would be her final full year on Downing Street, later being ousted by her own party in 1990 with John Major taking over.
A pint set back punters an average of £1.06 in 1989, with United fans possibly having to drown their sorrows.
As for Joel Glazer, the current Man United co-owner was fresh out of uni.
He graduated from American University with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in 1989 and would go on to help his dad Malcolm by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995, and United a decade later.
Long before the days of the Glazers, United were owned by Martin Edwards.
In the summer of 1989, Edwards accepted a £20million takeover bid from Michael Knighton.
United’s would-be new owner performed a series of keepie-uppies on the pitch ahead of their 4-1 opening day win over Arsenal.
But his backers soon pulled out, leaving his takeover attempt in tatters.
The triumph over Arsenal was one of just two wins Ferguson’s men accrued in their opening seven games, the other coming courtesy of a Hughes hat-trick in a 5-1 triumph over Millwall.
They drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace, before losing to Derby, Norwich, Everton and City.
Ferguson’s side came 13th in the Prem table and crashed out of the League Cup at the third round stage.
United found solace in the FA Cup, however, with legend having it that Mark Robins’ winner against Nottingham Forest in the third round saved Ferguson’s job in January 1990.
The Red Devils went on to lift the trophy, Fergie’s first at the helm, before embarking on one of the most successful periods in football history – the Scot lifting 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups, four League Cups and a Cup Winners’ Cup.
What Ten Hag would give for just a fraction of that success in the coming years…
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The under-pressure Dutchman huffed after Saturday’s home defeat to Palace: “We have to do better, and that is definitely the case. It’s not good enough.”
Ten Hag, 53, will be hoping that he doesn’t reach the brink that Ferguson did, needing his very own Robins goal.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
