{"id":1109976,"date":"2019-10-18T16:05:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T15:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1109976"},"modified":"2019-10-20T12:39:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T11:39:23","slug":"sam-allardyce-man-utd-relegation-warning-in-context","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/sam-allardyce-man-utd-relegation-warning-in-context\/","title":{"rendered":"How bad could things get for Man Utd? Putting those Allardyce and Ince warnings in context"},"content":{"rendered":"

If\u00a0Manchester United lose to Liverpool this weekend and…<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sheffield United draw with or beat Arsenal<\/li>\n
  2. Brighton and Aston Villa draw<\/li>\n
  3. Newcastle United beat Chelsea<\/li>\n
  4. Southampton beat Wolves<\/li>\n
  5. Everton beat West Ham<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    …then the 20-time English champions will end the 2019\/20 season’s matchweek nine in the relegation zone for the first time since after the opening week of the 1995\/96 campaign.<\/p>\n

    Even if the above is all perfectly possible, a lot has to happen, of course. But it’s safe to say times are tough at Old Trafford, a stadium that hosts the league leaders on Sunday having witnessed just two wins and five goals across the five home games to have taken place since their 4-0 opening victory over Chelsea this season.<\/p>\n

    Combine this with the size of the club and the fact they have scored just twice in their five away games, of which they have won approximately none, then you have all the ingredients for a steaming hot take.<\/p>\n

    And so last week, Sam Allardyce duly stepped up to the plate by\u00a0suggesting<\/a>\u00a0the record 13-time Premier League champions are in danger of dropping out of the top flight this season if they are not careful.<\/p>\n

    “They went down [in 1973\/74] with a terrific team on paper,” he said.<\/p>\n

    “So it isn\u2019t beyond the realms of possibility that they could catastrophically fall into more problems if confidence goes and injuries stay like they are.”<\/p>\n

    More recently, but perhaps less sensationally, former midfielder Paul Ince suggested “[United] could finish in the bottom half of the table” this season while speaking with the same broadcaster.<\/p>\n

    Is everyone – including us, the guys writing this article – overreacting slightly to a table only eight games old? A little bit. Probably.\u00a0But what would it really<\/em> take for Man United to suffer the unthinkable? Or even fail to finish in the top 10?<\/p>\n

    Is United’s situation as bad as their position suggests?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    United have made their worst start to a top-flight campaign in 30 years. They have just nine points and two wins from their opening eight Premier League games.<\/p>\n

    But results don’t actually tell the whole story.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Man Utd have attempted 79 shots in the Premier League this season, one fewer than bottom-place Watford <\/strong>(albeit still more than 11 other teams).<\/li>\n
    • What shots on goal they’ve managed have been inaccurate.<\/li>\n
    • They have the fifth-worst shot conversion rate<\/strong> in the league this season (8.18%), the sixth-worst big chance conversion rate<\/strong> (28.57%) and\u00a0the seventh-worst shooting accuracy<\/strong> (41.77%).<\/li>\n
    • Why? Well, United are uncharacteristically lightweight up front following the departures of both Alexis Sanchez and\u00a0Romelu Lukaku.<\/li>\n
    • In fact, the forwards United did retain (Rashford, Martial and Greenwood) have only 66 goals in 244 Premier League appearances collectively (0.27 goals per game average).<\/li>\n
    • Against Newcastle, Solskjaer had a whopping nine players absent, including Paul Pogba and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.<\/li>\n
    • David De Gea has now joined the treatment table after picking up an injury on international duty and will require a “scan”<\/a>.<\/li>\n
    • Liverpool are odds-on to win at Old Trafford this Sunday for the first time in the Premier League era<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n

      You can\u2019t hide in football and the last few weeks simply haven\u2019t been good enough.<\/p>\n

      As a United fan myself, that hurts. And you deserve better.<\/p>\n

      We know we need to improve and that is our sole focus as a team and as a club. pic.twitter.com\/GyHgvQvxeM<\/a><\/p>\n

      — Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) October 7, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n