Manchester United in holding pattern waiting for something to happen | manchester united

My favorite Benjamin Disraeli story – in a crowded if largely apocryphal field – comes from a dinner attended by the then prime minister in the late 1870s. War rages in the Balkans and, as public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of a British intervention, the atmosphere at the table is understandably tense. Finally, a guest, unable to bear the uncomfortable silence any longer, bursts out: “Mr. Disraeli, that Are you waiting?

“Right now, ma’am,” Disraeli replies, “the potatoes.”

I ended up thinking about this story quite a bit. during the 0-0 draw at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about a game defined, to an unusual degree, by the wait. Waiting for United to take André Onana out of goal. Waiting for Onana to then decide what to do with the ball. Waiting for the ball to land after another dizzying punt. Waiting for corners, fouls and substitutions.

Waiting five minutes near the end for referee Robert Jones to change his VAR radio. Waiting for something to happen, the ray of divine prerogative that would somehow make all the waiting worth it.

Which, of course, never happened. This is the beauty of football, especially league football: it offers no guarantees. Nothing has let it happen. Their hard work often goes unrewarded. You don't always get what you deserve. Most shots miss the target, most attacks peter out, most corners come to nothing, most cup runs end in failure and, statistically speaking, this one almost certainly won't be “your year.”

Now the hierarchy of manchester united They will be aware that this won't be their year either, and it's not like they had to spend 97 minutes in a coma in the Midlands to figure it out. Last month, its chief executive, Omar Berrada, stated in all seriousness that United were aiming for the 2027-28 Premier League title, a goal that somehow manages to sound wildly ambitious and wildly unambitious at the same time.

Erik ten Hag offered a similar forecast in his press conference here, addressing questions about United's lack of power and cohesion with the promise that “one day it will click”. Right now, United feel like a club stuck in a holding pattern, offering comforting visions of the future as an antidote to the misrule of the present.

Waiting for things to click. Waiting because on some level they have convinced themselves that waiting carries its own intrinsic virtue. Waiting because Alex Ferguson had time, and that's why all United managers must have time. Wait because they are serious men, and serious men don't rush.

Meanwhile, a club abandoned in the bottom half of the table has to approach these games with a certain humility. A point at Aston Villa, given the circumstances, is an excellent result. Does it tell us much about the Ten Hag team beyond that? I'm not sure. Villa, perhaps understandably after Bayern Munich's sugar rush last Wednesday night, they were actually quite poor: heavy on the build-up, not creative enough in the United half, the final ball often woeful.

In addition to that, we must recognize that this was a United team sent – ​​above all – not to lose. In defence, Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire reunited in a surprising tribute to the Leicester City defense of 2018-19. On the flanks, Marcus Rashford and later Antony were at times almost auxiliary full-backs, more concerned with the threat of Lucas Digne than anything they could conjure up themselves. Ten Hag's pride in his fourth clean sheet in the league this season was a good barometer of his priorities.

And all of this is not offered as criticism but simply as observation. Slow, painstaking and often intermittent improvement is the only way this ailing ghost ship can be righted. Sometimes it's going to work, sometimes you're going to get 0-0 draws away from home, sometimes Rasmus Højlund will spend the whole game running away from the ball like a scared cat… and sometimes it's going to be all three. . Patience is an admirable trait. But let's not pretend that it tells you anything on its own.

United has a meeting of its executive board in London on Tuesday, a scheduled event that will, however, be described in the media as a “crucial meeting”, a “crisis summit”, “talks about Ten Hag's sacking” , etc. Perhaps if the manager moves on, there will also be some scrutiny over the decision to offer him a new contract in July, after spending a good part of the summer undermining what was left of his authority.

The most likely prescription, on the contrary, is probably to wait a little longer. A little more commitment to the process. A little firmer, staying focused, sticking to the plan, even if that plan has so far produced five goals in seven games, 14th place in the standings and a centre-back pairing straight out of an ITV2 police drama.

What are you waiting for? At this point, it's not entirely clear.