Man Utd is criticized for being far behind the championship candidates

"The days of Sir Alex Ferguson are long gone," Merson told Sky Sports on September 5. "They are very far from being able to win the championship. I know every candidate is a long way behind Man City, but Man Utd is very far behind."

Merson also criticized Man Utd's counter-attacking style of play. The former Arsenal midfielder believes that it is a negative style of play and advises coach Erik Ten Hag to be more courageous in letting his players play with pressure.

Also according to Merson, Man Utd is forgetting that it is one of the biggest teams in the world. He used evidence that Man Utd chose to borrow left back Sergio Reguilon from Tottenham, instead of spending nine million USD to get Marc Cucurella from Chelsea. "They recruited a player who can't even play for Tottenham," Merson added.

Merson only sees one bright spot at Man Utd, which is Rasmus Hojlund, the rookie who played the second half of the 1-3 loss to Arsenal on September 3. However, he still wanted to verify further. "Hojlund looked very good, but that was only a 20-minute performance," Merson said. "I also saw Mykhailo Mudryk impressive for about 20 minutes at Liverpool in January, and then he seemed to disappear."

This season, Man Utd has only won six points through four Premier League matches. They beat Wolves 1-0 and Nottingham Forest 3-2, but lost 0-2 at Tottenham and 1-3 at Arsenal. In the loss to Arsenal, the "Red Devils" only caused danger through counterattacks. They cannot play as imposing as the position required of a championship candidate similar to Man City, Arsenal, or Liverpool.

An unconvincing start to the season is causing concern for Man Utd fans about team building. During the summer transfer window, Man Utd was one of the teams that spent the most with more than $200 million, bringing in midfielder Mason Mount, goalkeeper Andre Onana, striker Ramus Hojlund, left back Sergio Reguilon and midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. . However, the new recruits have not yet made positive contributions.

While Man Utd started poorly, other strong teams all played well. Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are all in the top five after four rounds, with scores ranging from 10 to 12. West Ham, the team that sold Declan Rice to Arsenal, even ranked fourth with 10 points.

Man Utd still holds the record of 13 times winning the Premier League and 20 times winning the English championship. However, the last time they were crowned was the 2012-2013 season, when former coach Alex Ferguson was still in office. After Alex Ferguson retired, Man Utd's best achievement was runner-up in the 2017-2018 season under Jose Mourinho and runner-up in the 2020-2021 season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Last season, Ten Hag and Man Utd finished third behind Man City and Arsenal.