Manchester United are not coping. While the arrival of Ruben Amorim was supposed to revive the Red Devils, the Mancunian club is once again experiencing disillusionment. Thursday, during the traditional Boxing Day, Leny Yoro’s teammates lost 2-0 on the Wolverhampton lawn, sinking a little deeper into the crisis as evidenced by their 14e place in the ranking.
This setback on Boxing Day inevitably reminds us of others, notably Fabien Barthez, branded by the defeat conceded on the pitch at Middlesbrough on December 26, 2002. A slap which confirmed the bad patch experienced by the former Marseillais since the start of the season and sowed doubts in the mind of Alex Ferguson.
Fabien Barthez will lose his place three months later
Fabien Barthez certainly made no mistake during this defeat and was not helped by his defense and in particular by Laurent Blanc. However, he is not exempt from all criticism on the three goals scored by Alen Boksic, his former teammate at Olympique de Marseille, Szilard Nemeth and Joseph-Desiré Job, trained at Olympique Lyonnais. On the three goals, the French world champion struggles to be decisive, which Alex Ferguson does not fail to notice.
And if the Red Devils, third five lengths behind Arsenal after the holidays, finally manage to win a new title of champion of England thanks in particular to their 15 victories and three draws in their last 18 matches, the Scottish technician will dismiss the native of Ariège only a few months later after the elimination in the Champions League against Real Madrid, preferring Tim Howard for the end of the season. And if he decides to stay the following summer, the Blues goalkeeper quickly faces the facts and leaves MU to join OM the following winter.
