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da bet7k： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
As quoted by The Manchester Evening News, Dimitar Berbatov has urged Manchester United to be more ruthless with the opposition whenever they play at Old Trafford.
What did he say?
The Red Devils have not had the greatest of starts to the Premier League season, and were soundly beaten 2-0 by West Ham last weekend.
After only squeezing past Rochdale on penalties in the Carabao Cup in mid-week, United return to league football when they take on top-four rivals Arsenal on Monday night.
Ahead of the clash, Berbatov has demanded Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side toughen up, and show opposition teams “who’s in charge”.
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He said: “The Arsenal defence isn’t in the best shape of their lives so the Man United strikers have a good chance to hurt them as well. Both teams have big strengths and weaknesses, they will both be looking to exploit each other. United will have some advantage of playing at Old Trafford, but when the results haven’t been going for you, you know the fans will be a little impatient, you can think too much about it, make mistakes and it becomes a difficult situation.
“Sometimes when I have watched them I have noticed that United have been too soft against the opposition, they need to be tough in their challenges, show them who’s in charge and let them know that this is ******* Old Trafford.”
Easier said than done
Berbatov’s viewpoint is more than understandable. Having played in some of the most dominant United teams of the Premier League era under Sir Alex Ferguson, watching this current crop of Red Devils flail about must be difficult to see. But ultimately, that’s the key issue here.
Solskjaer’s side look devoid of any attacking momentum and simply don’t overwhelm teams anymore. In an alarming stat, since their 3-1 win over PSG back in March of this year, United have scored just 18 goals in their following 20 competitive games.
How can they ever be confident of getting a victory in a game when they don’t appear to be confident in themselves? The Red Devils desperately need something to fall their way to galvanise them. And a much-needed three points against historic rivals Arsenal would certainly represent that.