Former Premier League great Alan Shearer has made a damning assessment of Manchester United Premier League chances branding Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side as ‘hopeless’.
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Shearer, now retired, still holds the record for most Premier League goals ever scored with a whopping 260, a feat some say will never be beaten.
So if anybody knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a success on the field of play, it’s the former Newcastle United legend.
Speaking exclusively to The Athletic Shearer has given his thoughts on once rivals United’s Premier League chances after the Red Devils got off to an abysmal start to this season’s domestic campaign.
United suffered a crushing 3-1 opening day defeat to Crystal Palace which they followed up with an extremely lucky 3-2 win against Brighton before completely capitulating against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs in a game which saw the Reds humiliated 6-1.
Ahead of United’s fourth Premier League match of the 2020-21 season against Newcastle United, Shearer has spoken given an honest assessment of United’s chances this season, he said: “I wasn’t expecting them to challenge for the title anyway,” he said. “I thought they would challenge for a top-four spot, but at the moment they look as if they’re going backwards.
“If you look at the three league games they’ve played, the first game against Crystal Palace they were hopeless.
“The second game at Brighton, yes they showed some character to get back into the game but they also got away with it because Brighton hit the woodwork five times.
“The third game against Tottenham, you could use whatever word you wanted and they couldn’t argue with it because it was there for everyone to see.
“And it wasn’t as if it was just because they had a man sent off; it was a shambles with 11 men as well. It was really poor.”
“As I sit here, I don’t see anyone other than Liverpool or Man City for the title.
“What I do see as an exciting race this season is the battle for the top four. I think it will be more intense than ever.”
Shearers comments come at a timely time when manager Solskjaer sees his position as United’s manager under severe threat with anything but a weekend win for the Reds having the potential to seal the Norwegian’s Old Trafford fate.