What I think fans don’t realise and ex players forget is how small the margins are between the best players and teams and crap ones. Small changes in confidence and form can have massive consequences to results.

Look at Liverpool last year. Over the last few years Liverpool are a team you’d never accuse of ‘downing tools’ one if their biggest strengths was their mentality and fighting spirit. They also had a proven world class manager who the players wouldn’t go against but at times last season they look liked they’d forgotten how to pass the ball 5 yards. The reason was they where all mentally tired from the season before and a few of them had lost half a step. This completely ruined a well oiled machine and the results reflected that.

If that can happen to a successful group like Liverpool it’s no surprise it can happen to united. The problem is Man U is a confused and dysfunctional club and this feeds into the players. When things go wrong the players heads go down and people hide. Players don’t want to be in firing line and everyone just focuses on not making a mistake rather than trying to win a game.