Club must return to ruthless Fergie era

IN an interview with The Times this week, Sergio Reguilon revealed he cried in the dressing room after United were thumped 3-0 by Newcastle in the League Cup.

- SAMUEL LUCKHURST

Reguilon seems personable (he never did any media in Manchester) and he quickly endeared himself to the Reds matchgoers with his intent on his debut against Brighton.

But tears in defeat are not United material.

It was reported at the time and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed in his recent roundtable that some players were in tears at the interval of his final stand at Watford.

The Norwegian held back the tears during his exit interview the next day. That was understandable. He served the Reds for 11 years as a player, two-anda-half years as reserves coach and his managerial tenure was just shy of three years. His legendary status was assured long before he occupied the home dugout in December 2018.

But back to the waterworks. As hasty as it may have been of United to have exercised the break clause in Reguilon's season-long loan, any regret should be eased by his reaction to defeat. It is possibly a generational issue. Solskjaer lamented the Gen Z crowd and one empathises. Most workplaces encounter issues with meeker mentalities and Erik ten Hag would have been well within his rights to have given Reguilon a dressing down in the dressing room for crying.

Goodness knows what state Reguilon was in after his seventh and last start for United, another 3-0 home humbling by Bournemouth.