HYPERTENSION

A team no longer in charge of their own destiny & a manager who walked away from the big questions ...this Manchester United look so weak & vulnerable

- GRAHAM THOMAS

BY any measure you wish to choose, Manchester United appear a team who have lost control of their destiny.

Champions League qualification? That's surely gone, even though Erik ten Hag insisted he believes in some kind of fantasy whereby Aston Villa, Tottenham and Newcastle all simultaneously collapse and United hardly put a foot wrong for the remaining six games.

The Europa League or Europa Conference League? Hanging on to sixth or seventh spot looks awkward, given the resurgence of Chelsea and Newcastle.

Lower than seventh? That's "not relevant" according to Ten Hag, who answered that question in mid-rise before storming out of his press conference.

But the lack of control doesn't end with the factual, black-andwhite stuff, like league position.

It's there in the indefinable, too. The lack of grip, the drift, the feeling the club and the team are buffeted by events and opposition, is everywhere.

A decade ago it was possibly imaginable that United might play Bournemouth twice and earn just a single point over two games, while being outscored by five goals to two.

But to be completely outplayed in both matches? Have just a single influential player in this game-two-goal Bruno Fernandes - against four or five from the Cherries?

Take your pick from the hosts' Dominic Solanke, Ryan Christie, Justin Kluivert, Milos Kerkez and Marcos Senesi, who all outplayed their direct opponents.

This is where United, and Ten Hag, find themselves untethered, weak and vulnerable (skipper Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo, above right).

That's the macro level, but it's there at the micro level, too, out on the pitch.