Manchester United in Crisis: Who Carries the Blame for the Worst Start in 40 Years?

Manchester United are in crisis, and this time the numbers back up the gloom. The club is enduring its worst start to a season in 40 years, and this week it absorbed its heaviest Champions League defeat since 1994 with a 4-1 loss to Como. The result has reopened an uncomfortable debate about who bears responsibility for one of the world’s biggest football clubs sliding so far.

ESPN’s Mark Ogden framed the question directly: is it the owners, the senior executives, the manager or the players? His answer is that United’s prolonged and deep-rooted decline reaches across every one of those groups rather than resting on a single culprit.

A Defeat That Stands Out in the Club’s Recent History

United have suffered plenty of bad nights in recent years, yet the loss in Como sits in a category of its own. A 4-1 scoreline in the Champions League marks the club’s heaviest European defeat in more than three decades. Combined with the worst start to a season in 40 years, it places the current group among the most struggling United teams of the modern era.

ESPN’s coverage of the aftermath reflects how severe the mood has turned. Rob Dawson argued that the players looked abysmal in Como, but he stressed that Michael Carrick is the figure who faces the consequences. That framing captures the familiar pattern at United, where the manager absorbs the heat even when the problems run much deeper.

A separate group of ESPN contributors also dissected the Man Utd mess in their Champions League talking points after the latest round of matches. The volume of analysis shows how quickly a bad result at a club of this size turns into a full-blown reckoning.

Owners, Executives, Manager, Players: Where Does the Blame Land?

Ogden’s list of possible culprits starts at the very top. The Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe own the club, and any honest assessment of United’s long slide has to include the people who set its direction. Below them, the senior executives shape recruitment, structure and strategy, and those choices feed directly into what happens on the pitch.

The manager sits in the most exposed seat. Carrick picks the team and sets the tactics, so a heavy European defeat lands on his desk first. Still, the ESPN coverage points out that the players delivered a performance far below the standard the club demands, which complicates any attempt to pin everything on the dugout.

That is the bitter truth at the heart of Ogden’s argument. United’s problems do not trace back to one decision, one owner or one bad night. They stem from layers of failure that have built up over years, and each layer now shows up in the results.

Elsewhere in the Football World

While United dominate the English conversation, the wider football calendar kept moving. The UEFA Europa League produced a full slate of finished matches, including a 6-0 result for RSO against LSK, a 4-0 result for AZ against ARA, and a 4-0 win for USG over HBE. FER beat TOR 4-1, and SLB won 4-1 at OMON.

The UEFA Conference League offered its own swings. LUG won 5-2 at GET, MON beat SCF 3-0, and AJA beat ATA 2-0. In the Saudi Pro League, HAZ and FAY drew 2-2, and SHA won 3-1 against FAT, with AHL and KHA still to play at 6:00 PM UTC.

In Colombia, Atlético Nacional beat Deportivo Cali 3-0 in the Copa Colombia round of 16 in Medellín. Alfredo Morelos scored in the 4th minute, Marlos Moreno added a second in the 56th, and Samuel Velásquez sealed it in stoppage time at 90+3′.

Other Stories Shaping the Football Conversation

Beyond the United debate, ESPN’s soccer coverage highlights several storylines that keep fans talking. José Mourinho has returned to a high-profile stage, and ESPN’s Alex Kirkland says he made El Clásico unmissable. Meanwhile, ESPN’s transfer coverage reports that Arsenal want £55 million in any deal for Gyökeres.

Individual storylines also command attention. ESPN traced how Raphinha reinvented himself into Barcelona’s star striker, and it profiled Ronald Araújo, who has become a fan favorite at Liverpool after a journey built on resilience and reinvention. The Ballon d’Or debate rolls on as well, with ESPN noting there is no consensus pick among Messi, Yamal, Kane or another contender.

Elsewhere, Muslera saved three penalties to carry Estudiantes into the Libertadores final, and the AFC endorsed Gianni Infantino for a fourth term as FIFA president. In the women’s game, Arsenal have struggled in the WSL, collecting one win and five goals from six games to sit in eighth place.

What the Slump Means for United

The broader lesson from United’s collapse is that a heavy defeat rarely tells the whole story. Carrick faces the immediate scrutiny, the players owe supporters a far better display, and the owners and executives must answer for the structure around them. Ogden’s central point holds: when a club’s decline runs this deep, every layer of the organization shares the responsibility.

For now, United have a 40-year low to climb out of and a European result that fans will remember for the wrong reasons. How quickly the club responds will show whether this crisis marks a turning point or simply another chapter in a long and painful slide.