The Manchester United fans who are present here in the Transfer Tavern are pulling their hair out over their team’s current campaign, and they are wondering when the miserable results will stop.
The Red Devils are struggling to secure a place in the Champions League for next season and are desperately disappointed with their current crop of underachieving stars.
Boss Louis van Gaal is clinging to his job at present and most of the United faithful in the Tavern are fully expecting to have a new manager in charge for next season.
Talk has turned here towards where the current squad rank in terms of other poor United sides down the years.
Our writer Lee Clarke takes a look at the worst Manchester United eleven over the last five years…….
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE WORST MAN UTD XI!
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GK – Tomasz Kuszczak
The Polish goalkeeper was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson after an impressive 31 appearances for West Bromwich Albion.
At United he simply failed to scale the heights that had been anticipated upon his arrival, and in five years at Old Trafford he made just 26 first-team appearances.
Largely clumsy and extremely slow to come off of his line, Kuszczak hasn’t played in the Premier League since leaving the Red Devils.
The 33-year-old is now a journeyman goalkeeper and left Wolverhampton Wanderers to join Birmingham City in the summer, and will look to assist them in reaching the Championship play-offs.
RB – Rafael
The Brazilian right-back was pretty fortunate not to be dismissed during every game he played for Manchester United, such was his calamitous style of defending.
Made his first-team debut as a promising right-back in 2008 and in fairness to him, went on to play over 100 times for United before departing in the summer of 2015.
Quite how he managed to chalk up a century of games for such a mammoth club will remain a mystery until the end of time.
Currently at Lyon where he has made 11 appearances and scored a solitary goal for the French club.
CB – Paddy McNair
Whilst I don’t doubt for one minute that Northern Ireland international McNair could go on to be a very good player, there is little denying that he has turned out some truly horrible performances at the heart of the Manchester United defence during his career to date.
McNair was part of the Northern Ireland squad who achieved the unthinkable and qualified for Euro 2016, but his better performances for United have certainly come in full-back positions.
The 20-year-old has played 23 games for the Red Devils and during his time playing central defence, at times he has been made to look a real mug by certain strikers.
CB – Tyler Blackett
The 21-year-old has been bombed out on loan to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League by boss Louis van Gaal, which tells you all you need to know about where the Dutchman sees his future.
If the Manchester United boss really saw Blackett having a future at Old Trafford, it is certain that he would have sent the youngster somewhere a little more challenging the Scottish Premier League.
Blackett has somehow made 11 appearances for the Red Devils’ first-team and also been less than impressive during loan spells with Blackpool and Birmingham City, during his short career to date.
LB – Alexander Buttner
The Dutch left-back arrived in the Premier League from Vitesse Arnhem in 2012, and was expected to play regular first-team football at some stage during his Manchester United career.
Sir Alex Ferguson had a superb eye for a player and he soon realised that this kid was not the player he anticipated he would be.
During his two seasons with the Red Devils he made just 13 appearances and struggled to even make the bench on many occasions, as he kicked his heels playing for the development squad.
He left for Dynamo Moscow in 2014 and is now on loan with Belgian side Anderlecht looking to resurrect a flailing career.
RM – Wilfried Zaha
Zaha is in fantastic form at present for Crystal Palace, but there is an argument that suggests he was never really good enough to be signed by Manchester United in the first place.
The youngster was one of Sir Alex’s last signings at United boss and paid a hefty £15 million for the player in 2013.
The 23-year-old played just twice for the first-team at the Red Devils and also went out on loan to Cardiff City during a miserable spell.
Zaha will go down as arguably the most pointless use of £15 million in the history of Manchester United.
CM – Marouane Fellaini
When David Moyes took over as Manchester United boss he wanted to bolster his midfield ranks with the addition of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona, but somehow ended up with the panic signing of Belgian international Fellaini.
The 28-year-old hasn’t adhered himself to the United faithful and he is largely ineffective in most – if not all – the games he plays for the team.
The ex-Everton midfielder has been used in a variety of positions for the Red Devils and has been largely ineffective in all of them.
CM – Anderson
When United signed Anderson he was tipped to take the Premier League by storm, dubbed the next Paul Scholes.
During eight years at Old Trafford, the weighty Brazilian was never close to being good enough to tie the laces of Scholes.
The 28-year-old had his contract cancelled with the Premier League club in February of last year and now plays for Internacional in his native Brazil.
Still played over 100 times for United during his eight season spell, but he was largely used in games against weaker opposition and cup competitions.
LM – Memphis Depay
Might seem a little harsh this one but for pure ability based on the amount spent, the little Dutchman is in for an unwanted selection in this team.
The fact that the 22-year-old has been given the famous number seven shirt at Old Trafford is somewhat insulting to the likes of David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona, who have all excelled wearing that shirt in the past.
After signing for £25 million in the summer, it was anticipated that Depay might take the Premier League by storm but he just hasn’t cut it in English football.
ST – Falcao
The Colombian international arrived at United in the summer of 2014 looking to get his career back on track after a serious knee injury.
His time at Old Trafford was a complete waste of time for both parties and he netted just four goals in 26 games for the club.
Unsurprisingly his loan spell wasn’t made permanent and he is currently on loan with United’s rivals Chelsea, where once again he is failing to hold down a place in the first-team.
Given his goal ratio at Atletico Madrid and Porto, it is clear that the striker can score goals, but his days as a Premier League player, look numbered at present.
ST – Nick Powell
Powell was signed as a striker by Sir Alex Ferguson and although he features more prominently in midfield these days, he still earns a selection in this team.
Tipped for big things as a youngster at Crewe Alexandra, Powell just hasn’t been able to find the application or ability to make it work at a club the size of Manchester United.
The 21-year-old has played just three times for the club despite having been at Old Trafford for four years and has spent unsuccessful periods out on loan with Wigan Athletic and Leicester City.
He is currently on loan in the Championship with Hull City and it look inevitably like a last chance salon for the Crewe-born youngster.
