Manchester United were on the end of another disappointing defeat at the hands of Eddie Howe’s Newcastle on Wednesday night and yet another record they’d rather not have broken as their poor start to the season continues.
As well as the Carabao Cup holders being knocked out of the competition by the team they met in the final last year, the defeat to the Geordie boys just days after losing the Manchester derby by the same scoreline meant that this was the first time Man United have lost by three goals or more since 1962.
To put things into perspective, while the club is back on the up since their takeover, it was the Magpies’ biggest win at Old Trafford in over 100 years (7-4 back in 1930) and also saw the Red Devils mark their eighth loss in their opening 15 games of the season for the first time since 1962/68. Yikes.
They are some truly shocking stats and, sadly for Reds, the unwanted accolades don’t stop there — not even close. Here are some more of the bad records Man United have broken under Erik ten Hag.
United’s loss to Newcastle saw another unwanted record tied to ten Hag’s mast.
The EFL Cup defeat didn’t just see United notch a fifth home loss from their opening 10 fixtures for the first time since 1930-31 but even before that, the damning 3-0 defeat to Man City on Sunday also saw them register a 26th league loss at Old Trafford in nearly a decade since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
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For context, that’s more home defeats than Sir Alex suffered during his entire 26-year career at the Theatre of Dreams. The historic stains just keep coming, both domestically and continentally.
When Galatasaray beat ten Hag’s side 3-2 at Old Trafford just last month, it was the first time the Turkish team had ever won a game on English soil in their entire 117 years as a club; it was also the first away goal they’d scored in the Champions League full stop since 2015.
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United had already equalled their worst start to a league season since 1989 before this European fixture, which also saw them suffer consecutive defeats in their opening two UCL games for the first time ever (yes, another one), and things don’t look to improving any time soon. Honestly, we could go on for quite a while but, luckily, one fan already beat us to it.
Records broken so far this season –
– Galatasaray hadn't won a game on English soil in 117 years of existing, until Erik Ten Hag.
– Manchester United had never lost the opening 2 CL group games, until Erik Ten Hag.
Club legend Gary Neville summed things up yet again last night by saying he saw the “Theatre of Dreams turn into the Theatre of Nothing”, describing every supporter inside the ground as “bored and flat”, before adding, “We’ve seen it before, we know how it ends and we’ve had enough.”
The question is, the way it’s going at the minute, how long will the 53-year-old be given if it continues like this and the football doesn’t improve?
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While most fans still believe the club’s ownership is the root of the problem and things won’t change until the Glazers are gone, many are also wondering if this group of players have already downed tools as has been suggested with managers in the past.
As for the Dutch coach himself, speaking in the post-match presser after the latest defeat, he assured that the team knows the performances are “not good enough”, let alone the results themselves, insisting that he “has to take responsibility” for their failures so far this season and turn things around.
Featured Images — Manchester United/Newcastle United (via Instagram)
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Manchester City have announced a special away day fan zone for festive fixture
Danny Jones
In a real added bonus for away fans making the roughly two-hour journey to their only fixture over the festive period, travelling Man City supporters are being treated to a dedicated away-day fan zone for their upcoming game against Nottingham Forest.
Now this is the kind of backing we want to see from big teams.
That’s right, for those visiting Nottingham for the meeting against the fellow Premier League side and one-time European Cup winners, Manchester City will be putting on a special and exclusive fan zone.
Confirmed on Christmas Eve ahead of the match this coming Saturday, 27 December, the club revealed a quick glimpse of the pop-up supporters’ park.
As detailed in the announcement, the public events space known as ‘The Nest’ will be open exclusively to away-ticket holders heading to the City Ground.
Perfect for a quick pit-stop before and after the clash, the venue is one of the closest you’ll find to the stadium itself and, better still, is located roughly just a 10-minute walk away from the railway station.
There will be a huge bar offering a wide selection of alcoholic and soft drinks, plus plenty of street food to enjoy. Here’s hoping the players don’t indulge in too many of those this Christmas, especially following Pep Guardiola’s ‘fatty’ comments.
They kick off at 12:30pm, but will everyone make the weight?…
Once again, Man City have advertised this as an away-day ticket-holder-only event, so we would probably call ahead and double-check if you’re a Blue who just so happens to live/be in the area and want to go along.
It also goes without saying that this will serve as an ideal and presumably trouble-free place to celebrate after the result, as it’s a strictly sky-blue event and we’d wager the title contenders and serial trophy winners to come out on top.
So, if you needed any extra assurance that making the approximately 81-mile trip to Nottingham, we’d say potentially going top at Christmas and cheersing a few pints with your mates on a would-be concourse designed just for you is plenty of added motivation.
As for those of you staying firmly in Greater Manchester this holiday season, there’s no reason you can’t still have a little away day of your own:
Featured Images — Manchester City (via X)/The Manc Group
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Manchester City youngster Claudio Echeverri set for another loan spell
Danny Jones
Manchester City youngster Claudio Echeverri is set for another loan deal this January following a disappointing time in Germany.
The South American youth product has spent the first half of this season out on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, but has struggled not only to make an impact but even to enjoy any real steady playing time.
Following reports earlier this month by The Athletic‘s Seb Stafford-Bloor that announced Echeverri’s loan would return to his Man City, it appears as though all parties concerned haven’t exactly gotten what they want out of the deal.
With that in mind, not only has his short-term agreement been cut short, but Echeverri is now set to join another City Football Group (CFG) club on a temporary contract, where he can crucially be assured more regular minutes.
As confirmed by the ever ubiquitous transfer insider, Fabrizio Romano, Claudio Echeverri is now set to join Girona temporarily from the Premier League side.
Romano writes that “the Argentinian talent leaves Bayer Leverkusen after loan deal interrupted — as Echeverri was not playing.”
Stating that the 19-year-old will officially become a Girona FC player from 1 January onwards, he will no doubt provide some much-needed offensive firepower for the struggling Spanish side, with the Catalan club currently lingering in the La Liga relegation zone.
Following a somewhat reverse pattern of fellow forward, Savinho (who was signed by the French CFG franchise arm, Troyes, before being loaned to Girona and eventually bought by Man City), the attack-minded player remains a highly-rated youth prospect but has yet to fully announce himself.
He scored the first goal for his parent club back in June; it’s fair to say it was a bit of a corker…
Fast forward to now, though, and Echeverri will spend at least until next June representing Girona – no doubt dropping straight into the starting lineup as soon as possible.
At the moment, there is no suggestion of any permanent clause included in the agreement, but either way, ‘El Diablito’ is still a CFG asset, at the end of the day.
With that in mind, we’re sure they’ll move him around the sporting network however they see fit in search of a breakout spell.
Do you think it’s a good move for the young starlet, or would you like to see him back in Manchester, fighting his way into matchday squads?
Danny Jones -
2nd November 2023 
