The statistics behind United’s shocking decline laid bare – report

Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday evening in front of a hugely disappointed Old Trafford crowd. Poor cup runs In spite of the inconsistency of recent years, both Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim managed to go far in the cups. The Dutchman won the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024. Ruben Amorim made it all the way to the Europa League final but lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the final. This year has seen United embarrassingly crash out of the Carabao Cup in August to League Two Grimsby Town on penalties, and they were also defeated at home by Brighton and Hove Albion yesterday at the first hurdle of the FA Cup. Difficult statistics After the match, TNT Sports highlighted some of the depressing statistics that the result brought up for this United team and their supporters. The sports channel reports that, “after a third-round exit in the FA Cup, it is the first time since 1981/82 that the club have been knocked out of both domestic cups at the first hurdle.” This means United will only compete in 40 competitive matches this season, the minimum any club can. It is also the fewest matches a United team will have played since the 1914-15 season. What’s more, “the club is the first Premier League side to play 40 games in all competitions since Newcastle United in 2022, who finished 11th that season.” This is in stark contrast to the 60 they played last season with the run to the Europa League final. With no European or cup distractions for the final part of the season, United will have to put all their energy into finishing in a Champions League place, as interim manager Darren Fletcher referenced in his post-match press conference. It now seems Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Michael Carrick will be asked to get the most out of this current group and salvage something from a desperately poor season to date. Fewest Man United games in a season in PL era SeasonGamesLeague finish 2014/2015444th 1995/1996491st 2021/2022496th 1992/1993501st 1997/1998522nd 2023/2024528th 2018/2019536th 1996/1997541st 2011/2012542nd 2012/2013541st Source: TNT Sports Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.