Manchester United have struggled to reach the same heights as when Sir Alex Ferguson was at the helm and are almost guaranteed to make it nine seasons without a domestic title.
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all failed to deliver the Premier League title while in charge of the Red Devils, and Ralf Rangnick looks set to add his name to the list.
There are several issues at hand to solve from the top of the club right down to the playing squad in order to turn them back into Premier League champions, and United have sought to address those issues by reshuffling at board level.
And now, there is one factor which could prove why the club are having a difficult time on the pitch as well.
Remarkably, on the pitch there has been a strange increase of offsides that never occurred under Ferguson in his 21 seasons as a Premier League boss.
Since the legendary Scot’s retirement in May 2013, Man United have found themselves stung by the offside flag more than any other team in the top flight.
Data provided by Offers Bet shows that the 13-time champions have been offside 719 times in the eight-and-a-half seasons since Ferguson left his post.
The reasons behind United being flagged offside is anyone’s guess, but it also seems that Solskjaer and Rangnick have failed to eradicate the issue this season too.
United have been offside more times than other team in the current campaign, having been caught beyond the last defender 49 times.
Cristiano Ronaldo is responsible for almost a third of those offences, having been caught by the assistant referee or VAR 17 times, and that puts him third on the list for individual errors.
It is a curious issue but one that Ferguson, had he still been in charge, would no doubt highlight to his players once had became aware of it.
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During Ferguson’s reign, the data makes it clear that United never once topped the list for most offsides — and now they are the team caught offside the most.
Whether it is to do with how the Scot set up his side or made them aware of being on the shoulder of the last defender is anyone’s guess.
But it points to a lack of awareness from United’s attackers in keeping themselves in line with the last defender.
Of course, there have been several mitigating factors in the number of offsides being awarded to United since his departure.
During the 80-year-old’s time in charge, he became notorious for berating officials and there have been suggestions that they were intimidated by his presence on the touchline.
Perhaps Ferguson even struck fear into his own players, telling them not to be caught by the assistant’s flag, which made the ultimate difference.
VAR had also not even been integrated into football when Ferguson decided to leave his role, and the video technology system would unquestionably pick up more instances of offside now than the assistant, particularly if it involved a goal.
Either way, the statistics do not lie — and it is an issue that Rangnick may have to address when his squad return from the winter break in February.
