Manchester United is a club and a team that is flattered by claims that they are going nowhere, because the awful truth is that their humiliation by Manchester City on Sunday highlighted the grim fact that they are regressing.
Manchester City's 4-1 triumph was also a form of flattery, because the gap between these two teams, and these two clubs, is now a chasm that a more severe scoreline would have highlighted.
As United's new chief executive Richard Arnold and former Old Trafford laird Sir Alex Ferguson watched the humiliation unfold, he could not have had a more graphic illustration of just how much work he has ahead of him to get them anywhere near the club once derisively referred to as "the noisy neighbors."
Arnold has taken over a once-proud institution with as many flaws as cheap china, a club in desperate need of clear guidance and leadership on how to rise above their current status as also-rans.
This was cruel and infuriating. Every fault was revealed, and it was done in front of jubilant Manchester City supporters.
United's predicament is the product of years of disastrous off-field strategy and shoddy team development, which has left them fighting to finish in the top four this season, jeopardizing their chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Arnold's in-tray will be heaped so high that he will be obscured from view.
What do you do first? The manager's office, for example, might be the finest option.
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