Manchester United: Complacency Is Our Greatest Enemy

Manchester United have become their own worst enemy.

The current squad is good enough to still be in the Champions League, and they are good enough to beat Ajax at Old Trafford. Yet United find themselves in the Europa League, and only just barely after losing 2-1 to Ajax at home and advancing 3-2 on aggregate. So what's the problem?

Complacency.

This issue has plagued the squad throughout the season. This group of players is exceptionally talented, and on ability alone they should be far more successful than they have been, yet this mental aspect of the game is not fully developed.

It almost seems as though the players believe they are entitled to win, underestimating their opposition and not giving their all on the pitch. They are defeating themselves with such complacency.

The performance against Ajax certainly was not the first case of this, but hopefully it will be the last.

In the first game against FC Basel at Old Trafford, United took an early 2-0 lead with goals from Danny Welbeck. Then they seemed to hit the cruise control, expecting to coast to victory, which allowed Basel to roar back to a 3-2 lead. Ashley Young managed to grab an equalizer, but two crucial points were needlessly dropped at home due to lack of focus.

In the final match of the group stage, their second encounter against Basel, United needed just a draw to advance. The level of performance did not match the importance of the fixture. Basel advanced from the group with a 2-1 victory, as United were dumped into the Europa League just seven months after appearing in the Champions League Final.

Basel star Xherdan Shaqiri recently criticized United for their attitude in that final game of group stage: "United underestimated us. You could feel it in the tunnel and even in the warm-up. They weren't fully focused and I'm not sure a United player made one sprint."

United fell victim to complacency yet again the same month. On New Years Eve, celebrating Sir Alex Ferguson's birthday, bottom-of-the-table Blackburn pulled off a David and Goliath feat against United. Sir Alex's men shockingly lost 3-2 to a club at the foot of the table on a day when they could've gone to the top of the Premier League.

This is not all down to the squad. On that particular day, Sir Alex fielded a highly unusual squad with many players playing out of position. Much of this was enforced by injuries, but perhaps it is worth questioning if Sir Alex has become slightly complacent as well, underestimating the opposition.

He alluded to that very point last night after the 2-1 defeat against Ajax: "I must say, I've got to accept I'm responsible for picking the team and tonight I picked too many young players in the back four positions - that was a big problem in terms of experience. It was a big risk I took."

Sir Alex has taken some risks with his squad selection, taking risks against teams that United should defeat. There is little doubt he believes any squad he selects is good enough to win, but perhaps he has slightly underestimated a few clubs this season.

That is not to take away from FC Basel, Blackburn or Ajax. All performed fantastically against United, and you have to give them credit. However, United supporters will wonder if it would've gone differently if the team had more focus.

It is unacceptable for the players to not take every game seriously. No individual is to blame, they are guilty as a team.

Some games it looks like the players are only doing enough to just scrape by with a win rather than perform at their highest level. Perhaps that is because they think their best isn't required to beat the opposition, but that mindset can quickly backfire when the other team is up for it, and we've seen that this season.

Despite these moments of complacency, United remain just two points behind Manchester City in the title race and are now into the next round of the Europa League.

Complacency rearing its ugly head already proved a disaster in the Champions League. Hopefully Sir Alex can get this problem sorted before it derails the club's Premier League campaign as well. There is no room for error in the run-in, and the squad's own complacency could be their undoing if they fail to address the issue.