Manchester United had to settle for another frustrating 1-1 draw against Southampton on Saturday afternoon at Old Trafford.

The home team took the lead thanks to a first-half strike from Jadon Sancho, but Ralph Hasenhuttl's side deservedly clawed their way back into the game just after half-time, with Che Adams deflecting a strong finish off the base of the goalpost to net an equaliser.

The result compounded the subdued atmosphere at the club, one which has been haunting Old Trafford for the past few months.

Ralf Rangnicks's side sit fifth in the Premier League table but arguably should have solidified their standing in the top four by now, having drawn three of their last five league games.

Rumours of player unrest and talk of new managers taking over at the club worryingly show that there are some backstage problems at Carrington, with BBC pundit Alan Shearer claiming that Rangnick's appointment embodies the 'carnage' that is going on at the club.

Excuses on the pitch

In a column in The Athletic, the Newcastle United legend has delved deeper into why the Red Devils are ailing so much and he doesn't hold back in his analysis, taking aim at the players and the decisions being made at the boardroom level.

He said: "When I look at Manchester United, I see chaos, a team lacking any kind of discernible identity and an institution bereft of strategy, whose last three managers, if you include Michael Carrick, have been temporary appointments.

"They have become an interim football club — a club of caretakers, where authority has become diluted and players inhabit a world of excuses — who have spent an absolute fortune to become truly unexceptional.

"On the pitch, they are frayed and ragged, edgy and bad-tempered, casting around for someone else to blame, unsure of who and what they are."

Shearer then compared the club's style of play to two of their closest rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, who he describes as well organised pressing sides that are "in a different stratosphere" to Rangnick's team.

"What a leaky, noisy, messy club they have become," he continued.

"In recent days, reports have emerged that players don't like training or Ralf Rangnick's methods, that they want Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout next season. They are dissected.

"There's no doubt that Manchester United's players have got to look at themselves. Are they doing as well as they could or should?

"The obvious answer is no, but I also recognise the lack of shape and purpose, the heaviness in their legs. With the disarray around and above them, they have an excuse. Players constantly look for excuses."

Decisions in the boardroom

Shearer also reflected on Rangnick's appointment as Manchester United's third successive interim manager since Jose Mourinho was sacked in 2018.

The German took over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November 2021 and is likely to be in charge on an interim basis until the end of the season.

Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino is now being heavily backed as the successor to the German but Shearer was still baffled by the club's decision to hire Rangnick in the first place.

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He said: "Manchester United, arguably the biggest club in the world, have an interim manager in place, one who has spent only two of the last 11 years in a coaching role.

"So they have a technical director as an interim, who is being assisted on the touchline by Darren Fletcher, who is a first-time technical director. Before that, it was Carrick for a couple of games. Before him, it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who originally took over as caretaker. Interim technical caretakers.

"This is no way to run an organisation that has serious designs on success."

For the Premier League's all-time leading goalscorer, the issue is how that translates to the players who are struggling to deal with the constant changes in leadership.

"It's carnage! Where is the joined-up thinking? What is the decision-making structure? And how do players respond to this shifting authority?

"Players need certainty. As with any other walk of life, they want to know what's required of them, what their jobs are. They want to look around the changing room and feel like everybody knows their roles."

For Shearer, things could get worse at United before they start to get better and that could come again on Tuesday night as they welcome an in-form Brighton side to Old Trafford, who haven't lost in the league since mid-December.