Man Utd tend to fire and hire their way out of a hole but this one looks deeper than ever. Here’s why they now seem completely bereft and broken…

Here we are again. Manchester United are in crisis.

This one feels different, though. The club seems really, completely broken, with little to no hope of a fix.

Here are five reasons why this crisis is the worst yet for the modern-day United…

1) Familiarity and contempt
Manchester United have been trapped in a perpetual doom loop for quite some time. It’s just who we are, mate.

There is no comfort in the familiarity of it all. Each crisis erodes a little bit more of the blind optimism ingrained in every football supporter that, at some point, the club might get its sh*t together.

The morning after the Como capitulation, it feels like those reserves of irrational hope have finally been exhausted. Because nowhere is there anyone in a position to fix things who you might trust not to make a massive bollocks of it.

Nor would anyone trust those at the very top to even recognise what the problems are, much less acknowledge that, actually, they are the biggest of them all.

2) Everyone is to blame
Every single party on the inside at Old Trafford is culpable in the demise of Manchester United.

The manager is not up to the job. That’s not Michael Carrick’s fault; United had little choice but to offer him the permanent position after he applied some quick, simple post-Amorim fixes as a steady and, crucially, available pair of KTC hands. As an ambitious sort with with United at heart, he was never going to turn down that opportunity.

Sadly, though, United in their current state are simply unmanageable.

Whether it’s Carrick in charge or anyone else, the squad possesses neither the quality nor depth necessary to regain and keep the status United feel their stature entitles them to.

Carrick is certainly no tactical genius, but as he alluded to in his post-Como press conference, these players don’t do the basics. Many won’t; some can’t.

So why are they even there? Because those responsible in recent years for building the squad – Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada, Christopher Vivell and co – are dreadful at the jobs they have been overpromoted for.

The squad United took to Como ought to have prompted any and all those scrutiny-dodging suits to resign.

Best in class? It’s meaningless, insincere bollocks. Like so much of the sentiment that comes from the top.

INEOS’s presence means the Glazers need not even feign interest, while Sir Jim Ratcliffe is too busy picking the wrong fights from his tax haven to recognise that the people he put in place are incompetent.

3) Self-interest has prevailed
As so often happens when sh*t flies off the fan in football, it has become about self over side.

Many of the players are demob happy, highlighted by Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes, both approaching the end of their contracts, taking aim at the board and the coaching staff in the immediate aftermath of both their last two defeats.

It is hard to dispute much of what Martinez said, and at least he briefly acknowledged the players’ obligation to not stink the place out. But how either dressing room representative feels so empowered to criticise anyone else when the players are falling so short of simple bare minimums highlights the entitlement that drips off them all.

Only Carrick seems to feel the burden of responsibility. Anyone else might have resigned on the spot in Como given the perilousness of his position with neither those in the dressing room or board room having his back. He may yet, and who could blame him?

What of Wilcox and his cronies? We’ll see or hear nothing from the director of football and the board while they hide from their chickens coming home to roost.

Those above him have every faith in Wilcox, apparently. Of course they do – he serves them, not the club.

4) United appear unfixable
At this point previously in the United sh*t cycle, there was usually something or someone to cling to as a reason for optimism.

United fans have found hope when managers were removed who were perceived not to be getting the best out of their players. Or when a manager came in who might cull a feckless dressing room.

And the board always found comfort in the contrasts between managers. If they were firing a tactico, they would hire a DNA guy. Out with the big name boss; in with the up-and-coming coach.

But what or who now? The decision makers at Old Trafford cannot be trusted to recognise the problems, much less take steps to fix them.

It is damning that they won’t take the logical next step – call Antonio Conte – because he might challenge them and make them feel uncomfortable. Or on a bad day, commit cold-bloodied murder.

Wilcox and co will stay in their comfort zone – #welcomeEddieHowe, probably – and so…

5) It will get worse
Even putting aside the pessimism prompted by a p*ss-weak performance against a club playing amateur football as recently as when Ole was at the wheel, it cannot be ignored that, barring something completely unforeseen, things will get worse for United before they get better.

The question is how much worse? Do we have to consider the prospect of a Manchester derby next season in the Championship?

Probably not. But the threat of relegation is dismissed with far less conviction than at any previous point in the last half a century. And because it is still just too mental to comprehend, even after Tottenham’s recent flirtations with the second tier.

More likely is a prospect far less interesting: aimless drift.

City might be relegated but, somehow, they are likely to challenge for the Premier League title before United do.

Because United have strayed so far from what they were that it will be very difficult to find their way back. Especially with the current owners content to cruise for as long the club remains their family ATM.

It was hoped that INEOS might light a fire where previously there was Glazer indifference, but Ratcliffe and co can’t stop treading on rakes. And the few fires they do start are burning all the wrong bridges with loyal supporters.

With the mistrust and incompetence ravaging United, this must be as bad as it has been – but not as bad as it will become.