'Man Utd provide graphic illustration of rebuilding job required in abject defeat at Man City'

Manchester United are a club and a team flattered by suggestions they are going nowhere — because the brutal truth is that Sunday's humiliation by Manchester City exposed the grim fact they are going backwards.

Manchester City's victory margin of 4-1 was also an act of flattery because the gulf between these two sides, and these two clubs, is now a chasm that should have been emphasised by a more painful scoreline.

As United's new chief executive Richard Arnold watched this embarrassment alongside the one-time laird of Old Trafford Sir Alex Ferguson, he could not have had a more graphic illustration of just how much work he has to do to get them anywhere near the club once scornfully referred to as «the noisy neighbours».

Arnold has inherited a once-proud institution that has as many cracks as cheap crockery, a club waiting for firm direction and leadership on how to drag them away from their current status as also-rans.

This was ruthless and painful. It was every flaw exposed and even worse it was done in front of joyous Manchester City fans.

United's plight is the result of years of ruinous off-field strategy and flawed team building that now leaves them struggling to finish in the top four this season, putting a place in next season's Champions League in jeopardy.

Arnold's in-tray will be piled so high he is in danger of disappearing from view.

Where do you even start? Well, the manager's office might be the best place.

Ralf Rangnick is the interim struggling to get a tune out of a listless, disaffected squad that is not fit for the purpose normally required by Manchester United. It is close to inconceivable that the German will be fulfilling anything other than his proposed consultancy role next season.

And yet United