Louis Mendez on Charlton’s big night out at Manchester United – a chance to remember what the club had…and then lost

BY LOUIS MENDEZ AT OLD TRAFFORD

A performance to be proud of. A reminder of how far the club have fallen. An indication of the potential that remains untapped with Charlton Athletic Football Club. And a gentle nod towards the uncertainty that still shrouds the club’s future. The Addicks’ 3-0 defeat at Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on Tuesday certainly covered a lot of bases.

That it took the introduction of three world-class internationals on the hour mark and two goals in the dying embers of the contest to finish off the League One South Londoners speaks volumes about how Dean Holden’s side dug in and made a game of it at Old Trafford.

Fresh off the back of seven consecutive wins in all competitions and eight victories in a row on home turf, have been newly invigorated under Erik ten Hag’s stewardship this campaign.

The Premier League giants made a total of eight changes ahead of the cup tie but that included bringing in a World Cup winner in Lisandro Martinez, an England international in Harry Maguire and a midfielder in Fred who cost a reported £47million when he joined from Shakhtar Donetsk. That’s not a million miles off what it would cost to buy Charlton and do a deal for The Valley as well.

Backed by more than 9,000 boisterous travelling supporters, the size of the task facing the Addicks on the field before kick-off was enormous.

When 22-year-old Brazilian Antony, who cost around £86m to prise out of Ajax, swept a stunning opener home for the Red Devils on 21 minutes, it felt likely the game was over.

But Charlton remained competitive and even started to pose United some threats at the start of the second period.

Scott Fraser lifted their clearest opening over the crossbar shortly after the restart, a warning shot fired across the bows of the 20-time champions of England.

Ten Hag kept his aces up his sleeve at kick-off but was forced to produce those trump cards with a triple change on the hour-mark.

Christian Eriksen is a world-class midfielder. England forward Marcus Rashford is bang in form since returning from the World Cup. Casemiro has won the Champions League five times, for goodness sake. But that weaponry was needed to see the game out for United and secure their place in the semi-finals.

Rashford bagged a late double to put the tie to bed.

Any Charlton fan arriving at the Theatre of Dreams will deep down hope that the 16-year exile they have had from competing with English football’s elite will turn out to have been one sick nightmare they could be awoken from.

For younger supporters making their first visit, it would seem unbelievable that the Addicks dined at the top table consistently in the noughties. Trips to Old Trafford, to Anfield, to Stamford Bridge – they were the norm.

Charlton have spiralled along a painful path towards the now apparent downsizing of the club in the years since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2007. That they can still muster a 9,000-strong firm for a rainswept Tuesday night in the north west is an marker for the latent support that craves something to get behind and for jaunts to Old Trafford to become a realistic annual occurrence.

For that to happen, the club needs a progressive and ambitious ownership that could fund a rebuild. They don’t have that currently. They don’t even have clarity on who is at the steering wheel right now.

Thomas Sandgaard made what is now a rare appearance in the directors’ box at Old Trafford. Sat a few seats along from him were former Sunderland executive director Charlie Methven and Simon Lenegan – a former director at Oxford United. They are in a period of exclusivity for their proposed purchase of a large chunk of the business.

But the secrecy, the public denials that the club is even for sale, and the lack of clarity over what the new incumbents would hope to achieve at the helm further discourage a fanbase that want to believe.

Tuesday night at Old Trafford was special. But it was also a glimpse of what the Addicks used to take for granted and have lost. What it could be for Charlton Athletic again. But it still feels a million miles away from making sure nights like that are what it will be like in the future.

STAR MAN
George Dobson. Seven tackles and two interceptions as he played the disruptor in the engine room.

BEST MOMENT
Scott Fraser’s fancy footwork and shot over at the start of the second period gave the Addicks the belief they could cause United issues.