Football is a funny old game and as the saying goes, life comes at you fast.
Last season saw the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from the club as well as a brief spell under Ralf Rangnick. Both of their times end, ultimately, in failure.
A total of 20 games were won last season, across all competitions and United were in disarray in the managerial office and, worse again, in the dressing room, which drip fed onto the pitch resulting in some of the most heartless efforts witnessed in recent times.
Getting embarrassed by Liverpool was particularly hard to swallow, being handed our arse 5-0 and 4-0, watching Brighton fans leave their own home ground early as the job was done, heavy defeats to Watford and Man City. It was a hard slog following the team up and down the country and around Europe, a thankless love affair which led to many a head hung long walk away from a stadium wondering, where do we go from here?
Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival was met with joy by many, although a few cynics felt it wouldn’t be a bed of roses.
Edinson Cavani threw the toys out of the pram as a result of the Portuguese’s arrival and, could you blame him? Well, yes. The guy was being paid handsomely and took curious injury breaks which coincided with being fit for international duty but not for United.
Players had given up on Rangnick by the end of the season and we had given up on a lot of the players, it was a disaster zone, a complete mess of our own making, poor signings and the growth of player power totalling in the mess we were witnessing week in, week out.
It was a rare sight to not see a player’s future at the club questioned at some stage, form had dropped off miserably, some players, like Marcus Rashford, were almost unrecognisable.
Watching our rivals enjoy a season of success never makes our own deficiencies any easer to take, as Man City took home the league title with Liverpool claiming both domestic cups and losing out to Real Madrid in the Champions League final. We looked to be struggling to find any light at the end of a decade long tunnel.
Enter Erik ten Hag.
Plenty was written and said about the Dutchman’s arrival in Manchester, some (Souness, the melt) simply writing him off from the get go.
I wasn’t sure what to make of the man who arrived in a crisp cream suit and a shiny bald head, with a bit of a scowl and a no nonsense manner.
He didn’t give much away, he obviously doesn’t entertain the English media with much more than he wants them to hear in regards a one line answer, a different character to those gone before him, unique.
A number of players exited the club, the toxicity surrounding Paul Pogba headed for Juventus, Jesse Lingard’s sideshow and his brother were Forest bound along with the most self assured goalkeeper in England, Dean Henderson.
The departures were many, yet there are still some to go that were lucky to be there this season.
The inbound players:
- Dubravka (loan)
- Lisandro Martinez
- Tyrell Malacia
- Casemiro
- Christian Eriksen
- Antony
The Dubravka singing aside, no more than a token backup player who’s time at the club ram short, the others were shrewd business.
Ten Hag identified not just positions we needed to strengthen, but the character of the player he was bringing in to compliment a dressing room atmosphere he needed to change from what went before.
Lisandro Martinez instantly forced the United faithful to fall in love with him. A no nonsense defender with his heart on his sleeve, adjudged to be too small for the Premier League. He has rammed those words back people’s throats with aplomb, and went on to win the World Cup in December.
Eriksen added some much needed intelligence in midfield coupled with ability, Antony strengthening the right with, a problem position for year, Malacia competing with Shaw at left back well and Casemiro…
Casemiro was said to be too old, we paid too much, was never a star at Real Madrid.
I don’t need to tell you how Casemiro has done since arriving.
A rocky start of the season as Ten Hag got a feel for the side and the league led to the usual laughs about United. A banter club, a rubbish team, a fortune spent for nothing, Ten Hag is a fraud, our rivals rejoiced.
Fast forward to a today, just a few months later, United are hot on the tails of Arsenal for the top spot, having seen off Liverpool and Man City and incredibly unlucky not to claim 3 points against Chelsea.
Still competing in all four competitions, the only English side to do so currently and have surpassed the 20 wins of last season with win number 21 in the Manchester derby.
Nine wins on the bounce at home, Erik’s Reds have turned Old Trafford into a rumbling cauldron of fear for the opposition once more, something lacking for a long time.
Marcus Rashford has equalled Dennis Viollet’s record of scoring in 9 successive home games to enter the best form of his career and the entire team looks different, it feels different.
There’s a connection between the manager and player, with the fans, we haven’t had for a long time.
It’s enjoyable right now, and if it ends without a trophy come the end of the season, it won’t be for the lack of effort, the basic component and requirement we missed, simple effort, as this side will give their absolute all on the pitch to try return this famous club to past glories.
All of which will be done without Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s interview with Piers Morgan threatened to derail what Ten Hag was building but seems to instead have galvanised his position as the gaffer and brought the team closer than ever together.
Ten Hag is single minded, he will achieve his goals because he is focused on nothing else and nobody else. A disciplinarian who felt it wasn’t an issue to drop the afore mentioned Rashford in the middle of this run of form for being late due to sleeping in.
Ten Hag takes no prisoners and his side don’t either currently.
I’m intrigued to see where he takes us but I can tell you one thing, it’s become a hell of a lot more enjoyable to make the trips to follow this side than it was last season, smiles are more commonplace and the fanbase is starting to get a bit of a pep back in its step.
Let’s see how the season plays out, but for me, we’re winning the lot!
What an analysis, correct