MAN UNITED
When I said in November/December, live on radio, that I thought Man United were more likely to finish outside the top four than they were to win the league, I was laughed out of the room. Fast forward to now and here I am, writing a blog about Man United's season as they finished fifth. It's hard to characterise exactly how bad this season was for United. Because make no mistake, it was a bad season. They were targeting winning the league (over-optimistically but still) and they failed to even make the top four. Louis Van Gaal alienated the fans by Christmas, lost the players not long after, and the entire season had the specter of Mourinho hanging over it after he was sacked by Chelsea.
Overall, I don't think it was a disaster. Their humiliation in Europe (twice) adds to the disastrous feel, as did Boro dumping them out of the League Cup, but their FA Cup victory certainly dampens those other factors. And in any case, I haven't massively focused on cups anywhere else, so as much as I'd love to dwell on them, I'll focus on the league.
I don't think it was a disaster because their optimism that they might challenge for the title was as unrealistic as any suggestions that Liverpool could. Spurs, Arsenal and City were all better organised, with better squads and better starting elevens. Simply put, United's team was not good enough to challenge. That said, they should have secured top four, and the lack of European football is certainly a disappointment. But looking at the team, United were lacking in every area. They were short at least one center back, short on full back options, short in the center of midfield and short in terms of outright strikers. Buying Antony Martial to shore up their striking options, and then to play him on the left is the epitome of Van Gaal's United.
But, bluntly, United's biggest problem was Van Gaal himself. He said all the wrong things, he did all the wrong things. His tactics were bizarre, he was rude and obnoxious, he alienated the fan base, but by far his worst sin, at least as far as United fans were concerned, was that he made his team boring. United scored just 49 goals all season, the second lowest in the top half and only one more than Sunderland. The argument will be made that they had the best defence in the league but that's not going to fly. They conceded just as many goals as Spurs but scored 20 less. They may have conceded six less than Man City, but their neighbours plundered twenty two more goals.
And yet, for all that. For all of Van Gaal's eccentricisms and poor tactical decisions, United very nearly finished ahead of City. One goal for Swansea on the final day and United would have finished top four anyway, and so much of the criticism would go away. That's not to say the criticism isn't valid, but the point is that such is the state of the Premier League right now, United were not a million miles off the pace.
And of course there were a lot of positives to United's season. David De Gea remains the best goalkeeper in the league, Chris Smalling matured into a very good central defender, Juan Mata is a classy midfielder, Martial proved a really dangerous player and of course the introduction of young Marcus Rashford set the world alight. But United's biggest problem remains the central midfield area, where they really lacked a player to control the tempo of the team.
Nevertheless, they got off to a frustratingly good start. They played out three awful games of football against Newcastle, Villa and Spurs, picking up seven points as Van Gaal's boring but extremely effective method of killing games came to fruition early on. I've always been a bit critical of the suggestion that one style of football is better than another if you get results, and remain that way, but as a neutral, there's nothing fun about watching a dull game of football, especially if United win at the end of it.
But United hit the ground running after that, and suddenly it was goals everywhere, scoring three against Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool and Southampton, but being turned over by Arsenal and Swansea. It was mid-October until LVG's game-killing tactic came to full flush and even then it proved effective if frustrating. 0-0 draws against Palace and City were followed by wins against Watford and West Brom and a good point against eventual champions Leicester.
But in December, the fans frustration with LVG's style became combined with a string of poor results, as United failed to win any of their five league games that month, picking up just two points and losing to Bournemouth, Norwich and Stoke. That, combined with a defeat to Wolfsburg that dumped them out the Champions League, was the straw that broke the camel's back and the United fans were out in force. They'd started the month third, just one point off the top of the Premier League. They ended it sixth, nine points off the top.
From there it was one step forward, one step back. Victories over Liverpool and Swansea in January were tempered by defeat to Southampton and a thrilling draw with Newcastle. A win over Stoke flattened by defeat to Sunderland. However, the end of February saw the launch of Marcus Rashford's United career, as they beat Arsenal, Man City, Watford and Everton before the start of April. But once again, one step forward, one step back, as they suffered a humbling defeat to West Brom and hovering in the background was their European failure, as Liverpool played them off the park twice.
Despite a humiliating defeat to Spurs, United kept winning, three in a row at the end of April. But ultimately, with Champions League qualification in their own hands, United spectacularly bottled it, throwing away a 2-1 lead against West Ham to have to settle for fifth.
So overall, United's season was subject to a lot of sensationalism, as a series of high profile defeats, off the field incidents, humiliations, fan unrest and LVG's sheer tactical stupidity covered over what actually wasn't on paper a terrible season for United, especially considering the quality in their team. But, ultimately, when you're aiming to win the title and fall fifteen points short, questions will be asked, and when you fail to finish in the top four, you probably won't like the answers.
Coming into the new season, they have vastly improved their manager and made three big signings, which I have mixed feelings about (Zlatan is overrated, Bailly doesn't look like he'll solve their centre back problem but none of them are bad signings and Mkhitaryan looks like a classy player). United should challenge for top four again, but I think the title is still beyond them with their current squad, even with Mourinho helming.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Australia bowled out for 106. Oh dear.
- England fighting back this morning. Come on.
- West Ham won easily in the Europa.
- Tonight the Olympics finally begins. Huzzah.
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