If you were listening carefully at around ten o’clock on Wednesday night, there was a loud sound emanating from the South London area that was Manchester United fans coming down to earth with a bump. We have seen this film before but never learn our lesson no matter how many times it happens.
But this time it’s different as is the commentary on Social Media, but in the ground, or to be more precise a corner of J Stand, the opinion is a little more measured. It is no secret yours truly was and will always remain a staunch Solskjaer loyalist, but that does not mean credit where it is due will not be given – we have a good squad, enjoying a few good spells of football, but Harry Potter had a few of them & he was a wizard.
Ask any manager of a business, organisation or team – sporting or otherwise and they will go to great lengths to explain how the individuals within that team can make a difference to the success or failure of the team meeting their objectives.
Sir Clive Woodward described them as “energisers” and ”sappers” while the New Zealand All Blacks had a “No Dickheads Policy” both are pretty self-explanatory as to their meanings and there are no surprises as to where this is going. The ill-fated Piers Morgan interview, the flouncing out of Old Trafford and failing to turn up to Pre-Season sealed the fate of the Petulant Son. He was the catalyst to the collapse last season and almost
certainly upset the camp while halting the recruitment. Stand still in football and you go backwards. United fell apart in every area last season while Cristiano Ronaldo scored a few goals. This season he wanted out after Portugal dropped him and he could no longer cut it at the top level and his presence at Carrington was probably not met with the warmest welcome. Some people are like clouds, it would be a beautiful day if they’d just fuck off and United’s performances are testament to that.
The transformation at Arsenal speaks volumes. They binned their knobhead and we brought in the worst one in world football. To be an effective team in the Premier League every player has to fulfil dual roles on and off the ball, this doesn’t always mean pressing like a lunatic, but simply holding a pre agreed line and blocking passing lanes off with “cover shadows” and the Keeper acting as a playmaker or auxiliary Centre Back in the first phase of possession. With De Gea and Ronaldo in the same team, United were easy to play through, easy to press and slow in the build-up. De Gea has been decent at times this season, but it was a blip and he tried his best to give the ball to Man City at every opportunity and his errant kicking gave Palace a foothold in the game.
De Gea’s impact was his game in a nutshell, 2 or 3 great saves, horrendous distribution and then beaten from distance. At first I was critical of him but it was a worldly strike and he did well to get close to it. Perhaps he could have predicted the corner it was heading but it makes no odds as the run was always coming to an end. The winning run has been enjoyable and we have scored some good goals, but our Brilliant Individuals have won games for us and Bournemouth, Everton and Charlton all had chances to score as we are still easy to play through.
We play very similar to the way we had been playing before Ronaldo and Ralf Rangnik with some better players in key positions and for the first time in a long time we have a round peg for a round hole in every position. Eriksen and Casemiro have both been excellent but the former does not always track runners & after his well documented health problems who could blame him? To watch him play football is as joyous as it is miraculous while the; latter has demonstrated he is not just here for a payday, at least this season.
There is no doubt we play some good football, but the value of a rest and a pre-season cannot be underestimated. The narrative around certain players and coaches is often shaped by the media and equally as often is total bollocks. Nobody wanted to say Ronaldo screwed the team up, but he made Juventus and arguably Portugal worse in recent times and it was clearly the case at Old Trafford.
While there is no doubt Ten Hag has made a positive impact, he has signed six players to the squad that “Any Other Manager” would win the title with. He has made some strange tactical and line up decisions, notably Bruno on the left, retaining Shaw at centre-half when his running would benefit the team from full back and the manager has been slow with subs at times. As always fan opinion is based on incomplete information and we will never know the game plan. There are some obvious differences, but in possession the style is very similar to how it used to be, our best attackers are the best attackers from the previous reign and the fact is a manager can only use the tools at his disposal.
Distractions like Pogba and Lingard are gone and squad harmony is no doubt improved because of it. The new signings have all come in and done well to some degree or another, but it is early days yet for all of them. However, Martinez taking his time after the World Cup & Antony’s perception has been up and down. This is not a hit piece on any individual, more a plea for patience. Ten Hag has some good ideas and there are periods of more than decent football, but we do not put teams away and are too slow in possession. It is not quite LVG boring but seems like holding the ball for the sake of it. It is the clear intention is to control games with ball retention but United have always been a team that puts teams away with flurries of goals. That was always the intention under OGS even if it didn’t always work.
The narrative around individuals is also worth considering, such as Arron Wan Bissaka. The fact he had some relatively poor form last season does not detract from the ability of the player. He has been excellent in recent matches and in my view can be more effective than Dalot. Even though Diogo has massively improved he still impacts the match less than his colleague. This brings around the subject of depth and competition for places, because even though we have a strong XI, we are only an injury or suspension away from having no specialist #6 in midfield and we are still short of a quality number nine. Had the plan been followed we would not have the De Gea problem and the midfield would have at least one recruit in there prior to this season.
After the Crystal Palace reality check it should bring a sense of realism to where we are as a club. The playing squad has been neglected for almost two decades and 2 or 3 good windows under Solskjaer and one good window under Ten Hag will not fix that. The attention to the age group teams and the structure of the club put in place prior to the disaster that was last season can only help Ten Hag. Pellestri and Amad may not make it and Garnacho’s ego might cause his heads to explode. As good as he has been (and he has been electric) that daft reprise of Ronaldo’s chant is surely not a good thing! Erik Ten Hag is doing a good job, but the reality is he is a young manager with a good reputation that is learning on the job with some inexperienced coaches around him and a failed England Manager. That is not to say they are useless, you will always learn more from failure than success, anyone that says otherwise has never reflected on their own failures.
Narratives are like conspiracy theories. The kernel of truth in there gives you something to hang on to but the truth is almost always more nuanced than when it scratches the surface. Ten Hag has come into a club on the up, subject to the Glazers selling up, but the extent to which they have released the purse strings tells me they understand they will get more money for a Champions League club with a modicum of success than a 6th place mess they created last season.
Of course the “individual Brilliance” tag was total and utter rubbish, as was the tactical nativity of the previous manager – Ralf showed exactly what that was! We look to be at a cross roads in terms of the top clubs, Chelsea have gone mental, Liverpool have let the “alleged” Salbutamol wear off and Pep has an aging KDB with the freak of nature that is Erling Haaland and look a more one dimensional team as a result. United have some exciting signings, Rashford injury free(ish), Bruno back amongst the goals when he is allowed to play in his best position, squad players looking the part and Luke Shaw going from strength to strength while the notoriously brittle Raphael Varane is looking strong.
It is too soon to judge this team, or indeed the manager so let’s do it at the end of the season, when after a few favourable draws (for once) we might see a trophy or two held aloft into the sky adored with red and white ribbons. If it isn’t to be then patience is the order of the day and hopefully we go into the new season with new owners. Preferably ones that don’t have questionable ethics and we as fans can be less reactive and support the players, even the ones certain idiots have told us are crap!