Manchester United FC have secured Champions League football next season by finishing the season as third on the Premier League table. The Red Devils had to fight long and hard in the Premier League and put up a 14-game unbeaten run from January. With the Premier League season over, it would be a good time to reflect back on United’s league campaign.
The Red Devils started the campaign with three major signings in the form of Dan James, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Harry Maguire. United started their season thrashing Chelsea 4-nil at Old Trafford which gave the fans huge expectations. But the score in that match didn’t entirely tell the whole story, as Chelsea dictated play for most of that game.
But the rest of August didn’t go well for the Red Devils as they drew against Wolves and Southampton and lost against Crystal Palace. Dan James scored crucial goals against Palace and Southampton, but couldn’t do enough to get the wins in United’s favour. United had a chance to win against Wolves, but Pogba missed his spot-kick and had to settle for a point.
The month of September started with a hard-fought 1-nil win against Leicester City, at Old Trafford. But the Red Devils showed their inconsistency once again as they lost against minnows West Ham. This match showed the world that the United side couldn’t keep hold of the ball, even against smaller oppositions.
Next up, the Red Devils played against Arsenal and led with a scorching goal from Mctominay. But the Gunners soon equalized with a mistake from young Axel Tuanzebe, with the match ending in a draw. In the very next match, the Red Devils lost again to a blatant Newcastle side, with Matty Longstaff scoring the only goal in his debut.
At that point, United were arguably at their lowest and faced a stiff task facing eventual champions Liverpool next. It was also being reported that Solskjaer had his job on the line if the Red Devils didn’t play well against Liverpool. But surprisingly United almost won against Liverpool with Rashford scoring from a United counter-attack.
But, in the dying moments, Lallana scored a goal and the points had to be shared amongst both the teams. With that result, United put a stop on Liverpool’s 18-game winning streak and were the first team to take points off Liverpool. The next game went well for United as they won easily against Norwich, and it was believed that the side had turned a corner.
At the beginning of November, the Red Devils faced ailing Bournemouth and were defeated after their former striker, Josh King scored the only goal. United were poorly struggling to score goals against sides that used a low-block to defend, especially without Martial and Pogba. All the other teams noticed the issue and played United accordingly as a poor string of results kept piling on.
The result with Bournemouth meant that Manchester United found themselves 10th in the Premier League table. This was by far one of the worst starts ever to a Premier League season for the Red Devils. The manager, Solskjaer and his players were under heavy criticism and needed to get results very soon to stay away from the fans’ wrath.
With consecutive draws against Sheffield United and Aston Villa, Solskjaer’s job was again on the line as United faced Tottenham and Manchester City next. The players and the manager with their backs against the walls produced two great results winning both the games. Fred, Rashford and Martial were on fire in both the games and the Brazilian played exceptionally well after Pogba’s injury.
But the Red Devils’ incapability to score against stubborn defences as the team drew against Everton and lost to a weak Watford side. United ended the decade with good results though, defeating New Castle and Burnley in the last two games of 2019. If they continued their form, United looked at their worst-ever points tally in a league season.
The Red Devils started the year with a defeat against Arsenal and showed their inconsistency while thrashing four past Norwich in the next game. The squad was not at their best though and was starting to get weary because of their inconsistency. The team headed into the winter break with another string of very poor results with defeats against Liverpool and Burnley.
As soon as the January transfer window opened, Solskjaer was desperate to get an attacking midfielder and a striker. Woodward obliged and brought in Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo to add to the threat that United possess, due to Rashford’s injury. The then club captain Ashley Young departed to Inter Milan and soon Harry Maguire took over the captaincy at Old Trafford.
Ultimately, it was this window that saved United’s season as the team went on a 14-game undefeated run till the end of the season. The Red Devils are yet to lose a game in the Premier League since Bruno Fernandes’s arrival in January. The Portuguese midfielder took the onus on himself to score and assist goals and was surely the signing of the season.
Not just goals and assists, Bruno brought confidence to the entire United squad and lifted everyone’s morale. Since his arrival, the Red Devils collected 32 points in just 14 games are looked like the United side of old times. Manchester United have looked like a different side since football restarted with Bruno, Pogba, Matic, Greenwood and Martial all being at their best.
Rashford and Martial have finished their seasons with 17 goals each in the league, with this season being their best season. Pogba linked up very well with Fernandes in the middle of the park to provide the much-needed creativity in this United side. Greenwood became the first teenager after Wayne Rooney to score nine goals for United.
United were defensively compact as well in the last phase of the season, which meant they conceded the third-least goals. The Red Devils secured their third spot in the league table on the last day of the season. And with Champions League football next season, they will now concentrate on getting their top transfer targets.
Season Overview [Journey]
