Such are the shared feelings of many football supporters towards Manchester United, that a good deal of the followers of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and indeed, Sunderland and Newcastle, will have taken some succour, in light of their own club’s weekend toils, from the Red Devils’ startling collapse at Leicester City.
In fact, the widespread antipathy inspired by United means that a portion of the fans of any side beaten over the weekend, from Huddersfield Town, through Coventry City to Cambridge United, will have raised a hearty chuckle as Marcos Rojo, Tyler Blackett, Rafael, Daley Blind and Chris Smalling were torn apart by the rampant Foxes. Inevitably, attention immediately landed on Louis van Gaal’s recent transfer splurge, and it’s remarkably top-heavy attacking bias.
The striking credentials of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao stand up to the harshest examination. With Van Gaal also able to choose from Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj in offensive positions, goals will clearly not be in short supply for United’s boss.
The Dutchman’s task now is to ensure that his side keeps them out at the other end. What happened at Leicester then, when United conceded four times in twenty-one barmy second-half minutes to lose 5-3, will be pre-occupying Van Gaal’s thoughts for some time to come – as well as affording genuine hope to the ‘Anyone But United’ brigade, that their fun will continue for a while yet.
It is worth remembering, though, the start to life at United of Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra – two players who, along with Rio Ferdinand, the three-time European cup winners are desperately scrambling to replace in their faltering back-four.
Evra, on his debut, was hauled off at half-time– a January 2006 3-1 defeat at the Manchester City of Sun Jihai, Richard Dunne, Stephen Jordan and Albert Riera et al. A little over a fortnight later, Vidic was part of a United defence that shipped four goals in a 4-3 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
Yet, the following season – and for two more after that – the Premier League crown went to Old Trafford. That hat-trick of titles came after three years in which Arsenal and then Chelsea, twice, had topped the league.
In short, Manchester United have form for bouncing back. Argentina’s Rojo was in most pundits select X1’s at the summer’s World Cup, while Dutchman Blind similarly caught the eye on international duty in Brazil. Luke Shaw is still to be introduced into Van Gaal’s team and Phil Jones, when he returns from his latest injury setback, will do so determined prove himself a worthy successor to Ferdinand and Vidic. The tools are there to suggest that a marked improvement on Sunday’s debacle at the King Power Stadium won’t be far off.
Furthermore, in Van Gaal, United have an individual at the helm who, with the wisdom of a man that really has seen it all, will know exactly how to right the wrongs that exist in his team. The 63 year-old, in the immediate aftermath of the Red Devils’ defeat at Leicester, was able to hark back to his first term in charge at Barcelona.
In January of that 1997/1998 campaign, Van Gaal watched on as his team raced into a three goal lead over Valencia at the Nou Camp, before an extraordinary about-turn saw the Catalans breached four times in twenty minutes. Barca followed that 4-3 reverse with a 3-1 beating at the hands of Deportivo La Coruna. The statistic that really matters though; when that La Liga season concluded Van Gaal’s side were champions, holding a nine-point advantage over second-placed Athletic Bilbao.
Anybody with an ABU subscription will probably be well advised to enjoy their bete noir’s current predicament while it lasts.
Paul McNamara has just published ‘The More We Win, The Better We Will Be‘, a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a non-league football club that offers the unusual opportunity of viewing an entire football season at one club from multiple viewpoints. To follow Paul on Twitter and grab a discount code, please follow this link.