Return To Glory : Manchester United

A deep sigh of relief in Manchester as Marcus Rashford resumes full training, he wouldn’t be available for the game today but having him back would be key in continuing their run for a title. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues to be under pressure to perform, and things are only getting worse for him as stories leak out from the organization. It’s hard to claim anything is true, but “sources” point to success being pegged to the Champions League. Solskjaer couldn’t be bothered with that at the moment with one of their toughest opponents making their way to Old Trafford. Unai Emery and the defending league champions are not playing as well as last year, but dropping points to them would be a real six-pointer for the Gunners.

This is the kind of game where Solskjaer’s counter attack mixes with an overly dominant midfield and creates a stat line that would make you think Jürgen Klopp was in charge. Paul Pogba would score just 10’ in, receiving a nice little pass from Jorge near the penalty spot and sending it past Bernd Leno for an easy 1-0 lead. Even though United were taking a more balanced approach against an explosive offense the Gunner were just terrible in midfield. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Pogba have formed an excellent partnership over the season and this game may have shown how good they can be. Despite letting Arsenal have the ball in their half, Milinkovic-Savic and Pogba wrecked them almost as soon as they crossed midfield as they managed to shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. It took 28’ for Arsenal to get a shot off, but that time Milinkovic-Savic and Pogba had sent United heading back the other way and had (14) shots. Emery’s biggest problem outside of his midfield getting blown up was having his players trapped on the sidelines. Arsenal players, driven wide by Milinkovic-Savic or Pogba, ended up getting double teamed on the sidelines only to lose the ball after having nowhere to go with it.

Arsenal went into the half looking at a 20:1 shots disadvantage, not a way to win. By 60’ the Gunner looked like they were out of gas, playing Napoli and Newcastle on short rest was clearly impacting their ability to play well and only allowed United’s press to hit them harder. Despite having so many chances United couldn’t do much with them, a 1-0 win was still worth (3) points. José Mourinho would be proud. Leicester would stun Liverpool 3-1 in their game to give United a (5) point lead in 1st.



Speaking of the Champions League, Solskjaer would find himself right in the middle of a battle for 1st in the group. After losing to Atlético on the road it seemed like the group was theirs, but now a win would give United a coveted draw for the next round while keeping Solskjaer afloat in the eyes of ownership and fans. After beating Arsenal and then Reading 2-0 Solskjaer came into this game with the kind of momentum he needed.

The trip to England must have taken something out of Diego Dimeone’s men, Atlético never got going while Milinkovic-Savic and Pogba continued their streak of controlling games. Victor Tsygankov scored at 17’ and the hosts never looked back, Atlético looked like they were more interested in going home than winning their group. When the game was over Pogba had more key passes (6) than the entire Atlético team combined. United mustered (6) chances created while Atlético had (1), no way to win a game or head into the knockout stage of the Champions League.

As things turned out, the group winner slot worked out very well for United as they managed to dodge at least one bullet. Being paired with Porto in the first knockout round was fortunate, while the Jonas Dal’s side wouldn’t be a pushover they were certainly a better draw than all but one of the other English sides. Arsenal would land PSV Eindhoven, but Manchester City would get Borussia Dortmund while Liverpool would be drawn against Bayern Munich. Getting deep into the tournament might mean more than extra income, especially for Solskjaer.




What happens when David De Gea, having an incredible season, misses a game through an illness? A goal fest apparently, hard to tell if it was luck or skill that United managed to find their scoring form at the best possible time. Newcastle came into the game as the worst team in the Premier League by a fair margin, many took the need to score so much to escape as a sign of weakness that needed to be corrected immediately. It was made even more jarring by United’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in their previous game, one that United enjoyed complete control and only managed to score on a corner.

Paco Jémez, appointed two days before the game, was inheriting a real dumpster fire. Gennaro Gattuso was fired at the end of November, with Newcastle already last in the league, and then interim manager Eric Black resigned after only (13) days on the job. Getting thrown in the deep end against United on two days of prep is not the way to start your managerial career. Luckily for Jémez, Aaron Wan-Bissake had his back just 17’ in with a real howler of an own goal. Lucas Vázquez made his way around Jorge and sent a low cross screaming across the box toward the far post, Mike Maignan stayed on the line and let Wan-Bissaka run to the post for a clearance. The ball came in chest high, hit Wan-Bissaka in the chest and went toward the goal off his knee and in. Allan Saint-Maximin didn’t even need to get around Wan-Bissaka, it was right around this point that Newcastle seemed to change their approach to breaking United’s legs in an effort to hold their 1-0 lead. With halftime approaching, and more than one appeal to the refs to step in, Andreas Periera came from the outside headed for the end line and picked out Marcus Rashford stalking the penalty spot for a nice goal to pull even.

Both managers must have said some at the half, because everyone in attendance was about to get their money’s worth. At 46’ Pogba scored an incredible goal, taking a cross from Wan-Bissaka at the endline just above the arc and hammering it out of the air to score with an absolute laser. Santiago Ascacíbar would make it 2-2 after beating an offsides trap and just barely getting to the ball before Maignan, but then Berat Djimsiti would give it back by putting Rashford on the penalty spot after tripping him just on the edge of the box. The game could best be described as frantic at that point, Newcastle were getting somewhere with long balls to avoid United’s midfield and kept getting chances. Haris Seferovic would make it 3-3 at 74’ after a shot from Vázquez hit the post instead of Maignan and Seferovic was right there for the rebound. St. James’ Park was a raucous mess for some time after the goal, it looked like Newcastle might be turning the tide against United until Pogba scored an absolutely gorgeous goal on a free kick. 10 yards beyond the arc, between the edge of the arc and the right corner of the box, Newcastle ceded the right side of the field thinking the wall would protect the right side of the goal. Pogba struck the ball perfectly, sending it bending around the right side of the wall and tucking it just inside the right post nearly at the upper corner. Martin Dubravka would make a dive and just barely get a finger on it, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Frenchman from registering a double.

The goal would seal PoM for Pogba and the game for United, Pereira would score just before stoppage time to cap off a bizarre 5-3 game. A bit of a sloppy win, but without De Gea it’s hard to assume a shutout. A few more games until the winter break and a full month before the Champions League starts up again would help Solskjaer get his team back in shape and rested for the second half of what could be a great season.

Absolutely brilliant going lately! An absolute thriller against Toon.

What a great run you're on!

The real surprise of the window came late (or early depending on how you look at it), just before September, when a contract dispute between Borussia Dortmund and Jadon Sancho bloomed into a transfer saga that saw the future superstar suddenly become very available. Dortmund were asking for north of £97M at one point but the bust up, which included a desire to move to a bigger club, appeared to drive his price down. PSG, Manchester City (of all teams), Chelsea, and Liverpool all got involved but Luís Campos was given carte blanche by ownership to swoop in. Having a large pool of transfer funds still available really helped, plus he has the opportunity to own LW at United for years to come. Sancho gets a huge pay increase, nearly double what he was getting at BVB, the only downside of this deal was waiting around until January for him to come over.


Senior / Major Transfers (Out)
None

Senior Transfers (In)
Jadon Sancho (LW, Borussia Dortmund) £65M

Final Transfer List (Impact Signings)
Aldemir (CF, Sport Recife - Brazil) £9.25M
Maximiliano Zapata (CAM, Rosario - Argentina) £5.5M
Marco Overmars (CF, Sparta Rotterdam - Netherlands) £2.0M
Alejandro Córdoba (GK, Deportivo Cali - Colombia) £1.4M
Cho Jung-Bin (CM, Poongsaeng - South Korea) £1.3M
Kim Ström (CAM, IFK Mariehamn - Finland) £450K
Eurico Machava (CM, Desportivo de Nacala - Mozambique) Free

After declining to spend big (for United) in the summer window, and “only” buying one player in the winter, the fans and media are starting to worry that United are falling farther behind Liverpool. Liverpool are spending big to strengthen their squad, after swooping in for Harry Kane (£106M) in the summer they added Kai Havertz for £96M this winter and continue to be linked with a move for Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong believed to be around the price for Havertz. The spending has unsettled fans, fearful the club will be stuck behind their bitter rivals, but Ole GUnnar Solskjaer and Campos have maintained that things are going to be done differently in Manchester going forward. While most fans had a good laugh at this assertion as United forked out over £123M on senior players, the amount of money being spent on youth prospects points to a decrease in transfer spending on the senior squad.

Speaking of youth prospects, United spent quite a bit on promising youngsters. Fans shouldn’t get too excited as Solskjaer continues to have issues bringing their signings to England. A cloud is starting to form over Old Trafford thanks to the Lucas Lourenço transfer, the player most seen as a replacement for Periera is in work permit purgatory and United can’t seem to get him on board. The team is hoping a season at Lazio will get him over the line, but the whole experience makes spending on non-EU players troubling. This window featured at least one extremely exciting prospect in Marco Overmars who many believe can become one of the best players in the system. There has been some cynicism around Cho Jung-Bin, with Chinese ownership, but most scouts believe he is much more than an appeal to asian markets.

Sancho's arrival could be huge. Alongside an array of young talent that have been snapped up, United could be a side to be reckoned with in the years to come.

The first FA Cup game of 2021 would turn out to be mostly a display for a player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was trying to send out on loan. December closed out with a 4-1 win against Leicester, pushing United to (12) consecutive wins, and a 2-1 win at Norwich to head into the FA Cup on a hot streak. Few thought QPR was going to break their win streak, but United had already been prematurely dumped out of a cup competition already.

The star of the game, hopefully on his way to either Borussia Dortmund, PSG, or Bayer Leverkusen, was Antonio Marin. Marin’s double, and pace at the LW, would earn him a PoM award and possibly a short term ticket out of town. With Jadon Sancho coming in and Anthony Martial having a great season Marin isn’t getting into the first squad anytime soon, he’s also too good to be a bench option with Angel Gomes available, so he really needs to go out on loan.



United ran right over QPR, with (3) players rating 9.0 or higher and Andreas Pereira close at 8.9. QPR was not helped by Bright Osayi-Samuel earning a straight red at 82’ for kicking Aaaron Wan-Bissaka. The win would draw United with Blackburn or Morecambe in the next round.



After a long stretch of solid results that seemed to quiet the loudest of Solskjaer’s doubters, this was not the kind of game he needed. Going into Anfield, just about everyone knew he was going to use a more balanced approach to try and catch Liverpool overcommitting to an attack. Wan-Bissaka would miss the game with fatigue, with Diogo Dalot out regularly Wan-Bissaka would be forced to play more often than Solskjaer would like. Dalot would get the call over youngster Enzo Marino, but most knew Dalot likely wouldn’t play the full game.

A packed Anfield, loudly supporting the home team, would witness almost exactly the game everyone expected. A revenge minded Jürgen Klopp would use a 4-1-2-3 instead of a 4-2-3-1 like their last game, leaving Mohamed Salah out of the squad entirely to avoid having him shut down. The changes worked well, and despite what Solskjaer’s detractors might say his changes worked as well. Most of the game was fought in the midfield, with United’s double pivot blunting Klopp’s high octane attack and press. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Paul Pogba combined to have the best rated games for United, the only players to rate 7.0 or higher, and controlled play well in both direction. Liverpool’s central defenders and Fabinho, in the DLP / Anchor Man role clogged up the middle and made things difficult for United going forward.

The whole game hinged on Liverpool’s £106M man, Harry Kane, who was in the right place at the right time when luck broke in Liverpool’s favor. At 58’ Alex Telles avoided a tackle and looped around the outside to take a shot at the left side of the goal that hit the post hard and rebounded right at Kane. David De Gea was right there for Telles’ shot, his outstretched hand was right on the post preventing it from going straight in but it had him in a bad position to handle Kane’s quick header. Kane was almost falling backwards but managed to put enough on it to send the ball in the far side of the net. That was all the opening Liverpool needed, the two sides went toe-to-toe and the stalemate held to give Klopp the victory he needed to get back into the title race.





The follow up to a tough loss against Liverpool was just what people needed to see, just probably against the wrong opponent. After a heartbreaking loss by the first squad the second squad set out to remind people that United are currently first in the league by quite a bit and aren’t looking to slow down. Eduardo Camavinga would be ruled out after injuring ankle ligaments in practice, up to (2) weeks without the young star would hurt but it would take more than Fulham to make it matter.

To be blunt, Fulham were awful. United scored twice in the first 7’, one a Martial penalty and Pereira strike that was much too easy. Despite playing so poorly the visitors took a 2-0 deficit into the half having failed to take a single shot themselves. What was shaping up to be a bad loss turned into a nightmare in the second half. Probably still a little miffed at the purchase of Sancho, Martial ripped Fulham apart in the second half with a hat trick to make it (4) for the game. All three of his goals from open play came in similar situations, the first with Jesse Lingard sending in a cross from the wide right that Martial hammered in from a distance. The last two, just three minutes apart, came courtesy of rising star Enzo Marino who would cross the ball in from wide for Martial to head in.

It's hard to believe that someone scoring four times wasn’t the highlight of the game, but this one got weird late and got heated with Solskjaer and Fulham manager Pep Clotet yelling at the officiating crew. Clotet did most of the yelling with United already up 5-0, but Solskjaer wasn’t about to let Clotet talk his way out of being down 6-0. At 84’ a through ball to Luca Pellegrini from Harry Maguire had a little too much on it and it ran to the corner flag and stopped dead on the flag like a clutch putt. Fulham, assuming it went out the endline, started back out for a goal kick while some confusion with the officials prevented anyone from indicating a goal kick. Pellegrini walked over, booted the ball into the middle at the penalty spot and Scott McTominay knocked it in while Marek Rodák stood at the near post pointing to the end line. This initiated a scrum of players yelling at the ref that moved toward the technical area and got taken over by the coaches. Fulham’s players insisted it went out, but all the evidence showed the ball never left the field. Clotet earned himself a booking and a fine, but the goal stood. The win was so comprehensive that (6) United players rated 9.0 or higher with Martial’s incredible day rating a near perfect 9.9. Perhaps the loss to Liverpool was a wake up call this team needed more than anything else.



Solskjaer went through a bizarre series of game that did little to help him get his name out of the media. The beating of Fulham didn’t earn him much leeway, and a 3-0 win at Leicester that featured (3) disallowed goals didn’t do much more to help him. A 1-0 win against Blackburn in the Emirates FA Cup didn’t help either, on or off the field. On the field, McTominay earned himself a straight red just 7’ into the game and a further two match ban after. They managed to gut out the win with (10) men, but few fans or members of the media felt good about it. Off the field, news leaked that Lucas Lourenço’s work permit was rejected yet again and ownership was upset with Solskjaer and the FA.

The tense nature of this game didn’t help the mood at all, and it wasn’t just coaching across from Marcelo Bielsa. Bielsa learned from the Liverpool game and went with a 4-1-2-3, and just like it did for Klopp it made a mess of Solskjaer’s attempt to counter attack. It also seemed to help Spurs to a home-team-friendly day of officiating as United earned (6) bookings to Spurs’ (0). With both teams frustrating each other, this game seemed to drag on with Spurs likely happy to come away with a point. Rashford dashed those hopes at 61’ after an embarrassing series for Spurs where United was able to pass the ball back and forth across the box. A corner on the right found its way wide left, where it was crossed back to Victor Tsygankov who took the original corner and he was alert enough to see Rashford unmarked right in front of the goal area for an easy score.

The win wouldn’t be much to celebrate, but it would keep United firmly in 1st and help put the loss to Liverpool behind them.

A great response to a loss against Fulham. Wrong place, wrong time for the Cottagers! The title is firmly in your hands.

The loss to Liverpool last month started a stream of bad news, mostly injuries, that was capped off with Diogo Dalot pulling his calf in a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace to finish January. The injury would rule him out for 2-4 weeks and push youngster Enzo Marino into the second choice RB role, not a good look for a manager trying to keep his job while simultaneously running away with the league. If Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed a perfect game, a performance to show he was indeed the man for the job, Bournemouth seemed more than willing to give it to him.

The day started out with heavy rain and even more injury news, Scott McTominay would twist his ankle the day before and be ruled out for three weeks. United fans, as fickle as any, were more than happy to pronounce him dead and hail the pending arrival of Danny Ginger. That didn’t happen, yet, as Solskjaer decided to put Ryan Gravenberch on the bench instead of calling up the wonderkid.

Rain did little to halt United romp all over Bournemouth, in fact it may have put up more resistance than Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men. Anthony Martial scored at 4’ and Marcus Rashford got his first of the day at 7’ on a penalty, and United had quite a bit more in reserve for the visitors. It’s hard to imagine a more comprehensive victory, (5) different goal scorers dotted a roster where everyone but David De Gea rated 8.8 or higher and (6) rated 9.2 or higher. Rashford had plenty of competition for the PoM award but his hat trick helped nudge him to a near-perfect 9.6 and kept Mason Greenwood at bay. This was definitely the kind of game that would help United build confidence before a tough road game at Porto.



A Champions League road game, with elimination on the line, is not the time for your third string RB who literally isn’t old enough to buy a pint to get a start. With Aaron Wan-Bissaka suspended on yellows from the group stage, and Dalot still out, Marino would need to start his second game in a row. The only upside of being thrown in the deep end of the pool is that this pool isn’t all that deep, even with Marino starting United were heavy favorites. Despite his age and inexperience Marino has been rather solid at RB and looks like he could live up to his potential.

Solskjaer was lucky that the 7-0 beating of Bournemouth was still on everyone’s mind because United really had trouble getting going in this game. They had a chance to grab the lead at 15’ when Álvaro pushed Paul Pogba into the goal on a dangerous free kick from the side of the box, it took quite a long VAR review but the result went against Port. Rashford made a mess of it, hammering the ball right into Diogo Costa. That was just about the best United had for the hosts for most of the first half, the only thing making the game seem like they had control was their suffocating defense. Porto wasn’t allowed a single shot in the first half, a brutal way to try and win, and Marino looked really solid on fellow teenager Rodrigo Valente. It took a goal oddly reminiscent of his first for United to go ahead 1-0 when Harry Maguire scored a screamer from just outside the box. He was left all alone, few would think he could do well from that distance but he made Porto pay for the mistake.



With United crushing their hosts it seemed very bizarre for Solskjaer to remain conservative, the second half wasn’t much different from the first aside from Porto actually managing to bother De Gea once. An easy if not exciting win would send United back home with a valuable away goal and a 1-0 lead.



The story of February would turn out to be the walking wounded at RB and Solskjaer’s expanding reliance on Marino. A 4-0 win against Newcastle would be soured just 9’ into the game when Wan-Bissaka would be injured (again) and Eric Bailly would be forced to play RB. With Diogo Dalot already out injured, and Marino exhausted, Solskjaer went into the game with only one RB available. Bailly would end up getting injured late in the game, when United had used all of their subs, and they would be forced to finish the game with (10) men. Another game of mismanaging the bench was not going to help Solskjaer look like the leader of the future. At least today would be a little different as Wan-Bissaka would be back in the lineup with Marino on the bench, Solskjaer wouldn’t need to move a warm body to RB if Wan-Bissaka was injured again.

Wan-Bissaka would be injured again, but this time he would last 11’ before twisting his ankle. It would be easy to blame the loss of Wan-Bissaka for the uninspired performance that followed, but Marino came on and started to look more and more like Solskjaer’s most reliable option at RB. Solskjaer has been lucky at times, his counter attacked setup can often crush opponents high in the midfield and lead to a lot of offensive chances for United, but today was not one of those days. Şenol Güneş looked to have a blueprint for slowing down United until a suddenly clutch Maguire headed one in at 32’ and put the sluggish visitors up 1-0. Bruno Fernandes would make it 2-0 at 42’ on a wonderful exchange, finally finding himself on the business end of an assist. Jadon Sancho would crash inside with the ball from wide, after getting around Reece James, and rush in to the edge of the goal area. Kepa Arrizabalaga would rush out to meet him, but with two players on Sancho and Kepa in his face Fernandes was unmarked in the middle and had no problem scoring on an empty net. Fikayo Tomori would head one in off a free kick just before stoppage time expired, saving Chelsea from being shut out, but neither team had anything in the second half.

The Blues would do fairly well in the second half, but didn’t really look like pulling even and Solskjaer was content holding a 2-1 lead. As the final whistle blew United would finish the month solidly in first, lead the league in goals scored (81) and allowed (12) for a title push that looks set. Solskjaer has managed to put together a rather impressive domestic season, their first title since Sir Alex Ferguson retired is within their grasp.

Still absolutely flying! Ole's team certainly had to dig a little deeper than they perhaps anticipated against Porto. The sign of a good team is to come out with a win even when they're below their best.

A 3-0 win over Reading would open a short month for United that would be offset by a fixture stuffed April if they can keep going in the Emirates FA Cup. After beating Porto 1-0 on the road few held out much hope for them in this game, even with Paul Pogba missing practice time due to a knee injury the odds were heavily in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s favor. Jonas Dal would end up leaving this one wondering what he did to deserve this kind of treatment.

Victor Tsygankov would need to come off after just 4’ after taking a cut on his leg, but as it turned out it wouldn’t matter much. Marcus Rashford would score first at 13’, and it would be a little preview of the hell Porto were in for. United’s press would kill Porto’s back line all game, Rashford would quickly receive a pass after the ball was stolen and score before Diogo Costa even had time to get set. United were ruthless and Porto just couldn’t keep United from putting shots on target, Costa was living out a nightmare for almost a full 90’. It’s hard to make much of this game since Porto were so bad, it seemed like everyone on United were going to leave this game with a goal.



The big win would set a date in the next round with Inter, another fortunate draw considering the fates of other English teams. Arsenal would land Juventus, Manchester City would get Liverpool, and Real Madrid would face Benfica. The bad news would be that United will face the winner of the City-Liverpool matchup if they get past Inter.



This month wouldn’t have many games scheduled, but due to rescheduled games if they won today they would face Chelsea in the Quarter Final in just a week. Solskjaer appears to be dedicated to having his second squad manage cup games, with the Champions League looming and the league almost locked up he would need to keep the first choice squad fresh.

This game turned out to be a near defensive master class, a good sign from a back line that contained Diogo Dalot and Axel Tuanzebe. Jesse Lingard, in danger of becoming a forgotten man, had a great game and earned his PoM award with a lot of creativity from the wing. The “near” in defensive master class came in when Leicester’s James Maddison scored to bring the hosts even 1-1 on their only shot of the game. Only allowing a single shot all game sounds a lot better if it doesn’t go in.

Mason Greenwood would score late to keep their date with Chelsea, it was a little concerning that a totally dominant performance barely managed to produce a win. A game like this in the Champions League would likely result in a loss.



Solskjaer must have had a productive team chat after barely beating Leicester because the first squad followed that up with an outright demolition of Watford. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would miss the game with a twisted ankle, but that wouldn’t do anything to prevent a 6-0 beating that included Enzo Marino’s first senior goal. Hopefully the win would spur on the second team against a young and promising Chelsea squad.

If the Leicester game was troubling, this game would have ranked as a train wreck. United would score first at 25’ off a classic exchange, Dalot would cross into the center from the endline and find Greenwood in the perfect position to score. After that, the Blues were able to turn the game on its head. Part of the success Frank Lampard managed after going down 1-0 was due to Chelsea’s physical play, piling up fouls but effectively asserting themselves against United. Unfortunately that physicality backfired when Wilfried Zaha left the game at 53’ after hurting his leg tackling Luca Pellegrini, the injury managed to mask the fact that he should have been booked.

Chelsea looked like the better team after going down 1-0, and Martial being forced out only helped their cause. It wasn’t until 88’ that Ruben Loftus-Cheek made good on that dominance when he scored to pull the visitors level 1-1. United were able to hold them through stoppage time, but Chelsea clearly had the momentum and weren’t thankful for the break. At 96’ Dalot would join Zaha in being taken off, a pulled hamstring would have him out 3-4 weeks but give Marino even more playing time. United were seemingly teetering on the edge when Angel Gomes, on for the injured Martial, would score a crucial goal off a deflection on a free kick. The now visibly exhausted Chelsea couldn’t get back in the game and collapsed in extra time to hand United a 2-1 win. Manchester City would be waiting in the Semi-Final, a fixture likely much more difficult than this one.

The youngster are really coming good at Old Trafford. Very encouraging signs!

Luís Campos can’t claim all the credit, but it does look good that his first class at United looks to be a bumper crop. Things may already be getting fierce in the youth setup, with so much spending on youth players new signings are going to find it harder than ever to break into the youth ranks. While a few have already made it, Enzo Marino being the most notable, they have the advantage of a weaker system letting them rise to the top. At this rate having to dip into the youth squads here and there won’t be a bad thing.

King Holland (RB - England) : To put it bluntly he’s a potential superstar at wingback. He isn’t quite on Danny Ginger’s level, but the consensus is that his ceiling is that of a United regular with a long international career in his future. An incredible blend of physical and mental traits drive the optimism scouts and coaches show for him. He has great speed on the outside, solid technique, crosses well, and shows the kind of determination coaches love. He also marks opponents tightly and plays short simple passes well, two things Solskjaer asks his wingbacks to do. He could use some polish, as any youth prospect does, but that polish will elevate him quickly to the senior squad.

Harrison Thistlethwaite (CM - England) : The Red Devils may have struck gold with Thistlethwaite, not just for landing him but also his academy partner Keenan Maynard. The two are both from Barrow-In-Furness and have played together since they were old enough to kick a ball. Thistlethwaite has manned the deep lying playmaker role in a double pivot for years so he comes in ready made for Solskjaer’s tactics and could form a deadly team with Maynard through the youth setup. A quick player who shows natural ability on the ball, especially in terms of dribbling and his first touch. Add in good size and solid attributes around his passing game (technique, decision making, vision) and he has the makings of a future first team regular. He may need to go through Danny Ginger, but at the moment his ceiling is a second squad regular or future partner to Ginger.

Keenan Maynard (CM - England) : The box-to-box midfielder to Thistlethwaite’s deep lying playmaker, although he is talented enough to play a number of midfield roles including the DLP. He’s a very quick player who’s way ahead of the curve in technique, passing, and leadership ability. He’s going to need to work hard to rise in the deep United system, at worst he might be a loan regular who gets sold for a solid return if there isn’t a place for him in the senior squad.

Branko Oblak (RB/LB/CB - Croatia) : Oblak isn’t the best new defender, but he’s very young (15) and brings some interesting skills to the table that other defenders don’t. A rarity in the system he represents a real Swiss (Croatian?) Army Knife of a player, he’s two-footed and can play all three roles in the back line well. He’s primarily considered a RB with some good qualities for an attacking wingback, mainly his flair and work rate, but as a fast 6’-0” tall player who can pass he fits right in at CB. While he’s got a lot of players ahead of him in all three positions the fact that he can play all three, especially if he maintains that ability through the system, might catapult him over better players because that flexibility is so valuable on the bench. He’s already on the Croatian national team radar, if he starts getting called up it could make his star even brighter.

Lloyd Wakeham (LB - Wales) : A player with a higher ceiling than Oblak, but he’s going to be looking over his shoulder because of the growing log jam at LB. He’s another player with very good pace and acceleration, flair, and the kind of passing and technique Solskjaer looks for. He’s probably more skilled defensively but plays the attacking wingback role well, he gets high marks for his work rate and bravery despite being 5’-9” and his level of teamwork stands out as well. He’s probably going to spend quite a few seasons on loan until he’s in his 20’s before United know what they have. He’s already drawings looks from Wales and might be called up for the UEFA U-21 Euro.


With all of the money being dumped into the youth system it wasn’t a surprise to see them improve on both levels. The U-23 team is in the weirdest position, with the most players being sent out on loan, but they still managed to win the U-23 Premier League 2 Division 1 title over tough competition like Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City. They would also go on to win the U-23 League Cup in a 4-0 win over Arsenal U-23.

The U-18 squad managed to outshine the U-23 side, a sign of the number of young and talented players being accrued there. Their biggest achievement would be winning the UEFA Youth League after a 2-1 win over Barcelona U-18 in the final, they would also capture the EPL North with an (11) point gap over second place City, and they would also capture the FA Youth Cup with a 4-0 win over City. This level is now bursting with players who don’t have spots on the U-23 squad and aren’t old enough to be sent out on loan, the next 4-5 years look very exciting and United may have a completely homegrown squad before you know it.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer used a short March to get everyone rested, they were really going to need to be strong to get through April with (8) games on the books if they can get through Inter. A 6-0 win over Brighton to open the month was fraught with injury issues that will force Solskjaer to be creative. Eric Bailly sprained ankle ligaments in practice (3-4 weeks), Diogo Dalot remains injured in some capacity and Aaron Wan-Bissaka is struggling with match fitness. Armel Bella-Kotchap has been elevated to second squad starter and Enzo Marino appears to be the only RB that Solskjaer can depend on. At least the win clinched a spot in the Champions League and set a new team record for wins at (29), hopefully the rest of the month will go as smoothly.

Despite the preparation both of these squads were clearly tired, and the contrast in coaching would be quite entertaining. Antonio Conte is about as different as you can get from Solskjaer, and only one of them is clearly on the hot seat as Conte’s squad are sitting outside Champions League qualification for next season. It wasn’t going to get much better for Conte in Europe, their tired legs failed them where United were able to control the game.

Most of the game just came down to United’s counter attack being able to control the game as Marcus Rashford constantly terrorized Inter’s back line as they would try to reset after a change in possession. Solskjaer’s preference to sit back also worked well as Inter struggled to move into United’s third as their 5-3-2 couldn’t provide the width they were looking for. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored first at 18’ off an easy setup, standing on the penalty spot Victor Tsygangov managed to pick him out with a pass from the end line and he had the whole goal to choose from. The hosts couldn’t get anything going, even though they were really accurate with their shots they couldn’t make them count. Rashford’s reign of terror ended at 86’ when a stolen ball by Jadon Sancho found him and let him run around Inter’s back three and score. Locking up an away win 2-0 put United in a solid position to schedule that 8th game of the month.





The second leg against Inter would come after one of the saddest wins of the year, not just because they only managed to beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 but also because Eduardo Camavinga would be out about (10) days with cut on his leg suffered during the game. A comfortable 2-0 lead would have United in a great position, but nobody knew this game would turn into a weird tactical flex as Solskjaer continues to find success in one of football’s most difficult situations.

This time Conte’s 5-3-2 did a better job of holding the ball, but as soon as they left their third United were all over them and Solskjaer’s counter enjoyed possession a little higher up. Inter’s frustration led to a free kick by Bruno Fernandes that put United up 1-0 and seemed to kill off the game, just 21’ into the game and Inter’s body language said they were done. Paul Pogba seemed to have other plans after putting an absolutely ugly slide tackle on Romelu Lukaku, who was lucky not to get injured, and he was immediately sent off with a straight red. Now up a man at 29’, Inter had a window to do something about the 3-0 hole they were in. Rashford went off for Scott McTominay and Solskjaer’s oddly effective 4-2-3 went to work.

The finals stats don’t show how good United were, but considering that Inter played most of the game up a man it makes sense. Conte would be stalking the technical area in a fury, but it didn’t seem to do any good as his players’ body language never changed. Just after the half Stefano Sensi tripped Sancho in the box and Fernandes made good on the penalty for a 2-0 lead that Inter would never get over. The celebration would be cut short as United would draw Liverpool in the semi-final, probably the worst possible match up with a coach looking for revenge.



The heavens parted and the light of glory shone down on Wembley as Danny Ginger was called up to play. Camavinga remained out, Ryan Gravenberch was suspended on yellows, and Pogba / Milinkovic-Savic were tired after going through a heavy workload. United’s second team against Manchester City’s first squad seemed like Solskjaer was giving up, but it seems like Solskjaer has Pep Guardiola’s number.

Anthony Martial scored just 2’ into the game on an incredibly improbable series of events. City started with the ball and got a shot off that Mike Maignan collected and then very quickly booted the ball down the left wing, Raphaël Varane misjudged the ball and it flew over his head for Martial to collect. With nobody between Martial and the goal he had a free run and burned Ederson for a 1-0 lead. The rest of the game was all downhill for Pep, City would enjoy possession and quick passes in their third but quickly found it hard to move the ball once they tried to get over the half. United only allowed a single shot in the first half, the one Maignan caught and assisted Martial with.

This turned into an outright beating with every single player, aside from David De Gea, rating 8.0 or higher and (3) rating 9.0 or higher. Even De Gea got in on it by posting a 7.5 rating, a rarity for someone who usually faces very few shots. The 5-0 final would secure a date in the final with Liverpool and mark (19) straight wins across all competitions.



A trip to Anfield would come with a bit of a downer in their previous game, after a 1-0 win over Arsenal United would choke at London Stadium in a disappointing 1-0 loss to West Ham that would have won the league. Many fans were hoping to have the league title in hand for this trip, but sadly Solskjaer would have a loss hanging over his head instead. As it turned out, a disappointing loss might have been better than the mess that unfolded in its place.

Being without Pogba, who was suspended, was enough of an issue for Solskjaer to deal with but things would get much worse. Perhaps the tension of the previous meetings built to a breaking point, or maybe Liverpool were upset about their title drought continuing while United was looking to return to the top, whatever it was this game nearly turned into an outright brawl. Both teams were very physical, with United laying back a bit and then slamming the door on Liverpool once they moved into United’s third. The first casualty was Harry Kane, on the wrong end of a hard Milinkovic-Savic slide tackle where both of them had trouble getting up and Kane needed to be taken off immediately. Not long after Kane limped off Milinkovic-Savic was indicating he needed to come off, McTominay took his place and less than a minute later pulled up limping and needed to be taken off at 44’ for Angel Gomes. Solskjaer was forced to do some juggling, moving Fernandes to the BBM and Gomes to CAM, and to make things worse United had only managed (2) shots by the half with none of them bothering Alisson. Trent Alexander-Arnold joined the others when he was hurt tackling Sancho, who also got up slowly, at this rate both teams would run out of subs by the half.

Tahith Chong had to come on for Sancho at the half, he had been struggling with a calf injury after being tackled and Solskjaer wasn’t willing to risk further injury. The jostling continued but neither team could much more than piss each other off, a few shoving matches resulted but the refs managed to keep it from escalating. The most embarrassing part of the game came late as Aaron Wan-Bissaka injured his knee in a collision and had to keep playing, it’s a miracle Liverpool didn’t move their attack down the right to take advantage. Finally, at 78’ Wan-Bissaka just went to the ground and had to make his way off to leave United down a man with no way to substitute and nobody able to man RB. It’s even more amazing that Liverpool couldn’t get anything going at that point, Solskjaer couldn’t lean on his 4-2-3. As the game wrapped up Andrew Robertson, who would go on to win a PoM in a bit of a pillow fight, went down injured but stayed on the field as Jurgen Klopp was out of subs as well.

Klopp and Solskjaer had quite a bit to say after the game on the subjects of physical play and injuries, neither team had a reputation for this kind of thing but sometimes that doesn’t matter between heated rivals. The game would be costly for United in the short term, Milinkovic-Savic (3 days), McTominay (3 days), Sancho (2 days), and Wan-Bissaka (3 days) would all be making a visit to Eva Carneiro.

The stand-out result here has to be against Manchester City. What a win!

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer managed to be handed a prime opportunity to gloat by not closing out the league prior to the Champions League game with Liverpool. Hosting Manchester City with the Premier League Trophy in the building couldn’t have been more motivation to win this game, lording over the noisy neighbors and Pep Guardiola is something United fans would be more than happy to take part in. City have had a terrible season against United, in all competitions, and many seem to think Guardiola has lost his edge against a team that is more than happy to sit back and wait for an opening to attack.

City would come out in their typical 4-1-2-3 formation which would ensure Solskjaer’s dependence on a balanced approach with a change to caution close at hand, this might annoy fans and ownership but it has worked all season and Solskjaer isn’t one to tinker. The fact that United only needed a draw in this one further enforced Solskjaer’s conservative approach, nobody would care if the game ended with United hoisting a trophy. City would have an openings, with Liverpool coming up in the Champions League, as Solskjaer would use the second squad today. It looked like United might secure the trophy early when Rodri tripped Diogo Dalot in the box at 12’, but Anthony Martial managed to hit the post and the penalty went to waste. The first half went about as poorly for City as possible, only managing (3) shots and none of them on target. Adding to the frustration was Mason Greenwood scored at 45+1’, slipping between Aymeric Laporte and Raphaël Varane to head the ball just over Ederson.

The second half turned into a slow depressing slog as City started to look like they were more concerned with the pending celebration than the actual game. They managed to muster more on offense, but as the clock ticked down their body language said they would have walked off the field at 85’ if they could. The whistle blew and the red and black confetti exploded onto to the field as United were presented the league trophy. Guardiola and all of his players and staff were off the field and down the tunnel as quickly as possible.



Prior to kickoff the Champions League final would be an all-English affair as Arsenal managed to flip a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid with a 3-0 win, with Liverpool looking to win their third in a row it seems like England is back on top of Europe. Solskjaer would have more than just the pride of England on his mind, even with the league in hand the media has not given up on the idea that winning the Champions League is the only thing that will save his job. Ma Huateng has made it clear that the Champions League is his priority, but they have been suspiciously silent on Solskjaer’s job security even after winning the league.

After this one was over Solskjaer would certainly need to start thinking about his position, once again Jürgen Klopp would find a way to dash his hopes and somehow out-coach him. Klopp would go with a 4-1-2-3, the kryptonite to Solskjaer’s 4-2-3-1, and just 14’ in the visitors would score on a corner to go up 1-0. Victor Lindelöf would return the favor on a corner at 35’ and send both teams into the half tied. United saw more of the ball despite sitting back, and managed more shots, but Liverpool looked rather comfortable.

The second half definitely turned in a “wheels coming off” scenario as Liverpool appeared to be falling apart at the seams. Sadio Mané and Alex Telles were already looking tired after playing through minor injuries, many were surprised that both came out for the second half, but Telles rewarded Klopp’s faith just a few minutes after coming back out. At 49’ Telles would just about literally run an end-around, looping around the left side of United’s defense and firing a shot that hit David De Gea square in the chest. It was just his luck that the ball did indeed hit De Gea’s chest and bounced into the side netting to put them up 2-1. Dries Mertens would make it 3-1 on a heart breaking goal at 66’, taking a cross from Naby Keïta on the right approaching the endline he would head it back across the goal, over three United defenders, and into the right side netting. De Gea took a half step to his right and missed deflecting the shot by a hair, now down 3-1 it seemed like United couldn’t catch a break. Kai Havertz went off injured while Mané and Telles continued to look exhausted, but United still couldn’t take advantage. Marcus Rashford would score at 90’, but allowing (3) away goals meant that United were doomed.



Solskjaer had to stand around while Liverpool celebrated a ticket to the Champions League final. The second time all season United had allowed more than (2) goals and it cost them dearly. United would need to focus on finishing out the league and getting revenge on Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup final.



Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After seeming to have Klopp’s number last year and at the beginning of the season the Liverpool manager has flipped the script on Solskjaer. United finished the league with a 1-0 win over Everton, a 0-0 draw with Wolves, and a 4-1 win over Southampton that featured a Fernandes hat trick, but the critics were absolutely scathing for losing to Liverpool in the Champions League.

Once again Klopp had the Devil’s own luck, and exhausted side managed to turn back United easily on their way to a Double. Loud taunts of “another 30 more..” by United fans seemed rather hollow as Solskjaer’s side just couldn’t really get much going. Liverpool’s aggression created a number of chances for counter attacks, but most of them ended with harmless shots sent right at Alisson. Solskjaer playing his second squad, allowing them to finish what they started, probably put this game in Klopp’s hands even before kick off. When Harry Kane scored at 29’, from well above the arc, it seemed like the game was over. Dejan Lovren hammered the nail in United’s coffin at 87’ on a cheeky set piece, heading the ball into the far side netting after being left unmarked near the penalty spot with the ball being spotted roughly parallel to him outside the box. United’s staff and players could only sit with their arms crossed as the clocked ticked down, quickly making their way out of Wembley to avoid the shower of red confetti that could have been for them if they hadn't fallen apart. A bitter end to a season that should have been pure joy after extending their own league title record.