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While Manchester United have gone through an evolution in the past four years since Sir Alex Ferguson left the Old Trafford dugout, the fans will be missing the good days they reigned over England.
José Mourinho has certainly lifted spirits since David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, but a rampant Manchester City stand in their way to be crowned Champions of England.
Here are five moments Manchester United fans would love to relive again:
#5 Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United (2012)
Another scintillating game that took place in Ferguson’s final season in charge at Manchester United.
It was a game that was littered with errors, but some fantastic finishing, such as Wayne Rooney’s trickled goal that wrong-footed Joe Hart, as well as Pablo Zabaleta’s outside-of-the-box drive that equalled the scoring with minutes to go.
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However, it was what happened next that was truly a sign of a great team with a great mentality under an iconic manager. It was the never-let-die attitude that spurred the Red Devils on to achieve so much greatness under Ferguson.
Manchester United were awarded with an injury time free-kick, just to the right-hand side of the box, 30 yards out. New signing van Persie stepped up to take it with his favoured left foot and looked to bend it around and over the wall into the far corner.
However, the shot got an ever so feint ricochet off Samir Nasri, who cowered away and failed to jump to block it. With that tiny deflection, the ball found itself out of reach from the flailing Hart and nestled into the corner of the net.
That free-kick won United the game and set themselves up perfectly for the rest of the season. You could hear a pin-drop silence, apart from the corner in which the United fans were situated.
It was a glorious moment for United fans and one that they will be hoping can be replicated in this year’s Manchester derby.
#4 Winning the Champions League in 2008
This Champions League win came against Chelsea, played out in Moscow, Russia. It was cold, bitter and a sense of brutal rivalry between the two clubs as they battled it out to be crowned European champions.
The game was even, with 1-1 being the scoreline until the game finally succumbed to penalties to decide who would go on and lift the trophy.
Both teams started two-for-two, but Cristiano Ronaldo then missed his crucial penalty thanks to a Petr Cech save, and the hearts of Manchester United fans sunk back into their chests. Chelsea had the chance to win 5-3 on penalties, but captain John Terry slipped on the run-up and hit the post which allowed Man United’s players to find a new sense of belief.
Edwin van der Sar’s save for Nicolas Anelka’s penalty is what sealed the deal and allowed Manchester United to be crowned European champions for the third time in their history.
#3 The treble in 1999
Possibly the finest season in English football history was Manchester United’s treble-winning season in 1999.
The Premier League was won on the final match day thanks to a spectacular comeback against Tottenham Hotspur, which enabled the Red Devils to lift their sixth title in eight years.
It was the season in which Ryan Giggs' FA Cup semi-final replay goal, scored in extra time, was laid down in football history. Man United went into the final and beat Newcastle United 2-0 to earn their third double of the last decade.
At this point, Manchester United fans were already ecstatic after claiming another double, so went into the Champions League full of glee and admiration of this incredible team.
Bayern Munich might have had a 1-0 lead from the sixth minute until injury time, but thanks to Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s predatory instincts in front of goal, the Red Devils won the treble that, still to this day, has not been matched by any other English team.
#2 Premier League 2012/13
In Manchester United’s last season under Ferguson, they were once again crowned Premier League champions. Of course, throughout the season, it was not made public that the great Scotsman was going to retire at the end of the season - it just, abruptly, happened.
What was instrumental in United’s last title win was the acquisition of Arsenal’s prolific centre-forward, Robin van Persie. It was the ‘little boy’ inside him that made him move to Manchester, so he says, and it was the Dutchman that led Manchester United to triumph.
Ever since Ferguson retired and the succession of managers took place, it has been a rocky road back to the top of English, and European, football. While they are not there yet, they are in a much better place now that Mourinho is in charge.
But there is a huge sense of nostalgia when thinking back to the glory days of Ferguson, especially in his last season in charge, where the goals were flowing and the excitement brewing all year round.
In hindsight, it is easy to take things for granted, which is exactly what Manchester United fans had done with Ferguson. No one is timeless, even if they defy the odds and show for a split second that they have the potential to be.
#1 Enjoying Manchester United’s 2008 team
While this is not a single match, nor a single moment in time, it was a truly magical part of Manchester United’s history under Sir Alex Ferguson. It was, arguably, one of the greatest ever Premier League sides, with world-class players all over the pitch.
When you have a defensive partnership as strong as Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidi?, you know that not many players are getting past those two, nor are you going to leak a lot of goals. Possibly the greatest centre-back pairing at the time, those two central defenders were pivotal in helping United maintain defensive stability and playing out from the back.
Moving through the team, you had a peak Paul Scholes, as well as an up-and-coming Michael Carrick. Park Ji-sung was anywhere and everywhere, who quickly was the subject of a chant to suggest the South Korean player had ‘three lungs’ because of his incredible work-rate.
And then you had an attack force that was like no other. Speed, precision, confidence, skill, desire and ruthless, the Red Devils’ attack contained some of the best players in the world at the time.
Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney normally occupied the four attacking positions, with runs being made across one another. This quartet had an amazing synchronicity between them, the reason as to why Manchester United scored 118 goals in all competitions.
