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A boisterous 2-1 victory over Real Madrid has brought in much-needed respite to the men in Red of Manchester.
Scintillating Sanchez, haring Herrera and formidable Fred defibrillated the preseason form from the throes of premature flat-lining. It seemed like another pernicious preseason in the perpetual post-Fergie rebuild. A far cry from the tipping point that was supposed to revive the past glories and restore the old order. Jose Mourinho traditionally gets to the hallowed perch in his second season. But the stint with the most celebrated team in England, arguably the most venerated club across the globe, is still light years away from the summit as he heralds his third year at the helm. Historically, it is the third season where Mourinho’s boat seems to rock.
Trending
With Manchester United winless (in regulation time) in the first four matches of their preparatory tour on US soil, the spirits seem to be tenuous and riddled with nerves. With a threadbare squad deprived of its World Cup stalwarts and with an admixture of green-horn tyros and sluggish veterans, all does not portend well in the United camp. The win against European champions seems to have put the wind back in United’s sails.
A pride-gashing 4-1 reversal to Liverpool in the Intercontinental Champions Cup had fluttered the dovecotes before fixtures against the champions of Europe and German juggernaut Bayern Munich (5th August). United will hope that the win provides a transmogrification of fortunes.
Jose Mourinho has cut an invidious and grouchy figure at the sidelines and in front of the microphone. He needs to deliver a major surgery of his team’s systems in order to get them up and firing come kick-off on 11th August against Leicester City.
The quagmire facing United is multi-axial and the cynics are already whetting the blade to rip their on-field exploits to shreds.
Transfer blues seem to be growing as the all so familiar clear out of the deadwood and the overhaul is still not complete. The reinforcements, 3 that have already been procured: Diogo Dalot, Lee Grant and Fred, are crying out for a marquee signing and a statement of intent like a Bale or Mbappé.
The United Pog-lem
Since parting from the United’s umbilicus, and showcasing his talents with Juventus, the homecoming has not been fructuous for Paul Pogba (though there has been one Europa League). However, with a resurgent summer, Pogba returns as a World Cup winner. Riding the crest of the pinnacle of success in the game, he comes to the rigors, demands and pangs of unfulfilled expectations and fickle fancies of United fandom. With Jose still flummoxed as to the best use and position of the Pog, the future remains murky. With the phantom of his international success and the yarn of his past betrayal (previous transfer), Paul Pogba remains a divisive figure, for some a darling of Old Trafford and for others, a figure fans love to hate.
Martial Dilemma: To sell or not to sell
Jose has his Hamlet moment. Anthony Martial has shown glimpses of brilliance over the years and still gets the vociferous backing of legends like Wayne Rooney. He once shared the dressing room with one Kylian Mbappé and was faster out of the traps by all accounts. But how fate has turned its cards. A tumultuous spell under Mourinho has seen Martial becoming a distant memory for France’s national team. Often frustrating on field, it’s the prolonged absence from the US tour, albeit on the occasion his son’s birth, that has infuriated Mourinho. With Tottenham on the prowl for the Frenchman, the next few weeks may yet have a few surprises for Martial and the United universe.
The Fullback conundrum
Ageing Valencia and Young have held the old but robust rear guard of the team. With inexperienced defenders in Bailly and Lindelöf and injury prone Smalling and Jones, the two veterans have provided much-needed stability at the back. However, the mileage seems to be catching up. With Valencia looking unlikely to start the campaign and Young still on holiday a slimmer and fitter Luke Shaw looks raring to correct the past mistakes. A new lease of life for the left back who has been given an extension as he enters the last year of his original contract. But impressive pre-season conditioning only goes as far and until he starts delivering some knockout performances, things smack of déjà vu. The Italian blunder in Matteo Darmian and the incompetence of Jones and Rojo as fullback cover leaves the wings as a vulnerable chink in United’s armor. Early rumors about the scalp of Danny Rose have quelled. Daley Blind has already crossed the English Channel to the tulip-fields of Amsterdam with Dalot as the only fullback that has come in to bolster the numbers.
Wingless wonders
Grunt-inspiring displays from Martial, Rashford and even Alexis Sanchez left a lot to be desired last year. Stylishly pedestrian exploits of Juan Mata on the left has earned him a contract extension which seems more like a bad cover-up of the massive cracks in the team structure and balance.
Newspaper column inches have been littered with the reckoning of Ante Rebić and Ivan Perišić but the Croatian wing wizards have yet to show their hand. Snaffling Willian from the very public snatch of Barcelona could be the coup of the summer and could yet provide the zeal to get the upcoming season up and running.
Midfield Engine without manpower or horsepower
The tedious grass-coverage by Nemaja Matic and the disastrous displays by Pogba in a two-man midfield led to the crippling of free expression at the Theatre of Dreams. An unheard academy graduate in McTominay out-shimmered the likes of Pogba, Herrera and Matic. The all-elbow, hair and feet flicking giant Marouane Fellaini has been awarded more time at Old Trafford even though he seems like an anathema to the squash buckling football that the fans long to witness.
The pipsqueaks, upstarts and the returning prodigy
The academy graduates like Tahith Chong and Axel Tuanzebe may be used extensively on the US tour, but it remains to be seen if they will have the meteoric leap into the fast lane akin to Lingard and Rashford. Pereira has looked the part as number 6 in the pre-season and also scored. However, given the historical reticence of Jose to develop youth at previous clubs may return to stymie their progress at Old Trafford.
Marooned Mourinho
The gravest worry though remains a lumpen and gnawingly exacerbated Mourinho. He has not looked happy for a long time and it seems to be showing in the team’s display. He has been embroiled in banal repartee with ex-Red Devils like Paul Scholes and been returning public verbal volleys with Juergen Klopp. Even his handling of fan favorites like Martial, Herrera and Rashford has been severely denigrated.
Continual comparisons with the arch rivals and historical nemesis Liverpool and city cousins Manchester City have raised the decibels as far criticism and censure goes. There seems to a sense of restlessness and recklessness emanating out of Old Trafford especially with regards to worsening of relations between club CEO Ed Woodward and Mourinho.
In spite of looking tired and uninspired, a lot can change over the next two weeks. A flurry of good results in the games against Madrid and Munich and a late influx of new signings like Willian, Rebić, Alderweireld or Maguire can suffuse a sense of real belief in the veins coursing through the grass at Old Trafford. A revitalized Alexis Sanchez, unscathed by any summer tournament after a long while, has already sprinkled some stardust in the scanty flourish of pre-season. With the return of re-energized Pogba and recuperated Lukaku and Lingard, the tables might still turn for the better.
Even a shred of light is potent enough to extirpate the monopoly of darkness that loomed over the team and Jose after the rollicking at the hands of Merseyside Reds. Win against Madrid can jumpstart United’s preparations before the full-throttle assault on domestic and European honors.
Come the 11th of August we will have more answers to be able to distinguish between a new dawn and a false reckoning. The incumbent fellowship of Pogbas and Lukakus will need to deliver lest the 19 point gap between the Manchester rivals and a new burgeoning threat at Anfield cast the fallen giants further adrift. Until then the Theatre slumbers behind the spotlight, either for the shade of quiet but resolute resurrection or the heavy shadow of the history, heritage and legend of Manchester United.
