Manchester United kicked off their Premier League 2024-25 campaign with a 1-0 win over Fulham at the Craven Cottage on Saturday. The English giants picked up all three points on offer in the season’s curtain raiser thanks to a lone strike from new signing Joshua Zirkzee towards the end of the game.
United, who have gone over a decade without claiming the English top-flight title, following the departure of fabled coach Sir Alex Ferguson who clinched the prized bit of silverware before bowing out in style.
United have experienced turbulent times ever since the ‘main man’ stepped down from his spot of command and the Mancunian side have tried and failed to emulate the Scot’s legacy despite managerial changes and changes in personnel on the field.
Moving from one manager to another during the title drought has done little to settle the nerves of the millions of fans that hold the United Red close to their heart. Multiple names such as David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, and Jose Mourinho have tried to restore the club to its former glory but failed time and again.
So much so that the very role of the head coach of the red side of Manchester, once the most coveted seat in club football, has come to be dubbed as the poisoned chalice.
A change, not just on the tactical side of things but also at a management level was required and the arrival of boyhood United fan Jim Rattclife as a stakeholder at the club brought with it some excitement that changes aplenty, that United desperately needed, were not far along.
United brought Omar Berarrda, formerly plying his trade at cross-town rivals Manchester City, on board as the Chief Executive Officer, while Dan Ashworth was handed the reins as the side’s sporting director during the close season. Jason Wilcox was brought in as the technical director from Southampton.
There was a rather perplexing time ahead of the season as United were linked with multiple managerial options despite current head coach Erik Ten Hag sketching out plans to bring United back to their rightful place amongst the upper echelons of European and World club football royalty.
As disrespectful as it seems for a team to go looking for a new head coach during a manager’s tenure, the fast-moving, money-minded world of modern football has made it rather commonplace for such moves from the board looking for success.
When they couldn’t find an ideal replacement, United handed Ten Hag a contract extension to lead the club. Assuming bygones be bygones, United have backed the Dutchman with a plethora of promising signings during the summer window and could add a few more with the market still open.
Ten Hag, who has delivered two pieces of silverware, the FA Cup in the previous campaign and the EFL Cup in the season before that, hasn’t cemented his place in the minds of United fans who yearn for a PL title having been starved of domestic success for so long.
However, as evident for anyone who has followed the Dutchman’s tenure at the English side, it is not always him who is to blame for the side’s flaccid performances and the players need to be held accountable for not being able to translate the manager’s vision into reality.
Ten Hag’s United have been impressive when at full strength and devoid of the injury crisis that plagued the Mancunian side throughout last year, which seems like a ray of hope the fans could cling to.
While the United boardroom has a new air about it, the sporting branch of the storied club has also recruited judiciously adding Dutch defenders Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and forward Zirkzee to their ranks.
United also shelled out big for young French defender Leny Yoro, and is touted to be in the race to sign Evan Ferguson from Brighton.
With the season poised to be a ‘make or break’ season for the Dutch manager, the onus also falls on the players to turn up at the beck and call of the tactician to ensure United do not slide back into the venomous cycle of jumping from one manager to another at the drop of a hat.
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