Remember the mayhem and chaos of 2013-14? We went from Champions of England for a record 20th time to seventh, no Champions League, no cup finals and we became one of those clubs...you know the type I mean, the type that goes through managers quicker than Suarez goes through human flesh. The football last season was dire matched only by the results, humiliations to rivals and records falling here and there as clubs finally turned us over for the first time in decades. Moyes was sacked and we were put out of our misery, don't get me wrong I wish him well and he appears a nice guy but this job was far too big for him, so Giggs took over for the last few games and we improved but only slightly.
Van Gaal, international manager, Champions League winning manager, titles in Holland, Spain and Germany...previously in charge of footballing institutions such as Barca and Bayern, add to the mix a large war chest and things looked interesting. A pre-season where we beat Inter, Real Madrid, Valencia, Liverpool and Roma just more than added a little excitement to our anticipation. Falcao, Di Maria, Herrera signing...remember wiping the drool? The media rubbing their hands declaring our front line as one of the best in Europe...ah the innocence.
So with all our wide eyed innocence who would have thought that at the end of the season we would have won just one more match and scored less goals than last season? Would you have pinched yourself at the stat that we have had less shots and crosses than we did under Moyes/Giggs? Six points better off this season does cover up the cracks I am about to expose but for £150million and a far more experienced manager I would have hoped for more than that. We have had a crippling injury list at times that leaves a huge question mark over what the hell is happening in training and with our medical staff? Players with no real history of being injury prone now spend more time in a tracksuit during the game than someone in the Anfield Kop.
But despite some really dull performances with no real penetrative attacking flair (our whole FA cup campaign was littered with it), we saw some really amazing and outstanding performances such as the dominating of the skip rats in their own backyard, Spurs and City at home. While those were no fluke they quickly deteriorated when Chelsea parked the bus and played us to perfection to gain the win, that was copied by West Brom and Everton, which almost cost us that fourth place finish. Hopefully Depay will bring some much needed pace back into the attack because far too often we allow teams ample time to organise two lines of four in defence which we found especially hard to break down.
Van Gaal, international manager, Champions League winning manager, titles in Holland, Spain and Germany...previously in charge of footballing institutions such as Barca and Bayern, add to the mix a large war chest and things looked interesting. A pre-season where we beat Inter, Real Madrid, Valencia, Liverpool and Roma just more than added a little excitement to our anticipation. Falcao, Di Maria, Herrera signing...remember wiping the drool? The media rubbing their hands declaring our front line as one of the best in Europe...ah the innocence.
So with all our wide eyed innocence who would have thought that at the end of the season we would have won just one more match and scored less goals than last season? Would you have pinched yourself at the stat that we have had less shots and crosses than we did under Moyes/Giggs? Six points better off this season does cover up the cracks I am about to expose but for £150million and a far more experienced manager I would have hoped for more than that. We have had a crippling injury list at times that leaves a huge question mark over what the hell is happening in training and with our medical staff? Players with no real history of being injury prone now spend more time in a tracksuit during the game than someone in the Anfield Kop.
But despite some really dull performances with no real penetrative attacking flair (our whole FA cup campaign was littered with it), we saw some really amazing and outstanding performances such as the dominating of the skip rats in their own backyard, Spurs and City at home. While those were no fluke they quickly deteriorated when Chelsea parked the bus and played us to perfection to gain the win, that was copied by West Brom and Everton, which almost cost us that fourth place finish. Hopefully Depay will bring some much needed pace back into the attack because far too often we allow teams ample time to organise two lines of four in defence which we found especially hard to break down.
What about the positives? Well some of the ''dead wood'' was cut, Giggs was retired by Van Gaal which if I am honest should have happened a few seasons ago but Fergie was too sentimental and Moyes lacked the balls. Ashley Young seems so reinvigorated that he is like a new player and seems to have better judgement on when not to run down blind alleys with the ball, Mata and Herrera look like they could form a beautiful relationship on the pitch, Rojo looks like he could be quite a player if we can keep him fit. Fellani at times seems like the player of old and chipped in with some important goals, and the youngsters McNair, Wilson and Pereira have handled themselves well. Results against the other big teams have dramatically improved but sadly at the expense of the lesser teams and we did go on a long unbeaten run...though again that did mask some awful performances. THAT goal by Mata against Liverpool was something that would be replayed countless times, four against City after going behind and the other victory against the Bin Dippers at home when we won 3-0 despite them being the better team. Hull and QPR at home were impressive but hey, it was Hull and QPR at home so that says it all.
The pre-season signings were hit and miss. Herrera, Blind, Rojo and to an extent Valdes impressed while Falcao was a gamble that didn't work...a gamble well worth trying to be fair, and the jury is still out on Shaw due to his stop/start season of injury woe. Sadly a mixture of things took Di Maria from potential Stretford End idol to someone who some fans now wonder who we can swap for at PSG. The announcement of Depay's signing (while forced) was something that got us very excited for next season especially as he is a promising young talent that Liverpool thought they would get as well. Wellbeck was sold which brought distraught from some but as his goal per game ratio is still 1-in-4 at his new club then I think Van Gaal proved himself right on that call. Anderson was finally released not just from his seat but from the club along with others who maybe were not United quality sadly - Fletcher, Cleverley and most certainly Bebe. Evans received a ban for playing his part in 'spitgate' and despite his innocence if it had been roles reversed and a scouser doing that we would be demanding blood to go with the saliva, stupid move at a time when we desperately were short at the back. Di Maria's red card ''assault'' on the refs shirt in the cup against Arsenal was funny as hell considering the same ref has been virtually head butted by Joe Hart and knocked on his arse by Fabregas and did sweet FA (pardon the pun)...yeah we get away with murder don't we? The league cup humiliation away to MK Dons needs no mentioning and we had quite an uninspired run in the FA cup despite some easy fixtures up to the quarter final.
So fourth when we were in a position to clinch third, though a number of teams took a step backwards from last season so who knows if we punched above our weight? When all is said and done Van Gaal was instructed to get third so we could avoid the Champions league qualifier, we didn't and we won't know if this season has been a success or real failure until the end of August when we either qualify for the group stages or fall flat on our backsides and try to pick ourselves up for another long season. With another huge war chest at his disposal one thing is for sure, if we don't have a serious title push then we could be seeing Guardiola or Ancelotti roll up outside Old Trafford as the newest man in charge.