Edwin Van Der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs… That was Manchester United, the authentic one, with a personal stamp, Powerful, United, where it was not difficult for anyone to die for a teammate, for the team. Once upon a time, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham as wingers knew that they would “die”, that they would bleed for their defenders so that United would win games, so that no one could humiliate their team.
And that is one of the reasons why those generations of the Red Devils are famous for unrepeatable football greats. And until they became that, can you imagine that at that time some kid dared the undisputed authority of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ever since Ten Haag broke the news that Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire will no longer be starters, and the management decided to bring the Brazilians Casemiro and Antonio, everything has turned around at United. First, they defeated their biggest rival Liverpool, then achieved minimal victories without conceding a goal against Southampton and Leicester, and they also defeated the until then unbeatable Arsenal – 3:1.
Besides the likes of Antonio and Marcus Rashford, it seems that Cristiano Ronaldo has nothing more to look for in the starting line-up of the Red Devils. Jadon Sancho is also showing signs of recovery, playmakers Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes, and stoppers Varan and Lisandro Martinez are getting along better. The handwriting of Erik Ten Haag is also visible! Of course, there is still a long way to go before it becomes “the” Manchester United again, but it seems that who knows what kind of reconstruction is producing the desired results.
Then the derby of Manchester was on schedule and everything that is bad and wrong at United was seen in that one match. Manchester United seems to have hit a “new bottom”. One got the impression that Erik ten Haag had stacked the dice, and then Pep Guardiola taught him a lesson with his punitive expedition.
It’s nice that Antoni has shown since his arrival at Old Trafford that he is skilled with the ball, and that he knows tricks. It’s also nice that he scored a spectacular goal at the Etihad, but it didn’t change the impression that United was humiliated in the city derby.
The captain’s armband until recently, while he was playing, was worn by one Harry Maguire, the subject of media and public ridicule. United has not had greatness and authority for a long time. There is no one to take the hands of Antonio and Sancho, still, quasi-stars paid a total of 180,000,000 euros, to take them to the meadow and show them that juggling the ball and tricks are not real football.
Christian Eriksen is finally “the old man”, and the same can be said for Marcus Rashford, who won the MVP title in the derby clash with Arsenal. It is very important that Erik ten Haag can get the maximum from each individual, so that the team can function well as a whole.