It’s definitely a slim possibility, but a slim possibility is still a possibility. The late 2-0 victory over Leeds United has further secured Man United and its’ 3rd place standings, keeping them on pace with title favorites Man City and Arsenal.
Now, I’m not saying that Man United will win the title this season, but I’m also not going to count them out completely.
It’s obviously a longshot for a team that was sitting in 20th place with just 3 points and 1 win after the first three games of the season to go on and win the English Premier League title, but there have been crazier title winners in years past.
I mean, nobody thought that Leicester City was going to survive the relegation fight in the 2015/16 season, let alone going on to have the single-most impressive title winning seasons in English top-flight history.
Moreover, nobody predicted Arsenal jumping out of the gate and sitting atop the Premier League in mid-February after years of decay, poor on field performances, and a humiliating Top-4 collapse in the last few games of the season last year. So, as you can see, these things can happen.
And Manchester United has the talent both on and off the field to go on a title-winning run.
Manager Erik ten Hag has been a true revolutionary ever since he stepped foot in Old Trafford as he’s gotten this Man United side, which notoriously caused the club to suffer through its worst ever Premier League campaign (in terms of points accumulated), playing the best football any United team has produced since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 (so, in a decade).
Players like Marcus Rashford, who again scored today as he headed home the game-winning goal in the 80th minute, David de Gea, Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes, Raphael Varane, Fred, Scott Mctominay, Jaden Sancho, Diogo Dalot, etc. have all had phenomenal years this season, with Rashford, Shaw, and Fred all having career years in their, respective, positions.
If you look back to where these players were just a year ago under Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick, with almost all of these guys either benched, out-of-form, or both, this turnaround can only be attributed to one thing: ERIK TEN HAG!
Marcus Rashford is truly the best example for the positive changes ten Had has brought as the Englishmen is right now on 20 goals in all competitions this season, which is just one below his career-high tally of 21. Remember, he scored just 4 GOALS last year.
The brilliant, bold, brave, and bald Dutchman has gotten this team playing a bland of possession-based, heavy-midfield pressing football that wears down the opposition whenever they are defending, and then blitzes them to death when they are in possession. It’s a perfect blend of the Klopp’s Liverpool (not this year) and Pep’s Man City…though it still has a way to go before it can dominate England and Europe as these teams have been able to do.
Anyways, this game against Leeds showcased how effective ten Hag’s style of football can be as even though backup players like Lord Harry Maguire and Tyrell Malacia (who’s more of a rotation player, but you get the idea) were filling in for some the usual starters (ex: Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane), United was still able to dominate possession with 67% of the ball, they nearly tripled the number of passes Leeds had with 544 passes to 252, United had a 14% better passing accuracy (81% vs. 67%), and they were able to rack up 11 shots.
However, I do have to point out that Leeds played fantastic against their archrivals as the high-motor offensive talent of Jack Harrison, Wilfried Gnoto, Patrick Bamford, and Crysencio Summerville were able to get behind United’s defense and rack up shot after shot on David de Gea’s goal.
It really is a good thing de Gea is playing lights out in net this season (this clean sheet for him now equals Peter Schmeichel’s Man United all-time record of 174) or else Leeds should have been able to go ahead early with some of the chances they generated.
Nevertheless, United’s strength was just too much for the Whites in the end as Alejandro Garnacho, who is continuing to prove he’s a rising superstar, scored United’s 2nd in the 85th minute, Rashford scored an offside goal in the 90th minute, and then Wout Weghorst scored another offside goal in the 93rd minute. So, the two-goal difference in favor of United really was the fair result for the chances United created that did and didn’t count.
And, for those who didn’t see the league table after the game, United actually snuck up to 2nd place on 46 points for a few hours before Man City easily dispatched Aston Villa later in the day.
So, like I said, there’s a chance United pulls off an incredible title upset if all the cards go their way…which I get is a massive if.
But if the Premier League’s saying there’s a chance…
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