This was another season that confirmed how far away from the top teams in the country Man United are in pretty much every department. It all started going wrong in the summer when Mourinho was not given enough funds to strengthen what was obviously an average squad. Mourinho’s behaviour and comments hardly helped; in his defence he was honest and right with everything he said, which quickly created a toxic atmosphere in the dressing room.
Playing without much desire and with all sorts of problems on the road United looked poor from early on. The tone for things to come was set in the first 7 rounds when 3 defeats were suffered, away embarrassments against Brighton and West Ham + heavy 0:3 home bashing vs. Tottenham.
Things didn’t improve much as the season progressed and come December Mourinho’s reign ended. Solskajer took charge to enjoy a long honeymoon and 11-game winning streak, but this came mainly due to the easy schedule, and once the serious tests started coming up and Solskajer was inexplicably appointed as permanent boss, United crumbled again.
Just 2 points were earned in last 5 league matches to officially lose the battle for a top 4 finish, and also under Solskajer the team went on its longest run without a clean sheet for nearly 40 years!
The only player able to change the fortunes of the team when he played well was Pogba and that’s why he was the only United player to make the Premier League’s team of the season.
With all sorts of issues on and off the pitch, the chances of United challenging for serious trophies in the next few seasons are remote.
