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Release Date: Saturday, February 9, 2019 2:31
It was nadir post-Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United, at the moment they were lost well. They scored much worse than a 2-2 home draw with the last club in the Premier League since the Scottish retired, but it's the performance rather than the result that has been so striking.
"Some may say that Manchester United are playing wide and crossing the ball," said David Moyes after seeing his team record a record 81 Premier League centers in 90 minutes against Fulham on February 9, 2014. "C & # 39 is in the genes here. "
It took half a decade and a number of false aurora to United to recover and rediscover itself. Five years after the start of this abominable trough, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team reached the fourth season record with a comfortable win over the same opponent.
Fulham has lost 22 of his last 23 games against the Big Six, with the exception of the Old Trafford draw. It was felt that they might have been able to achieve such a memorable result on Saturday. Luciano Vietto, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andre Schurrle had four first chances between them at Craven Cottage.
Yet, United has resisted this early barrage to win against his latest victims. The visitors had a 46.7% possession in the first half but counter-attacked a laughable defense.
Ander Herrera was the conductor, playing a crucial role in both goals in the first half. The opener sees him win the ball in half of Fulham before quickly recycling him so that Anthony Martial immediately finds Paul Pogba who, in turn, finds the corner of Sergio Rico's net from an unlikely angle.
For the second match, the Spaniard teamed with Phil Jones to dispossess Mitrovic. The center-center found Martial in space in United's half-court. Eight seconds later, the Frenchman had left Fulham's defense in stunning and Rico in the mud with a fantastic race and finish.
United was at his best, fast, clever and strong. They do not need to control the ball to control a match, and they have simplified the equation that Solskjaer's predecessor wanted to complicate too much.
Maxime Merchant, who is ruthless, certainly helped United's cause by conceding the penalty in the second half which allowed the team to win a routine 3-0 victory. But Pogba and Martial do not care about the identity of the opponent; most would struggle to cope with their delicate blend of shine.
Pogba made more pbades to Martial than any other player (12) and the winger repeated the favor (9) during a perfect final warm-up for Tuesday's Champions League match with PSG. Martial's help to Pogba's first goal summed up what has become an almost telepathic link between the two most talented players in the club.
Ed Woodward had more than enough reason to feel particularly pleased watching the stands. The executive vice president has overseen United's drastic decline, but his recent sensible decisions suggest he has finally learned from his multitude of mistakes.
If the withdrawal of Mourinho as a manager was a situation in which his hand was forced, Woodward deserves immense credit for having resisted the sales of Pogba and Martial. It may have been a fear-driven call, the fear of being able to follow in the footsteps of Mohamed Salah and Kevin de Bruyne as players who realized their potential after not having the chance to be given a chance by the Portuguese. But it was still the right decisions, the ones where he found himself between trying to please his coach and the difficult place where he had the best intentions of the club that had used it.
Mourinho has never been anything but a leader who, for better or for worse, lives in the present without worrying too much about the future, and only his past, which has succeeded, has been taken into account. He was the short-term boyfriend who had moved in and wanted United to replace their couch and television and reorganize their whole living room, just to make him happy. Solskjaer is the rebound, but could become the long-term partner that embraces things as they are instead of trying to change them.
By defying Mourinho and keeping both Pogba and Martial, Woodward avoided a scenario in which United would have lost not only their manager, but also their two best players, forced to watch them succeed and grow from a distance.
United's French links help them finally remember why they were so dominant at first. The club is active again, but this time it seems sustainable.
Matt Stead
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