IT’S amazing the difference a change of tone can make. Four games played, four games won, 14 goals scored, and everything suddenly seems rosy at Manchester United. Perhaps most significant in the short term is the fact that the gap to Chelsea in fourth has been closed by five points over the holiday period: United, suddenly, are just six points off Champions League qualification and that, now, has to be the target.
In part, of course, the improvement has been down to the fixture list.
Cardiff had won four of their previous five home games when United went there, but once Marcus Rashford had given United a third-minute lead, Neil Warnock’s side were forced to chase the game, which is not a mode that suits them. Huddersfield have now lost eight in a row.
Bournemouth have lost nine of their last twelve. Newcastle have won just one of their last eight. Nobody should be getting carried away by the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has become only the second United manager, after Matt Busby, to win his first four games as manager; there will be far greater tests to come.
A list of #MUFC managers to win their first four league matches
Sir Matt Busby
Ole Gunnar SolskjaerThat's it… pic.twitter.com/7pxCGx1dn9
— Unibet (@unibet) January 3, 2019
All the underlying issues remain. Old Trafford itself has grown a little shabby, an embodiment of less visible issues. Since the Glazers took over there has been a lack of investment in scouting, recruitment and development with the result that other clubs have gained an edge in those areas. There is need of a major overhaul.
Yet equally, what has happened over the past two weeks has been remarkable. From a sense of fun has come a sense of menace. Opponents now will fear United. For a long time, opposing sides from mid-table and below would go to Old Trafford aware that there was a significant possibility of a hammering, and that would condition their play. They would often be timorous, and the result was that, in their pomp, United could often win comfortably at home without ever really extending themselves. Once that aura goes, though, once a giant is seen as a potential scalp, dips in form are exaggerated because the approach of opponents changes. It’s too early to say that United have their aura back but nobody now will go to Old Trafford with the expectation of victory.
Tactically, the most obvious change Solskjaer has made has been to push the full-backs forward far more. Perhaps that does open United up – and the one major caveat so far has been the fact that Newcastle on Wednesday was their first clean sheet – but it also gives them far greater dynamism, not just because of what Ashley Young, Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia and Diego Dalot offer themselves, but because their movement creates space for others.
And it turns out that, given freedom, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba are capable of superbly fluid interchanges. There has been a relish evident in the play of those three in particular over the past fortnight, the joy of players allowed to try things, playing with freedom and without the looming presence of Jose Mourinho hanging over them. It may be that against better opponents that does leave United’s midfield vulnerable but against opponents United can overwhelm it is producing football of an aesthetic level that United haven’t achieved arguably since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
But it’s not just that United are playing well again. When Solskjaer took over, the gap to fourth seemed insurmountable because it would require United not merely to gain 11 points on Chelsea but also eight points on Arsenal. Would they both collapse? As yet, that’s probably too strong a word, but neither Arsenal nor Chelsea look anything like as settled as they did in mid-December.
Only one other manager has won his first four league games for Manchester United, but Solskjaer is already looking to the next four pic.twitter.com/PK2HYyOlpf
— Goal (@goal) January 3, 2019
Chelsea are struggling for goals, the over-reliance on Eden Hazard clear. It may be that they sign a striker in January and kick on, but at the moment, especially with sides realising that shutting down Jorginho has a major impact on Maurizio Sarri’s side, their recent wobble could become something more serious. Arsenal’s problems, meanwhile, are at the other end, underlying defensive issues exacerbated by injuries.
It would still be a remarkable achievement were United to close that gap and take the fourth Champions League qualification slot. It would be absurd to judge Solskjaer a failure if United do not make up the ground. As United face tougher opponents, they will drop points. But in a sense, he has done his job already. There is enjoyment back at Old Trafford and decay no longer seems quite so inevitable. And what had seemed impossible now seems entirely within reach. There is a race for fourth and United are in it.
