In the Sir Alex Ferguson years, Manchester United fans came to think that winning, and winning well, was the norm.
It has taken four managers, seven years, and plenty of painful viewing as both bitter rivals took Premier League domination to a whole new level, but at long last, the United of old, or something close to it, is back.
Having persevered with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when it appeared he, like those to follow Ferguson before him, seemed doomed to failure, United made it 16 unbeaten with a first home five-goal haul in the Premier League in nine years on Saturday, with all three strikers scoring, masking some erroneous defending. In an empty stadium against Bournemouth, United were partying like it was 1999.
Back in that treble-winning year, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, now manager Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham all chipped in with telling goal contributions. None of them breached the 30-goal barrier, instead sharing the goalscoring burden.
United’s next Champions League winning incumbent in 2008 was built on a similar collective effort. While Cristiano Ronaldo fired a remarkable 42 goals in all competitions, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov did their part in another strikeforce with a myriad of options.
After all getting on the scoresheet against Bournemouth, United’s current forwardline surpassed the tally Liverpool’s strike triumvirate have amassed this season, with goals for Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial taking them both past 20 for the season – the first time two United strikers have reached such a mark in a single campaign since 2010-11.
Rashford, Martial and Mason Greenwood – the latter very much United’s X-Factor at the moment – like the 1999 front four before them, are also helping paper over the cracks at the back.
In ’99, United conceded 20 (!!!) more goals than second-placed Arsenal en route to the league title, but such a fact has been rendered irrelevant by just how many goals that strikeforce combined scored.
Another David de Gea mistake – beaten at his near post as Junior Stanislas opened the scoring on Saturday after Harry Maguire had been nutmegged – would at several junctures in the past seven years have grabbed the headlines, as would Eric Bailly’s nightmare five minutes in the second half.
Instead, Greenwood’s thunderbolts and Martial’s mesmerising curler won the day, saved their defence, and got fans reminiscing of those forwardlines of yesteryear.
“It doesn’t really matter who scores as long as someone is,” Rashford said after the win. “Mason’s been on fire, as has Anthony so it’s always positive if the forwards are scoring. It’s important now to push on.”
It really has been a long time coming. There have been strikers to come in and fire – Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic the most prolific of those – but for the first time since Ronaldo departed for Real Madrid in 2009, United have three forwards capable of working together, with no reliance on one man for the goals.
Greenwood is living up to the hype, Rashford is making a similar impact on the pitch as he does in parliament, while Martial has a smile on his face, and goals in his boots.
Much has been made of the Bruno Fernandes’ effect, but United’s front three, as Solskjaer and his pals did 21 years ago, can be the real catalyst for lasting change at Old Trafford.
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