MANCHESTER UNITED'S DESTINY AT THE END OF THE SEASON YET TO BE DECIDED
Victory over a difficult West Ham team last weekend was hardly expected to be achieved easily especially against a "Hammers" side who are currently sitting comfortably at the 11th spot in the Premier League table but currently playing like a team who are not ready to settle for a mid-table finish come end of the season.
The Hammers want a spot in Europe at least a spot in the UEFA Europa League next season next season and West Ham came into Old Trafford last weekend playing like a football club determined not to be subdued or seen as the underdogs in anyway last weekend. Manchester United did have moments were they played top-class football, connecting their passes, showing quick feet to make their way past the visitors at Old Trafford last weekend and even though at end of the day Paul Pogba stepped up and put away two precise penalties to grab a 2-1 victory for Manchester United at the end of the night, the question on peoples minds from the duration of this past Monday to this weekend might be “will Manchester United’s recent unsteady performances prevent the Red Devils from securing 4th spot in the Premier League table this season?”. Will Manchester United come up short come to the end of the season or finish strong at the end of the season?
Ole Gunner Solskjaer troops travel to Goodison Park to take on a mid-table Everton side whom, as history will attest to, has developed an act for putting one or two blemishes on Manchester United’s plans for each season. Everton during the period between the 2012 and the 2014 season was known as “the Blue thorn” on Manchester United’s feet as the Everton Ian successfully registered 3 victories out of four meetings between the two clubs which undoubtedly contributed to the dismissal of ex-Manchester United managers David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal. Retaining the notion of Manchester United’s difficulties against Everton, during the more recent meetings which has taken place between the two clubs Manchester United has failed to register a single victory in the win column against “The Toffees” ever since the year 2014 making Everton not just unbeaten against Manchester United but in truth somewhat dominant over Manchester United in the last six seasons or so.
Therefore, while Everton has always valued matches as a battle, Manchester United must value this weekends match against “The Toffees” as even more critical for Manchester United because United will not just be playing for the ever crucial and limited UEFA Champions League spot but Manchester United might also be battling to erase a recent poor record against a difficult Everton side. The recent discussion surrounding Ole Gunner Solskjaer men coming into this weekend’s encounter at Goodison Park was circulating Manchester United’s massive quarter-final clash as Manchester United faced a difficult Barcelona side with a place in this seasons UEFA Champions League Semi-Final appearance on the line.
With Manchester United unable to secure passage through to this seasons UEFA Champions League Semi-Final stage, Manchester United must now attempt to channel their attention on getting a victory against a very good Everton team under Marco Silver. With this week’s second leg quarterfinal round against Barcelona still fresh on the minds of Manchester United, the expectation might be that Ole Gunner Solskjaer might have to rest some of the star players as a result of Fatigue and to avoid injuries for the rest of the season.
Judging from the psychology Ole Gunner Solskjaer has been running Manchester United which is somewhat of a psychological level, the Manchester United manager might be expected to start tonight’s attacking line up with a combination of Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial with Romelu Lukaku likely to start off the bench. The reason why some might expect a possible exemption of Manchester United’s powerful Belgium center forward has less to do with conflict of interest and more to do with Ole Gunner Solskjaer attempting to control the level fatigue present in the team as Manchester United will most likely look to put in an extra amount of effort from now until the end of the season into securing 4th place in the Premier League table.
With high stakes still online for the rest of the season in terms of which club books a place in next seasons UEFA Champions League competition, Manchester United will most likely be in a position where there are facing a level of fatigue especially after the recent torrid battle with Barcelona in this week’s Champions League draw. With the recently concluded second leg of the Champions League quarter-final round in mind, expecting to see Manchester United line up a possibly depleted squad with players such as Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Diogo Dallot rested might not come as a disappointment to a majority of the Manchester United fans.
Players such as Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Diogo Dallot, etc. might feel a certain level of unfulfilled conviction still hanging over Manchester United players shoulders regarding the level of quality they can contribute on the field. Manchester United recently crashed out of this seasons UEFA Champions League quarter-final round where United was simply outplayed, outclassed and simply manhandled (not physically of cause) by a sublime Barcelona team. The expectation will be to see Manchester United come out in not just tonight’s’ match against Everton but every match from now until the end of season as major hurdles Manchester United must overcome to not just return to the UEFA Champion League competition but win the entire.
The task will not be easy and the Manchester United board of directors still have a couple more investments to initiate in the 2019 summer transfer window and Ole Gunner Solskjaer must improve Manchester United’s output in matches a little more from now until the end of this current season as well as into next season. But the main target this season that must be achieved by Manchester United is securing a place in the top four in the current Premier League table.
