Manchester United: Are They Better Than Last Season?

Aug 4, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney (10) celebrates his goal against Liverpool in the second half at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Manchester United has had quite the season, and obtaining a spot in the top four required for Champions League football. Sure, there’s a while to go in the campaign but fans are clamoring at the work Louis van Gaal has done. It seems that questioning whether the side is better than last season would be nonsensical. Or is it?

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A closer look determines that the tail-spinning, Moyes-led Red Devil side of last season accumulated 37 points from their first 21 fixtures. This season’s side (before the victory this past weekend)? 37 points from their first 21 fixtures. Last season’s United team scored 35 goals through those matches, while this season’s squad had one less at 34. The defense this season has been stouter, surprisingly, giving up 3 less goals and has accumulated 5% more possession per game.

The 2013-14 Red Devils won their first game of the season in a convincing 4-1 fashion against Swansea City at the Liberty. This season’s edition “experimented” with a 3 man back line, which has proven horrendous for them time and time again, and did not win a game until their 5th match. This included draws against Burnley and Sunderland, in addition to a 4-0 spanking at the hands of League One side MK Dons. Their first win finally came against the dreadful QPR, or as LvG calls them, “Queens Park Raisins”.

You wouldn’t notice the difference between the seasons was that close at all based off the rampant “Moyes Out!” movement that filled the Manchester air last year, whereas people are “giving van Gaal time to implement his system”. Of course, the numbers say one thing, but it’s worth taking a deeper look.

Manchester United is in fourth, a place they did not see in the table past August 26 last season. While a lot of this can be attributed to the fact that some other top sides have struggled this season, Manchester United should get due credit as they have fared better against those “top sides” to this point than they did all of last season. Against the teams above them in the table last season (Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur), United accumulated 6 points. Against those same teams this season, the Red Devils have racked up 11 points with games still to play against those teams.

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In addition, this season’s team has dealt with many more critical injuries than last season’s squad. The injuries have perhaps hampered United from taking more points and seeing a consistent lineup get put out week after week, whereas last season’s team just continued to struggle with a nearly fully healthy side week in and week out.

Overall, it’s obvious that this version of Manchester United is better than last season. As mentioned earlier, they retain possession and create more chances than their opponents on a consistent basis. This team certainly passes the “eye test”. They seemed to be on the back foot many times last season, where this season they are playing United football again. This could be attributed to the talent that was brought in. Juan Mata went through an entire preseason with the team, and this looks to have paid off as he is thriving much better than last season when he was transferred from Chelsea. Newcomers Radamel Falcao, Angel DiMaria, Ander Herrera, and Marcos Rojo have impacted matches in big ways when fit and avoiding the injury bug as well.

The question posed in the title would likely be answered with a “yes” from me and many, but it was brought up to raise the point that David Moyes may have gotten the short end of the stick. Following a legendary manager, such as Sir Alex Ferguson, is a no win situation. There is no way any manager was taking the squad that Moyes was given, even if they won the Premier League the previous season, and winning the title. Sure, they weren’t as competitive as people wanted, but the leash on Louis van Gaals seems to be a lot longer this season.

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The 3-5-2 formation brought about by van Gaal has been put to question; the visiting United fans even made their voices loud and clear for him to switch to a 4-4-2 this past weekend. He made the switch after going into the half deadlocked at 0 against “The Raisins (QPR)” and it resulted in a 2-0 victory. Once again, this doesn’t lead to “LvG out”, as it shouldn’t, but it makes you wonder if fans would have been this patient with Moyes.

All in all, United are better this season. It should cause for a scintillating final stretch of season to see which EPL sides get into Champions League with Southampton not going away and teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham hitting good form. Manchester United isn’t going away anytime soon and looks to be in good position to make Champions League for the 2015-16 season.

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