NEW ORDER
Modern-day Man U adjusting to different horizons where a win over Leicester is a relief
HARRY MAGUIRE clenched his fists in triumph and a wave of relief swept around Old Trafford.
Manchester United had beaten his former club, the previously undefeated Leicester City who arrived here fancied by many to win this game. In doing so, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side moved above their opponents into the top four and quietened talk of an early- season crisis after three games without a win.
Had they lost, the alarm bells would have been ringing. Victory, albeit an ugly one, has put a much healthier complexion on United’s start to the season. Win, draw, defeat, draw, win. Not great, but no need to panic.
There we have it, the modernday Manchester United, adjusting to new horizons and the reality of their place in the new order.
This is where home wins over Leicester, in what one travel information board on the A56 into Old Trafford on Saturday mockingly referred to as ‘the race for 6th’, are now a cause for celebration. This is how it is going to be for the foreseeable future. When the club abandoned the quick-fix approach
of recent years and put their faith in Solskjaer to oversee a more gradual improvement, they knew it would be the case.
Asked on the eve of this game what he thought of Paul Scholes’ assessment that United’s title chances can be written off for the next two years, Solskjaer didn’t disagree. ‘Paul knows what it is to be a United player and looking at the difference between us and City and Liverpool last year, you don’t expect us to challenge straight away,’ he said.
Gary Neville was even more blunt as he called for the club to be patient with their manager.
‘Give him three to four transfer windows to clean up the trash in the dressing room, because there is trash in there,’ said Neville.
At least this summer’s transfer business has improved United — which hasn’t always been the case in recent years. New signings Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were again two of their better performers here. Maguire, in particular, will be pleased with how it went against Leicester after their fans turned on him over his £80million move to Old Trafford.
‘F**k off Maguire, we don’t need you, we’ve got Soyuncu’, they sang for all of seven minutes before Caglar Soyuncu upended Marcus Rashford, who picked himself up to score the only goal from the penalty spot.
Scott McTominay was United’s other outstanding player and one benefit of a longer- term strategy under Solskjaer (right) is that youth will get a chance.
‘ T h a t’s good because in big clubs they don’t always get opportunities because of the pressure and the results and because everyone wants to win,’ said veteran midfielder Nemanja Matic. On the balance of play, Leicester would not have been flattered at all by a draw, but they struggled to convert their possession into opportunities — James Maddison and Wilfred Ndidi squandering chances at either end of the match. Maddison has been tipped to follow Maguire to United one day and certainly looked at home on the big stage, even though he couldn’t quite provide the creative spark required this time. ‘He’s a big talent and we’re just trying to prepare him in order for him to play at the highest level for as long as he can,’ said Brendan Rodgers, the Leicester boss. ‘He’s a really humble boy with a lovely swagger and a lovely arrogance. He’s got a really strong belief in his ability and it’s not misplaced. I remember working with Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool. Sometimes he’d play inside and sometimes he’d drift off the side. James is a little bit like that.’
While United turn their attentions to the Europa League and Astana of Kazakhstan at Old Trafford on Thursday, Rodgers can focus on Tottenham on Saturday.
Something else he experienced at Liverpool was the benefit of not being involved in Europe. It helped him go agonisingly close to the title in 2014 and may do so again in the bid for a top-six finish.
‘ It does help,’ said Rodgers. ‘Having had the season at Liverpool where we weren’t and went close, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s a massive jump because we finished ninth last year. We’re going to fight, we’re going to work and we want to play like a big team. We’ll get better for days like these.’