HERITAGE FIGHT
How Ole revived a side that had Jose ranting after exit in 2018
SEVILLA V MANCHESTER UTD 8PM, BT SPORT
WHEN Jose Mourinho was asked what needed to change after Manchester United’s meek Champions League exit to Sevilla in 2018, he was typically blunt: “Everything”.
As United prepare to face Sevilla for the first time since then in tomorrow’s Europa League semi-finals, Mourinho’s declaration has become a reality.
Everything, it seems, has changed at United – for the better.
The side today is unrecognisable from the one that slumped to an insipid 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, a result which ultimately proved the beginning of the end for Mourinho, right.
Although United finished second in the league that season, they lost the FA Cup final, and Mourinho took on the board over a perceived lack of support over signings, the toxic fall-out ending with his sacking that December.
His successor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has jettisoned older stars in favour of younger, hungrier, more dynamic players, with the emphasis on pace and youth, the approach having already yielded a third-placed league finish this season.
Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, Alexis Sanchez, Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku, all of whom started against Sevilla, have gone, while Chris Smalling spent the past season on loan at Roma. In have come Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Brandon Williams, Harry Maguire, Mason Greenwood, and Bruno Fernandes – plus the re-emergence of Anthony Martial – bringing a dynamism, assurance and youthful spark sorely lacking in Mourinho’s moribund team. The average age of the side who faced Sevilla was 27, while the team Solskjaer is expected to select will have an average age of 25, or even 24, if David De Gea and Fred play ahead of Sergio Romero and Nemanja Matic. Solskjaer wants to build on that youthful approach by signing 20-year-old forward Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, while others on his radar include West Ham’s Declan Rice, 21, Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, 24, and Ajax’s Donny van de Beek, 23.
Against Sevilla in March 2018, United had just three shots on target, one of which was Lukaku’s goal.
Solskjaer’s United will be more threatening tomorrow, having had 14 shots on target in the quarter-final win over Copenhagen, and 26 in total.
In the wake of the exit to Sevilla, Mourinho went on a 12-minute diatribe, highlighting United’s feeble recent record in Europe, pointing out the exception was the 2017 Europa League triumph under him.
The purpose of that rant, in which he sarcastically used the word “heritage” to describe United’s mediocre recent European record, was to claim losing to Sevilla should not have come as a shock, that fans had to accept the level the club was at. Now, there is no such pessimism or recrimination, no such ‘reality checks’ as Solskjaer continues to plot United’s route back to the top.
They are back in the Champions League and two wins away from a first trophy under Solskjaer, one that would act as a springboard for a potential title push next season.
The contrast from 2018 could not be greater. United must seize the moment tomorrow and remain on course for the trophy that could prove the key to unlocking a new era of success.