Manchester United have improved but the mountain to climb has never looked higher
When the fixture computer first belched out the opening round of games it looked sufficiently poised for a couple of surprise stories; for an early crisis or two to get the Premier League up and running.
Instead, eight results entirely devoid of interest. Everyone you expected to win won.
The two results that didn’t read like a composite of 1000 supercomputer simulations of the fixture was Brentford beating Crystal Palace, a game that screams 1-1 draw, and Leicester's draw with Tottenham.
So we’ve had to search a little deeper for narrative meaning, and emerge with perhaps over-scrutiny of Manchester United’s 1-0 victory over Fulham on Friday night, a game that on another weekend might be entirely ignored but as the curtain-raiser gets our attention.
And it was, in bursts, an interesting game from a United perspective.
They wobbled for the first 15, but between then and the 70 minute mark (when Erik ten Hag’s substitutions destabilised things significantly) the hosts played with a pressing intensity entirely absent from 2023/24.
The bar was extremely low, which helps. But a lean-looking Casemiro tore around Old Trafford like a man possessed, backed up by the urgency of Leandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui and Mason Mount, who had actual, genuine energy.
Here’s one statistic - one story, of sorts - we absolutely did not see coming: Man Utd made 41 tackles and interceptions against Fulham, more than any other Premier League side across the opening weekend.
Add that together with Joshua Zirkzee’s goalscoring debut, Mazraoui looking like an instant upgrade at right-back, Matthijs de Ligt still to integrate, and Amad Diallo excelling in pre-season and all of a sudden there are signs the Ten Hag project might mean something after all.
It’s only one game, sure, but after a truly dreadful void of a 2023/24 clearly Ten Hag is now working on a style of football – hard pressing, pace on the flanks, forceful in style – that the fans and owners can at least get on board with.
But that still isn’t enough, or at least that’s the impression we are left with after such an uneventful opening weekend.
Aston Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City looked exactly as good as last season. Brighton were exceptional and without European distraction we can anticipate a stronger showing from them, while Newcastle – injuries and midweeks cleared up this year – managed to beat Southampton despite a red card for Fabian Schar.
Even Chelsea, the most doom-laden top-half side, were surprisingly coherent at Stamford Bridge and certainly didn’t play like a team in disarray.
It leaves Man Utd in a strange position on Tuesday morning, having taken one step forward only to stay more or less in the same place, because of the seven clubs who finished above them last season Chelsea are the only one who don’t look considerably stronger.
There are upgrades, or players returning from long absences, everywhere you look.
Ian Maatsen, Amadou Onana, and Jacob Ramsey combined to score Villa’s winner. Lewis Hall and Harvey Barnes were involved for Newcastle, who welcome back Sandro Tonali soon. Dominic Solanke is a big signing for Tottenham.
And so, Man Utd fans can be forgiven for waking up today feeling even further away from revival than they did last May.
Back then, in the midst of catastrophe, the size of the task was so big nobody was even thinking about it. Attention instead was on the process, on the first baby steps, and as such the gulf to the top was fuzzy and out of focus.
It did not hit quite as hard as it might do today. Because today, with things beginning to look up as Dan Ashworth and a whole new team of suits head up the start of the INEOS project, the true scale of the situation will start to sink in.
To put it another way, Man Utd were clinging to the side of the mountain last year, and therefore focused all their efforts on re-establishing a grip. But now back on solid ground, they are forced to gulp hard and look up the cliff face to a peak depressingly far away.
When Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool in 2010 the club were 20 years without a league title. It took five painful seasons before they hired Jurgen Klopp and the project started to come together, and ten in total before the Premier League was finally won.
There are differences between the two situations, but the biggest of all is the level of competition. Back in 2010 and even 2015 there were only a couple of clubs with deep pockets and the potential to climb into the Champions League places.
In 2024, Man Utd can have a strong summer window and still find there are six or seven clubs with a better squad.
Villa, Newcastle, and Spurs remain well ahead of United’s project and there is no reason to believe they will be caught. Arsenal, Liverpool, and Man City are lightyears ahead.
That’s the brutal lesson United learnt on a par-for-the-course opening weekend that, by producing no real story, told us Man Utd’s rebuild might not even register in the grand scheme of things.
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