There was a self-assured hunger about Manchester United on Sunday that we haven’t seen since Fergie was running tings. Even when United went behind you just felt that this was a game that they were destined to win.
In the end they were fantastic. Manchester United are most certainly back and, after two years of clunky rubbish, they are once more bewitching and spectacular to watch.
You couldn’t say that any of the starters were poor – every player stepped up to the plate and showed desire and quality in equal measure.
Many people would choose Ashley Young as their man of the match. The stats say that he assisted AND scored for the first time in a few years. Indeed, the transformation has been remarkable. It’s almost impossible to understand how a player who was being whistled by his own supporters for years is now destroying top opposition. More than anything, we feel that Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has given the lad belief. He has told Young to look forward instead of back, when he gets the ball. Attack the opponent instead of playing the safe ball back to the full back.
But, for us, there was an even more impressive performer on Sunday. Any win against top opponents has to come from a solid foundation and Phil Jones was outstanding in defence. Young’s goals would have counted for little if Manchester City’s impressive and incisive attacking hadn’t been superbly stemmed by Manchester United’s central defensive duo.
Both he and Smalling have ridden so much criticism and, while a lot of their work goes unnoticed, they largely slammed the door shut on Manchester City at the weekend.
Phil Jones is coming of age
City were a shade of their former selves but two players were excellent – Aguero and Silva are two of the best creative players in the world and the story of the game would have been much different if Jones hadn’t been in such imperious form.
Jones puts his body on the line – to his own detriment at times – but the reason that Fergie was so complementary of him was that this guy is a warrior and a natural born winner – every top team needs one and this game, more than any other, felt like a coming of age for a player who should now cement his place in Manchester United’s starting eleven.
With Smalling and Jones in this form, and the excellent Rojo in reserve, Manchester United look solid at the back once more.
Manchester United fans: Who was you man of the match?
