Here’s a look back at Manchester United’s 2014/15 season, which was the first “reset” after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, fans blissfully unaware of how many resets would follow.
For Manchester United, the 2014/15 season was widely thought of as “correcting a mistake”, the mistake being choosing David Moyes to replace Sir Alex Ferguson.
In came Louis van Gaal, a manager with an elite pedigree, on the back of a brilliant World Cup campaign with the Netherlands.
Everything was now going to be alright with Man Utd. Or was it?
- Manager – Louis van Gaal
It started with the first squad refresh post-Sir Alex, and ended in the hope that they would kick on to bigger and better things, a common theme after 2013.
Man Utd 2014/15 season outcome and top scorer
- Premier League – Fourth
- FA Cup- Sixth Round
- League Cup – Second Round
- Top scorer – Wayne Rooney
Van Gaal made Wayne Rooney his talisman, and he responded in kind, although the dreams of Man Utd fans to see a revitalised Robin van Persie under his national team manager fell flat.
2014/15 transfers in and out
Transfers in
- Ander Herrera (Athletic)
- Daley Blind (Ajax)
- Luke Shaw (Southampton)
- Marcos Rojo (Sporting)
- Victor Valdes (Free)
- Angel di Maria (Real Madrid)
Transfers out
- Alexander Buttner (Dynamo Moscow)
- Rio Ferdinand (Released)
- Patrice Evra (Juventus)
- Bebe (Benfica)
- Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund)
- Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
- Darren Fletcher (West Brom)
- Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
There were some youth signings who fans will be well aware of now, as Timothy Fosu-Mensah signed from Ajax, and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, linked to Utd years later, arriving as a fresh-faced teenager then.
Memorable matches of 2014/15
Man Utd were infamously goal-shy this season, with Rooney’s 14 goals in all competitions making him top scorer, but from a narrative perspective, there were plenty of memorable moments.
Man Utd 4-0 QPR
A blindingly successful season had ensured fans that Man Utd were back, only for the reality to hit and United to start the season winless after three games.
It prompted panic in the boardroom, and in came the MVP of the previous year’s Champions League final, Angel di Maria, in a then-club record deal.
With wind in their sails, poor QPR were at the end of Di Maria’s debut game, getting hammered 4-0, with Old Trafford’s new No. 7 scoring on his debut to kick off the scoring.
For those 90 minutes, United were back.
Leicester City 5-3 Man Utd
United were back only for 90 minutes because in the very next game, those dreams were dashed in brutal fashion.
This is the game that would change Van Gaal forever, and he would batten the hatches on the club’s attack throughout his tenure.
Di Maria was on fire, United had a half-time lead, but then disaster struck. Newly-promoted Leicester struck five as Van Gaal’s team were left in a daze.
A loss like that never happened again under him, but the excitement of wins also faded away.
MK Dons 4-0 Man Utd
Every foreign manager/player has their “Welcome to English football” game, but nobody has quite a brutal story as Van Gaal.
League One side MK Dons was taken lightly by the manager, who was used to steamrolling smaller sides with the likes of Bayern and Barcelona before in his career.
A team full of youngsters, including names like Michael Keane, Jonny Evans, Nick Powell, and more, was thoroughly thrashed in a good, old “English football” lesson.
Van Gaal lost patience after that game, and it prompted an exodus of many players who would never wear the United shirt again.
Nobody said memorable was always positive. Try forgetting this game!
Liverpool 1-2 Man Utd
It’s time to switch gears back to a positive note after two of the most chastening losses for the club in the post-Sir Alex era.
United’s obituary was being written in the league as they struggled to find form, and a fixture list that beckoned was as follows – Newcastle, Tottenham, Liverpool, Villa, Man City.
Somehow, everything clicked in the biggest run of fixtures, and it all started with “Juanfield”.
Tottenham were comprehensively beaten 3-0 after a change of formation to 4-3-3 by Van Gaal, and Juan Mata’s double ensured his place among United folklore in a 2-1 win at Anfield.
His bicycle kick remains a part of highlight reels and encapsulates the crazy swings of that season.
Man Utd 4-2 Man City
United had won five in a row (haircut, anyone?) during their toughest run of games, and up next was Man City at Old Trafford.
The United train proved to be unstoppable, as they beat City 4-2 in one of the finest performances under Van Gaal.
The Carrick-Fellaini-Herrera midfield ran the show as United hit their city rivals for four and cemented themselves as favourites for a top-four place and back in UCL.
In true United fashion, they would win only one more league game for the rest of the season (six games), but this was the season high.
Other notable moments in the 2014/15 season
Every Louis van Gaal press conference ended up being a memorable moment of its own because of the Dutchman’s eccentricities.
This was also the season where Ed Woodward realised his misdirected “Galacticos” dream, signing Radamel Falcao to follow Di Maria in a frantic deadline day.
The spine of Sir Alex Ferguson’s last great team was dismantled, as Ferdinand, Vidic, and Evra all left in the same season, leaving Wayne Rooney as the undisputed leader of the locker room.
Ultimately, this was United’s first trophyless season since 2004/05, but UCL qualification was celebrated. That drop in standards brought more such unwanted records in the later years.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/ox2KOtn