Manchester United’s struggles may have ended after a redeeming 3-0 victory over Stoke City at Old Trafford.
Everything clicked and there are hardly any complaints from the fans when their team wins 3-0, with goals to Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney. On the other hand, Stoke fans will be feeling fairly devastated after some proficient performances before this match.
New year, new me
Louis van Gaal’s New Year’s resolution would have been to start playing some attacking football after some unwatchable nil-all draws last year. Another resolution would have been to get Manchester United into the top four. Despite only accomplishing one of those in this match, they played exceptionally well in the attacking third. If they keep up this way of playing van Gaal could keep his job and make the fans very happy.
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The Grand Martial of the New Generation
There are a lot of doubts over whether Anthony Martial will achieve his potential. However, we should not focus all our attention on the French striker. There have been some great young players developed by Man United, such as defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. He has been at the club since he was six and grabbed an assist in the 3-0 win over Stoke City. As a seven-year-old, Jesse Lingard joined the Red Devils academy. In this match, he grabbed a goal and was one of the best players on the pitch. And don’t forget about Andreas Pereira. The Brazilian midfielder did not play a lot in this match but he could be a solid member of the first team in years to come.
Lingard goal replay https://t.co/imGUBsIWwi
— United Digest (@UTDdigest) February 2, 2016
The two Englishmen both joined the academy when Man United were in their legendary era of success, but could these youngsters create their own era? It will be very hard without a talented manager such as Sir Alex Ferguson, but with the money and the reputation the Red Devils have it shouldn’t be long before they return to greatness.
Rooney is far from ‘waned’
Even at 30 years old, Rooney is scoring again. He is far from dominating the league like he used to but fans of Man United will be satisfied in the short term. However, a season total of seven goals in 20 games is not good enough for a striker of his calibre and his salary. But is he really a striker anymore? The Englishman is currently playing really well in his role supporting Martial and Depay and despite not scoring a lot, he can still make an impact on most games.
Wayne Rooney's game by numbers:
79% pass accuracy
4 chances created
3 shots
1 goal
1 assistCaptain Fantastic. pic.twitter.com/lwlyF8uRvh
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 2, 2016
Stoke are doing the backstroke
Like a backstroke, you need to go backwards to get where you want to go. If Stoke wanted to move forward in the future, they needed a huge reality check, and that’s exactly what Man United gave to them. The Potters have some talented players but Stoke are far from favourites in every match.
Foreign stars such as Marko Arnautovic and Bojan did not put in the effort that they normally do. These players could learn from Jonathan Walters. You notice him no matter the result. If Stoke are losing, he is still working hard and chasing defenders even if the game is not going his way; similarly, Glenn Whelan is still controlling Stoke’s midfield.
However, it was not just the foreigners who were unimpressive. English defender Glen Johnson did not work hard enough and Anthony Martial ran rings around him all game. It was not all bad for Stoke in this game, but Johnson could have done better.
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