For Louis van Gaal, and his band of half-inflated footballers, the next seven days will be the most important week in their stifled yawn of a season.
Too many false dawns, too many stale performances, too many downbeat supporters wandering aimlessly away from the Theatre of Dreams. This season, as much as it feels like a bedraggled crawl to the finish line, isn’t over yet. Something can still be salvaged, the question is: what, and from where?
The three matches to be played over the next seven days are stretched over two cup competitions. Tomorrow, Manchester United meet their hated rivals Liverpool in the Europa League. Then, on the 14th, they face vivacious West Ham in the FA Cup quarter final. Then, four days later, Liverpool again, in the return leg of their European tie. A hat-trick of matches so filled with potential, both for glory and calamity, it’s nearly unbearable.
Van Gaal has conceded publicly that his team’s chances of making the top four are slim, at best. United are desperate to regain a seat at the Champions League banquet, but their form this season hardly befits such an ambition. West Ham sit two points above them on the table in fifth, and with Leicester City, Tottenham and Manchester City still to play, the Dutchman is right to be pessimistic. But wait… what’s that, glinting in the distance? A half-chance, a sharp intake of cold breath, something dangling barely beyond their trembling fingers; a Champions League place.
The winner of this season’s Europa League will secure a Champions League place for the 16/17 season. This United team have put together brief stints of coherent, effective football this season, and a cup run might just be the way to turn this tendency – which has proven a damaging weakness in the league – into a strength. Sporadically superlative performances can jostle United – assuming they can time it well – back into Europe’s premier competition. The two favourites to win the Europa League are playing each other in this upcoming Round of 16; Spurs and Borussia Dortmund, both second in their domestic leagues, play tomorrow too. The rest of the chasing pack – Lazio, Valencia, Shakhtar, and Basel among them – are beatable, providing United find a way to untangle themselves in preparation.
But first, Liverpool. Well, the Reds have been as – if not more – inconsistent as the Red Devils, sitting as they do three points behind them in the league. Daniel Sturridge has played just eight games this season, but completed a full training session today, and is, apparently, raring to go against United. He hasn’t managed a run of more than three consecutive games this season and, with his team needing a very late Christian Benteke penalty to get past Crystal Palace last weekend, his form will be crucial to United’s chances in this tie. But Liverpool are a flawed team, even with Sturridge, and can certainly be bested over two legs. A good start tomorrow will perfume the air at Old Trafford with a fresh new aroma; hope.
The next challenge, a considerable one, trails just behind the first. West Ham, a dark horse if ever there was one, will meet them in the FA Cup, snorting and galloping in off the back of three straight victories. It is – even in light of the sad fact that many Premier League clubs treat this tournament as a burden – important to emphasise the joy United would bring their supportership if they won the FA Cup this season. Chelsea and Arsenal remain in the competition, with Arsenal looking to win their third FA Cup on the trot; the road to glory will not be a smooth one, but it is navigable. The Hammers are the immediate obstacle, and a jagged one, decorated with barbs, with Dimitri Payet the most threatening. The Frenchman is enjoying a raucously successful season, and will hope to add some poor United player to his list of victims.
So, with the second leg with Liverpool coming so soon after the West Ham tie, it appears that United must make a choice. Van Gaal is currently negotiating his way through a deathly spate of injuries; Rooney, Young, Jones, Schweinsteiger, Valencia, and Shaw are all hobbled. The triumph, unexpected as it was, over Arsenal late last month, was orchestrated by a team of youngsters, with Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard leading the way. The squad is stretched as it is, and will barely be able to get up for the Manchester Derby on the 21st if they aren’t heavily rotated over these three cup fixtures. Van Gaal must focus his efforts; he can survive, and then thrive, in only one of these tournaments.
A lot of this depends on the Europa League tie tomorrow. If Liverpool run riot, and open up a big lead, then United’s chances to progress can be written off. But then, what if United play send their second team out onto the Anfield pitch tomorrow, with the express intention of parking the bus and securing a 0-0 result. Then the two-legged tie remains alive, and a fresh, first-choice side can be fielded in the FA Cup. But this approach might be over-thinking it; maybe one competition should be totally dismissed. Decisions, decisions, and none of them easy or without consequence.
A difficult week begins tomorrow, and United could emerge from it heads raised and chests protruding. Van Gaal is a hugely experienced manager, capable of navigating his way through this fearful chasm, but he must pick a route and stick with it. Any hesitation, or error, could mean that this campaign is well and truly dashed to bits on the rocks.
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