For Manchester United’s 659 million fans, it’s a chance to dream. They’re just one step away from an appearance in the English Football League Cup quarterfinals. It’ll take another performance like the spirited one that saw off the mighty Cobblers of Northampton Town, but things are looking up following a week that consisted of one fresh hell after another.
Apparently, after twelve seasons with the Red Devils, the bell has finally rung for Wayne Rooney.
Every once in a while, we can still catch glimpses of the old Rooney, making a difference in critical moments of a close game for United. And yet, despite those few moments of genius, Rooney is plain and simply playing badly.
His start of the Premier League season was a flash of hope for United supporters as he scored in the opening game against Bournemouth and dished assists on the two subsequent outings.
Week five of the English Premier League is now behind us, and the ‘club in crisis’ tag can already be firmly affixed to Manchester United. After starting the season with three successive victories, things have quickly come undone over a brief period of eight days for Jose Mourinho and his charges.
The 2016-17 Premier League season is still young, but we don’t want to let that little detail keep us from making a few early predictions about who might fill the shoes of Riyad Mahrez and take home the EPL Player of the Year trophy.
People can hope and cheer but, judging by the way things look at Leicester City right now, a repeat is about as far from happening as Tim Howard becoming president.
Taking that into account, we can rule out two of last year's front runners for the EPL's ultimate individual accolade, Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
The sensational Kevin De Bruyne and 19-year-old forward Kelechi Iheanacho put Manchester City up 2-0 by the 36th minute of Saturday’s Manchester derby. Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back for United in the 42nd minute, but City went on claim all three points with a 2-1 victory in the Manchester derby.
Pep Guardiola’s Premier League record with Manchester City now reads played four, won four. It’s been a dream start for Guardiola and City, doubly so now that the Spanish manager has emerged victorious from his first visit to Old Trafford.
It’s all done and dusted with Neymar penning an improved deal to keep him at Barcelona until 2021, but just imagine what could’ve been. According to Neymar’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, the 24-year-old Brazilian captain came exceptionally close to joining either Manchester United or PSG over the summer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s signing for Manchester United is the final big European stop for a man who has found success in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France. The questions surrounding his ability to succeed in the Premier League, while undoubtedly a media creation, still seem to fuel his desire to stay at the top of his game at 34 years of age.