The beginning of the Ryan Giggs era, as short or long as it may become, was a great one for Manchester United, getting a win, a convincing one, at Old Trafford, which has been an issue for them this season. Wayne Rooney looked a bit better than the rest of the players, joining his brace to that of Juan Mata, and the England international might be one of the few to actually come out as winners at the club from this horrendous season.
No more Moyes, but the football wasn’t much different. One might say that if it wasn’t for too huge errors by the Norwich defense, Manchester United wouldn’t have been walking away with such a comfortable win. But that doesn’t matter. There was something else that has been missing: Hunger, drive and that attempt to keep on scoring instead of playing behind the ball after getting the win.
In terms of tactics? Giggs didn’t pull out a rabbit out of his hat. He had Wayne Rooney as the central forward, Danny Welbeck playing to his right while Shinji Kagawa kept leaving the left side and jammed the middle. Antonio Valencia aided Welbeck on the right, allowing the young forward to go move in a bit more central position, which helped Manchester United score its opening goal via penalty. Along with Roony, Welbeck was the most dangerous player on the pitch.
So what was it that made everything different? Just like with relegation bound clubs, it’s about the motivation, and the overall atmosphere. Manchester United walked out of the shadows that was the David Moyes era – all 10 months of it, and into a future that is unknown, but at least it’s without a manager that it turns out no one respected and aside from Alex Ferguson, no one really wanted.
When did disillusionment come? It doesn’t matter. No one will be ever able to prove that there was sabotage and ill intent in some results and performances from some of the players. But an assistant taking over for the manager he worked under always feels bad. Especially when Moyes has nothing good to say about his players and staff as he walked away from the club. Especially when on one has something good to say about him as he ventures into an unknown future with a far less illustrious job waiting for him.
This is still Manchester United with a right back problem and a Patrice Evra who is only good against weak opposition. This is still the team with Marouane Fellaini as the White elephant in the room. Juan Mata is going to do well more than likely, and at some point people will forget about his price tag. There’s still that Carrick-Cleverley midfield no one actually thinks will help bring this club to bigger and better. There’s plenty to do in the centre back region.
Ryan Giggs might get the job for good. Louis Van Gaal is the most mentioned name, but right now nothing is happening, and if the ownership and Ferguson himself are about bringing over the most Fergie like manager instead of the best one (which was obviously their mindset a year ago), then Giggs and the class of 1992, for all the scheming and backstabbing they probably did during this season, are the best choice.