Two sides of an entirely different coin.
As David Moyes put out his cigarette, got out of bed, dressed and left without saying goodbye, Manchester United Football Club curled up in the foetal position wondering why any of this had happened.
Why degrade yourself like this? Why lower your standards? Why put up with such inadequacy. After spending so long becoming who you are, why let one moment of weakness fill you with a lifetime of regret?
Here we are a few months later totally transformed. The positive feeling coming out of this club isn’t like any witnessed before. Different to that of winning trophies, this is more reassurance that the club is back and that the horrifying degradation of the Moyes tenure is over.
Everything King Louis has done so far has been perfect, although United fans might be unwilling to trust again so easily after their last heartbreak; Van Gaal is giving an ever growing account that he is ‘the one’.
Monday night’s result against Liverpool was the equivalent of your new partner punching your boss you hate, stealing their car, their credit cards and emptying their Swiss bank account. More importantly it finalised a set of impressive results and put the final touches to some very positive statistics from this pre-season tour, leaving United with 16 goals scored in five games, only conceding four, the majority of which were penalties.
The last time United had statistics such as these were, well if I’m honest I have no idea when United last had a set of positive statistics. The last I can think of is that Moyes hasn’t been manager for 97 days.
Van Gaal has United playing free-flowing, positive and disciplined football that I personally haven’t seen since Ronaldo and Tevez left the club. The emphasis on ‘results over performances’ has been dropped and the team doesn’t look like they are waiting for individuals to create something, but are a well-oiled machine, adhering to a philosophy that gives them purpose and plays to all their strengths.
Ashley Young has re-established himself as a wingback. Tom Cleverly is actually beginning to look like a footballer again. Don’t get too excited, he still isn’t. Maybe soon.
All this in only 5 matches, although any Scouser or City fan will tell you they’re meaningless friendlies, it is clear that United are going to be a totally different animal this season.
Though no matter how much we shower, the memories of that one night with Moyes will always be there. Fortunately a few months on, we look fitter, happier and more successful whereas Moyes is unemployed and recently escaped assault charges for a bar fight.
William Dawson
