The discovery of Penicillin is popularly described as a happy accident, a serendipitous quirk of fate that led to the creation of one of history’s most important drugs. Indulge the parallel for a moment, and the same could be said for Marcus Rashford’s rise. Drafted in as a late starter against Midtjylland last season, the young striker made his mark immediately and has proved to be one of the few bright spots in a lackluster campaign.
In the previous Data Rant column, midfield was identified as key area for Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. It is not simply about strengthening a weak area in United’s squad – the analysis suggest that improving the Reds’ midfield will improve the team’s goalscoring too.
It is often beneficial to look at the Premier League as a whole to see where Manchester United stands and to identify any general trends. Last season was an unmitigated disaster, even with the FA Cup victory, and lessons should be learned to avoid the further ‘Liverpoolization’ of the club. In earlier Data Rant columns, statistical theory was not strictly observed – emphasizing intuition and broad trends above technicalities. However, with more advanced techniques we can get a more precise picture.
The Euros, together with the Copa Centenario, have provided the football world with a welcome distraction from another summer of transfer speculation. Things in the club game keep on moving though – despite the highlights, lowlights and simply bizarre moments of international tournaments. How on earth does it hail in France in the middle of June?
Euro 2016 has brought, in no particular order of importance, spectacular goals, a minor upset, violence on the streets, fireworks in the stands, and eight United players in action. While most of the games have been tight in the opening round of fixtures, there have already been some decisive performances from Reds in France… and a couple of ex-United stars that have caught the eye.
There are a few Reds with a very busy summer ahead. Ten Manchester United players will head to the European Championships in France, with varying roles and aspirations for the month of international fun ahead. While Memphis Depay, Daley Blind, and Michael Carrick get the summer off, their teammates jet off to France in search of glory. Rant dives into what we can expect…
… and breathe! It ended with Manchester United missing out on fourth place in the Premier League for the second time in three seasons, an FA Cup win, Louis van Gaal’s inevitable dismissal, and José Mourinho’s much-discussed arrival. There was drama at the last to follow an otherwise immensely forgettable season. Van Gaal’s second campaign in charge should have brought real progress. It didn’t, and anything less was always going to be viewed as failure after another summer of significant spending. After all, when Rant wrote that “few at Old Trafford should celebrate becoming England’s fourth best side” this time last year, it reflected an obvious reality – failure is just not United.
Old Trafford will bounce to the chant of “José Mourinho” for the next three seasons, with the Portuguese finally taking control of the club he has always wanted to manage. Mourinho might not host his first press conference until July, but the 53-year-old’s work is underway within a week of his managerial announcement. And there is plenty of work to do.