It’s easy even for a battle-weary Man United fan to get carried away after the Red Devils ended up cruising to a 3-0 victory over Southampton in this lunchtime’s Premier League clash.
Whether it proves to be another false dawn, or whether it was the green shoots of recovery remains to be seen.
On the one hand, had Andre Onana not saved Cameron Archer’s limp penalty when United were under the cosh, it could have been another embarrassing defeat for Ten Hag’s men.
But football is all about moments and that glorious save could have been the kind of sliding doors moment that goes on to define a team’s season.
Whatever the case, there were some undeniably promising elements to United’s victory today which must give fans some hope of a better future.
1. Marcus Rashford finally plays well
It wasn’t even – and didn’t have to be – vintage Rashford, but it was good Rashford. He scored a good goal and looked to be making good decisions. The body language was good and there was a sense that the England man has exorcised his demons and is ready to prove his doubters wrong.
No matter what we might think of the manager or of United’s performances last season, the fact is, had Rashford scored the 30 goals in 2023/24 that he did in 2022/23, the Red Devils would not have finished in eighth place and would probably be playing in this season’s Champions League.
If Rashford is back, to a great extent, so by definition are United.
2. World Class centre backs
Doubts over Matthijs de Ligt’s fitness, Bayern’s reasons for selling him and two abject performances for the Netherlands last week meant the jury was out on whether the Dutchman was a good buy this summer. A few minutes into today’s game, he was left for dead by Walker Peters and fans would have been forgiven for fearing the worst.
However, a sublime performance thereafter, capped by a magnificent goalline clearance and a goal, earned De Ligt a man of the match award. His performance was a level above that of any other right-sided center back in a United shirt for some time. If this was a sign of things to come, in De Ligt and Martinez, United could have finally found a world-class center back partnership. And with Leny Yoro waiting in the wings, there could be world-class backup, too.
3. No longer reliant on Casemiro
Ten Hag finally had the courage today to drop the Brazilian, who has struggled to cope with the pace of the Premier League since his first season. The fact that they coped without him, even without his natural replacement in Manuel Ugarte, suggests United have finally solved another problem which has been as much a part of their issues as Rashford’s form.
It may be premature, or even immature, to believe United’s issues are suddenly all over, but if these three promising signs become the new natural order, then fans should have confidence that the Red Devils are more than capable of a much better season than they endured last time around.
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