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Another year and another football season comes to a close. In this series we will be asking fans to tell us how the 2016/17 season has gone from their perspective. Today we hear from Manchester United fan @antzhumbleent
Overall, A Hit Or A Miss?
Personally, I see this season as a hit simply because our main target at the start of the season has been reached, and that was to secure Champions League football. It’s true, we secured it through the back door but you gotta be in it to win it, and we did. The Premier League campaign wasn’t great but I never thought we were going to challenge for the title as many had predicted at the start of the season.
This was a season that was all about laying the foundations and Mourinho has done that with aplomb. We look a much better outfit in defence than under Van Gaal and Moyes. Mourinho has eradicated the silly and unnecessary mistakes; players such as Rojo, Bailly, Blind and Phil Jones have certainly raised their game, not a huge surprise given Jose’s defensive mind-set and focus.
However, it’s our attack that needs work. We’ve played some scintillating football at times but our finishing has really let us down. Our inability to kill teams off in the final third was probably the main reason we didn’t finish as high as we would have wanted, and I’m sure Mourinho will be focusing on sorting that out during the summer transfer window.
Best Moment?
Winning the Europa League. As simple as that. As a United fan, I don’t think I would have been able to cope with another season of no Champions League football. Mourinho got the job done in Stockholm. It was nice seeing us lift a major trophy, as well as the League Cup (another highlight). It’s a trophy we’ve never won before and at the end of the day, it is all about winning trophies.
Despite our disappointing league position, to see us lifting our third in two years was a joy to behold. United is a club so richly blessed with Major Honours and it was good to carry on that tradition.
Also, the signing of elite players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic (I really do hope he stays next season), Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan showed that we could compete financially with the best even without the allure of Champions League football.
Worst Moment?
Not one moment but generally our finishing. Diabolical. Frustrating. Disheartening. We had 15 draws, most of which would have been avoided with better finishing. We could have been up there fighting with the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham for the League title, however, it wasn’t to be. It is a major problem we must address in this summers window.
Player Of The Season
Ander Herrera. I was thinking Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Valencia, but then I thought about the Spanish midfielder who has been an ever-present for us this season, He was the deserved winner of the Manchester United Player of the Season award too. Herrera is a player who has been perfectly moulded into the Mourinho-type midfield destroyer. When Herrera joined the club 3 years ago, he was considered an attacking midfielder. Van Gaal couldn’t see a use for him in his starting XI, and his self-proclaimed “philosophy” suffered as a result.
He has always had a nasty streak to him and Mourinho has harnessed it brilliantly. His passion, determination and fighting spirit on the pitch has been outstanding. Add in his passing abilities and he has turned into the perfect midfielder this season. Captain of United in the making? I wouldn’t put it past him.
Most Improved Player
Marcos Rojo. Let me be honest, when Van Gaal bought him, I couldn’t see anything special. He was rash and his recklessness would get him in trouble every time he flew in for a tackle. But under Mourinho’s guidance, Rojo has dominated the in air and marshalled his opponents and their threat with an assuredness and composure that had not been evident since he joined in 2014. Again I might have picked Antonio Valencia for this gong, but Rojo has impressed me the most.
Goal Of The Season
This Goal.
Essential Signing
Definitely a prolific Striker, a goal scoring winger, a defensive midfielder and probably a centre back too. Mourinho knows what he needs to do, who am I to comment?
Dream Signing
Neymar. My favourite player in world football. I really enjoy watching this guy play the game. His ability to beat his marker with ease is a sight to behold. We have been linked with him in the past couple of transfer windows but even then it didn’t seem realistic.
Despite that I would love to see him at Old Trafford sometime in the future. I don’t think he will become a one club man and stay at Barcelona for the rest of his career, I feel the Premier League needs someone with his extravagant abilities and I’m sure he would love to test himself in England too.
United is still is the place to fulfil dreams and ambitions and Neymar will be the centre of those lofty ambitions. He hasn’t got that “main man” tag at Barcelona because of Lionel Messi, so why not become the main man at Manchester United and become the best player in the world just like Cristiano Ronaldo did? He might even win the Ballon D’or. Or I might be dreaming.
Hopes For Next Season
Well, that does depend of whether Mourinho secures his top targets this summer, that is why I feel this summer’s window could be United’s biggest yet. If we do secure those targets for next season, then how about winning the League and going deep in the Champions League? Mourinho has won the League title at every club he has been at in his managerial career and I am hugely confident he will carry on that tradition in his time at Old Trafford. We won three trophies in an otherwise average season to be fair, with a team/squad that is not fully moulded into the Mourinho image. Imagine what we could do next season!
There will be difficult obstacles in his way such as Pep Guardiola across the city at the Etihad, as well as Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Champions Chelsea all battling it out to win the Premier League next season. But you have to ‘beat the best to be the best’. Mourinho has been there, done that on many occasions in his decorated managerial career, who’s to say he can’t achieve another next season at Manchester United.
Written by Anthony Onifade
Follow Anthony on twitter @antzhumbleent
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