The win we've waited for since August 16th finally arrived on September 14th. It's been close to a month of agony, but Manchester United finally kickstarted their season yesterday with that 4-0 win against QPR.
Now QPR are not the toughest or trickiest opposition the EPL has to offer, but neither are Burnley and we know all too well how that worked out for us. More than anything, it was fantstic that it was once again enjoyable to watch Manchester United. It's not that the world does not know his worth, but Angel Di Maria justified why Cristiano Ronaldo was angered by his sale from Real Madrid. If he keeps at that level of performance weekly, and there's quite a shout that he will, then £60m will start to look like a bargain.
Perhaps more important on the day was that a few new signings got a feel of the positions they shall play for the club. At left back, Marcos Rojo looks like he's not about to allow Luke Shaw to make the position his own. It's a great headache for the manager especially considering how bleak it looked when Evra left. At the other end, Rafael keeps us wondering how good he could get if he could stay fit. His problems are no different to Phil Jones whose injury record could cost him a permanent spot in the side.
Defensively though, the biggest cheer goes to the sitting midfielder Daley Blind who looked everything we've been missing in that department. Admittedly, he's short on pace and is not the world's best in that position, but you have to admire his ability to dictate the game from deep and rack up a staggering percentage of pass completition that would befit any player in world football in that position. He was such a perfect complement to the excellent Ander Herrera that the pair covered the largest distance on the pitch. It will be great watching how that relationship develops.
The attack seemed to function more coherently in a diamond 4-4-2, allowing just about every one a turn to be the focal point of attack. The talk though is that Juan Mata could still be the biggest casualty of Falcao's arrival but with 9 goals in 11 matches, it remains difficult for the manager to overlook him.
Still a great problem to have.
A first win takes off the pressure for only a while, but the expectation keeps building. Confidence is still at a minimum among most of the players but a run of good results will remedy that. It means Sunday's trip to Leicester City is an opportunity for the players to get more into the season's stride. What is for certain though is that it will be a trickier tie, but that will not make the scrutiny in the event of a slip up any less.
An expensively assembled line-up, moreso at Manchester United--the envy of all--means that there shall be no word spared in the English language to rip into a poor display. It's something we've got to live up to now. That many were quick to water down the victory, tells you something about how desperate a few felllows in the media are for United to drop even a point from hereon, so that they can open those already bookmarked articles for an "I told you so" vent.
Well, they shall be fine. In the meantime, let's enjoy the next 6 days or so looking back at what was a satisfying result yesterday.
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