Over the last couple months the team once feared throughout, Manchester United, lost some of its mystique as being one of those teams you feared playing. Lackluster results against some mediocre teams and a blowout against cross-town rivals Manchester City saw the Red Devils at mid table and looking pretty ordinary.
Many were calling for David Moyes' head and rightly so, no fan of a hugely successful team wants to see them play average football and come away with average results. Talks of a dispute between star Wayne Rooney and the fact that Manchester United was failing to bring in any big name stars in the summer was troubling.
Fast forward to the present (November 28 as I write this) and Manchester United are doing pretty well for themselves, all things considered. Sitting in 6th at the moment they aren't exactly where many wanted or predicted them to be come this close to the winter break, but they have been building momentum. In their last 3 games in the Premier League they have come away with 7 points and haven't lost a game since a shock 2-1 defeat to West Brom. So what has changed since that embarrassing defeat?
When the season kicked off you could tell that not everyone was buying in to David Moyes' system, and that showed in their losses to Liverpool, Manchester City, and West Brom. They didn't have the usual attacking threat that we are accustomed to seeing from them and their biggest addition in the summer, Marouane Fellani, wasn't bringing much to the team at the time. Fast forward past that last defeat, United have looked like a completely different team: confident in attack, their defense while only keeping 4 clean sheets in the past 10 games has looked a lot better, and midfield play has gotten significantly better also.
The fixtures up next for United are tough. Their next four games are away to Spurs, home against Everton, home against Newcastle, and home to Shakthar. All of those are lose-able games, but also winnable if you are United. At this point in the season last year United was on top of the league and looking like they were unbeatable, now they look mortal but seem to have some of the magic left. Can they make a run at a top 4 spot? I say yes, they might squeak in the number 4 spot, but the competition at the top of the table is stiff and United will have to be firing on all cylinders to keep pace in the Premier League.
What do you think? Are United finding their stride? Will they finish in the top 4? Should David Moyes be fired if they fail to make it to the Champions League?
