The matches with Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Neville on the back and Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez at the front with Scholes being the perfect architect to work with Giggs. Those were days, ain’t it?

We have come a long way since then. Sir Alex is now in our books, and however much one might wish, we need to understand Change is the only constant, and the Chelsea man then is United’s Man now, and with Jose as the gaffer, scenarios at the Theatre Of Dreams is bound to be different, and definitely, it has. But, having seen the likes of Moyes and Van Gaal, one might take sigh of relief about the improvement in United’s style of play, the gaps still seem visible, if not crystal clear!

With his first season, “The Chosen One” did indicate he meant business with brilliant signings of Pogba, Bailly and Ibrahimović while Mkhitaryan also seemed a steal. While the team improved appreciably on paper, the chemistry still struggled to increase and we finished 6th, a disappointing out of 4 finish. But the manager’s presence did have a significant effect on the team, which enabled the devils to lift the Europa defeating Ajax. The Community Shield, the Carabao Cup and the Europa Cup do hold some importance, but a club with such a mammoth stature is bound to great expectations.

So, having lost the race for the league title to City this season, the question which now emerges is, in spite of making another expensive signing of Lukaku, why is United stagnating in its growth this season?

I believe the reason is stuck more into the roots of the way SAF built the team. With due respect to Jose, the great Chelsea team which Jose led was neatly crafted by him bringing in likes of Essien, Drogba and Carvallho, spending a gargantuan amount of £70 million about one and a half decades ago, which gives a clear indication that he uses money and paper strength to build the team, whereas SAF, in beginning years, brought in huge scouts and increased training for academy players giving rise to the famous “Class of ‘92”.

I agree these things take time, but the Jose’s “parking the bus” should only work if he has that level of defence. The likes of Smalling and Jones in Bailly’s absence simply shows the team’s vulnerability as in the Spurs’ Game or even the one with teams as Huddersfield Town. So end point, what the team needs now, is a great back line, a midfielder as creative as Pogba and proper academy players- in my opinion, McTominay seems good and Rashford is great but a lot more effort is required, and above all, a few more years with proper management, both on and off the field and “Glory, Glory Man United shall echo again in Manchester!”