Where Arsenal dramatically failed against Olympiakos in the Champions League on Tuesday night, Manchester United succeeded in turning their fortunes around in Europe’s elite competition last night with a 2-1 victory over an impressive Wolfsburg outfit at Old Trafford.
Going 1-0 down on the night as well, United’s comeback through Chris Smalling and Juan Mata’s penalty was impressive, not only because they came from behind but because they then showed resilience to see off waves after waves of second-half attacks from the German side.
Louis van Gaal will be delighted with the three points that came after the opening night loss to PSV Eindhoven of course but the Dutchman has already admitted himself that the Red Devils are “suffering” having played six games in just 18 days.
United fans will be hoping the club’s “suffering” will be over come Sunday afternoon however as van Gaal’s side travel south to take on Arsenal in one of the Premier League’s most mouth-watering fixtures.
Top of the pile right now, the Gunners will be eager to avenge their demons from Tuesday evening but as we saw last season, van Gaal grabbed his first ever away win as boss of United at Emirates Stadium last season so he’ll have fond memories of that battling 1-2 performance that in many ways, was similar to last night’s triumph over Wolfsburg/
With United having surprised a few in being top of the Premier League after seven games, we’re taking this moment to devise a list of the five most improved United players this 2015/16 campaign.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five most improved Manchester United players this 2015/16 season.
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Chris Smalling
Scoring the goal that ended up securing victory for United over Wolfsburg last night, Chris Smalling will see his winner as a bonus.
Standing at 6 ft 4 in of course, the former Fulham man is a threat from corners but it’s his sturdy work back at centre back that has really caught the eye this season.
Seemingly that much more powerful and aggressive in his play nowadays, Smalling is starting to emulate the defensive displays of Rio Ferdinand and it’s about time with the former non-league player taking quite some time to adjust to the expectations placed upon his shoulders at Old Trafford.
Putting in a man-of-the-match display last night and lets not forget on the opening day of the season against Tottenham to boot, Smalling has now seemingly left fellow project player Phil Jones behind with his performances.
He seems to have left his comedic errors in the past now and many England supporters are calling for a central defensive partnership of Smalling and Everton’s John Stones at Euro 2016 next summer.
Juan Mata
At last, Juan Mata is now finally looking like the player David Moyes forked out £37.1 million for with the Spaniard now an indispensable member of Louis van Gaal’s starting eleven.
Enduring a slow start to life at Old Trafford, it once did look as if Mata simply didn’t fit into United’s dynamic despite being a quality player but in credit to the former Chelsea man, he’s turned it all around.
Looking back on Liverpool away last term as the game in which Mata truly announced himself to the United faithful with a brace, the Spanish international has gone on from there and already boasts four strikes to his name in all competitions for the Red Devils this season.
What’s more, some pundits once claimed you’d never get the best performances out of Mata if he wasn’t playing in his favoured number 10 role but he’s dispelling that myth on the right hand side of van Gaal’s 4-2-3-1 formation right now while ensuring that nobody is missing Angel Di Maria, if any United fan was anyway!
Luke Shaw
What a massive shame it is for Luke Shaw that he’ll miss the rest of the season due to the double leg fracture he suffered away at PSV Eindhoven on gameweek one of the Champions League.
Suffering the break due to a tackle from Hector Moreno, we won’t be seeing Shaw for a long time with the player’s Euro 2016 dream now a distant prospect too.
But prior to that forgettable night in the Netherlands however, Shaw was starting to look a real threat for United down the left hand side, emulating the displays that catapulted him into the conciousness of everybody having broke through admirably from Southampton’s academy ranks.
With a lot of initial pressure on the boy of course following his huge £27 million switch from the Saints, you could tell that the pressure weighed heavily on his shoulders in the expectant surroundings of Old Trafford last term but after a full pre-season at United, there’s no doubt that he was improving while forcing himself into Roy Hodgson’s England starting eleven to boot.
Andreas Pereia
Only last week, we got a glimpse of the incredible talent that young Brazilian starlet Andreas Pereira possesses with his fine free-kick in the comfortable 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town in the Capital One Cup.
Appearing from the bench once more last night against Wolfsburg on the bigger stage of the Champions League, Pereira even managed to talk Wayne Rooney round in having another go with a free-kick from similar range but this time, the German rearguard managed to clear the ball.
But that said, Pereira’s performances so far have showed extreme confidence from a player who is still just 19-years-old and being an unused sub on multiple occasions last term to help the player adjust to the matchday experience, van Gaal is looking at him as an impact option from the bench far more readily this term.
As we know, United haven’t so much flair on the bench nowadays with their striking shortfall so Pereira could be getting used to being thrown on a lot more regularly for the rest of this campaign.
David De Gea
United fans will question whether David De Gea is a valid option for this ‘most improved’ countdown considering he was already the real deal last season as a player arguably considered the best goalkeeper in world football.
However, we’re including him simply due to the fact that he’s shown remarkable professionalism and character to still go about his daily duties fantastically despite seeing a deadline day move to Real Madrid break down at the eleventh hour.
Going on to sign a new four-year deal at Old Trafford of course, we have to praise the Spanish international and United fan favourite for not letting those Real Madrid distractions hamper his performances on the pitch.
Yes, we all know De Gea is a fantastic shot stopper but he’s seemingly getting even better by the game, boasting that kind of arrogance in one-on-one situations with strikers where he’ll remain standing until the very last minute to thwart opposition attackers in their tracks.
A fantastic goalkeeper all round.
