The shock of Manchester United finally scoring in the first half at Old Trafford for the first time since September on Wednesday wasn’t just immediately undercut by their second soon after, but because they fully deserved it too.
Manchester United genuinely beat Stoke City at a canter. By half-time they could have even been 4-0 up, and watching United confirm victory in the 53rd minute before then spending the next 37 gently keeping Stoke at bay harked back to the days of a certain knighted Scot.
Far from being the norm, this was an anomaly. And if Manchester United are to have any chance of overtaking either Arsenal or Tottenham Hotspur (let’s face it Manchester City won’t drop out of the top 4 and Leicester City are on a one team mission to rejuvenate the magic of football with their majestic consistency) it’s plainly obvious that they now need to go on a winning run to really increase the pressure on the teams above.
As a stark reminder of Manchester United’s topsy-turvy campaign, infuriatingly, West Ham United are still just a point behind too.
Far from a tinkerer, Van Gaal has previously proven that he is happy to stick with a team in order to give them time, and he’s likely to do that once again now that United have scored the unprecedented amount of 6 goals in 2 games.
During Louis Van Gaal’s most successful period as Manchester United manager – between March 15 and April 12 last season when they beat Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Manchester City he only made one change to his side, with Rojo replacing Smalling at centre-back.
