This should be a fun (albeit somewhat short) trip down recent-memory lane, amid all the current doom and gloom.
Going in chronological order, starting with the David Moyes era
1. Those opening two games in the 2013-14 season. A 2-0 win against Wigan in the Community Shield, followed by a 4-1 thrashing of Swansea. Not because these were particularly memorable games, or even worthy opponents, but it fooled poor old me into thinking we wouldn't be in any immediate danger of falling down the ladder following SAF's retirement. With RVP in red-hot form, and Moyes in general deciding to keep SAF's entire title-winning squad intact (in hindsight, a terrible move), I was deluded into thinking we would at least be up there challenging for the title, simply because the players would do most of the heavy lifting themselves. How wrong I was...
2. The 3-0 comeback win against Olympiakos. In such a shitty season, a result like that really felt like it could galvanise the whole group for the remaining games.
3. THAT Evra rocket against Bayern. A left-footed missile from the least likely source, beating the world's best keeper in Manuel Neuer, and nestling into the top corner. A goal that put us ahead on the tie against the defending treble winners. All we had to do was hold them off for 30 more minutes. We would concede 30 seconds later, and the rest is history. But those 30 seconds between Evra scoring and us conceding, I legit believed we were going to shithouse our way to UCL glory that season.
4. Moyes' sacking
LVG
1. That legendary stretch of games in March-April 2015 when we turned into prime Barcelona, and beat Spurs, Liverpool (at Anfield no less) and City in successive matches. Really looked for a while like the mad Dutch bastard had us cooking something special
2. The emergence of Martial and Rashford in an otherwise sleep-inducing 2015-16 season where we struggled to score goals and produced (at least till then) our most criminal brand of zombie football.
3. The iconic LVG fall against Arsenal, when the kids - led by Rashford - permanently dented the Gunners' title hopes.
4. The Lingard volley in the cup final against Palace. First trophy in the post-SAF era, and saved some dignity in an otherwise torrid season.
Mourinho
1. The entire 2016 summer. The Special One - all his baggage withstanding - felt like the "right" fit at Old Trafford after two failed appointments. We got Zlatan in a United shirt. We got Mkhitaryan, one of the most productive players for a high-scoring Dortmund team. There was excitement around Eric Bailly. But above all else, it was the summer of #POGBACK. We had done all the groundwork, and had most bases covered. None of our rivals were really that far ahead of the rest either. It really did feel like it was only going to be a matter of time before United were well and truly back on the perch....
2. The Zlatan final. Not the most convincing performance, but Zlatan is as Zlatan does, as two goals - including a header in the 90th minute - wins us the League Cup. It aint the UCL, but hey, we got Mourinho to get us trophies, and he delivered. Sort of..
3. The Jose masterclass in the Europa final - After an overall exciting season where we finished sixth in the league - mostly due to our complete inability to finish guilt-edged chances - and won the League Cup, everything came down to one game. Beat Ajax, and we win the Europa League, and as an added bonus, qualify directly for the CL the next year. Lose, and well... it was unthinkable to lose. We weren't exactly the most convincing or dominant team in the competition, but when it comes to finals, few do it better than Jose, as we were in complete control from start to finish. Physically strong, professional, and with minimal fuss, we dispatched Ajax 2-0. Two trophies in his debut year, not a bad first season
4. The start of the 2017-18 season, or "Fourchester United" as were briefly called. We strengthened further with the additions of Lukaku (proven goalscorer) and Matic (he would "unlock Pogba"), and began the campaign on fire. We weren't just beating teams, we were decimating them. Lukaku was scoring for fun, Miki was racking up the assists, and Pogba was finally being the Pogba we had all wanted him to be. We won four of our first five games by 4-0 margins, and for the first time in five years, you really felt like we might go the whole distance....
5. The 3-2 comeback against City. A pretty insignificant result in the grand scheme of things, considering City would anyway win the title, and we were anyway destined for second, but oh man, how fecking good it felt to spoil Pep's pre-planned party at the Etihad! Added bonus: the City tears in their dressing room after the match
Ole
1. Pretty much every single second of every single thing surrounding the club from December 2018 to March 2019, culminating in that magical (albeit, costly for the future) win in Paris. Ole at the wheel. The vibes were great, and they were just never the same again
2. The arrival of Bruno, leading into our red-hot form during Project Restart in the midst of Covid. In an otherwise depressing period due to the pandemic and lockdowns, watching United evolve into such a free-scoring unit was such a mental health boost! And yes, the sample size was small, but I still maintain we were one of the two or three best teams in the world during that specific stretch; we won four consecutive games by three-goal margins, with Martial, Rashford and Greenwood (sigh) all in the forms of their lives. Helped fire us to third place in the league, when a top-four finish had seemed impossible only months earlier.
3. The 3-1 comeback win against Spurs in 2020-21. While we did have other highlights that season - beating City, Liverpool in the FA Cup, the Europa League run, etc - this was the result that was the most satisfying. In a hard-fought match where we wrongfully had a goal disallowed and Spurs lucked their way ahead, we showed great grit and spirit to win, thanks to second-half goals from Fred, Cavani and Greenwood.
4. The Summer of 2021. We had just finished second in the league, scored a whole bunch of goals, had some promising young players, and on top of that we added World Cup winner Raphael Varane, young sensation Jadon Sancho, and the GOAT goalscorer in one Cristiano Ronaldo. Surely we would win the treble that season...
ETH
1. The wins against Arsenal and Liverpool early in the season, after we had begun with two straight losses to Brighton and Brentford. Really showed the team's mental strength, and ETH appeared to be the "right fix". Also helped we got rid of the Ronaldo toxicity, and had Rashford in the form of his life
2. The stretch of games just after the World Cup in December 2022, till the League Cup final in February 2023. These included famous wins against City, Barcelona, and of course, the League Cup final against Newcastle. The best part - we were fully deserving of all those wins, too.
3. The 2024 FA Cup run. It may have been the club's single worst season in decades, but when you beat both Liverpool and City on your way to a trophy (with the academy kids playing a crucial part), it does help ease the pain. A lot.
(Was tempted to include ETH's sacking as well as one of the "positives", but in typical post-SAF United, we made a mess of that too, keeping him on for way too long, and sacking him at the worst possible time for the next guy to come in).
