Whisper it quietly but it feels like Manchester United are *finally* back.The Red Devils have been in scintillating form of late - well, ever since Bruno Fernandes arrived from Sporting Lisbon back in February, really - and some are even tipping them to mount a title challenge next season.Seven difficult years have passed since United last lifted the Premier League trophy.The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era always threatened to be challenging, but adjusting to life without arguably the greatest manager of all time has proved even more difficult than anyone would have predicted for the English giants.During the past seven years, United have had four different managers. Three of them have been sacked while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also come close to losing his job on a couple of occasions if reports are to be believed.But Solskjaer has silenced the doubters in recent months and United fans are now confident that they have the right man in charge.Earlier this week, Solskjaer’s side became the first team in Premier League history to win four successive matches by three goals or more.It’s all a far cry from the dismal David Moyes era, which most United fans would rather forget ever happened.
One of the lowest points of Moyes’ ill-fated tenure came on February 9, 2014.United played Fulham at home - a fixture which, nine times out of 10, would be a banker for the Red Devils.This time, however, they dropped two points despite posting some of the most absurd statistics you’re ever likely to see in a Premier League game.
United thought they’d sealed all three points when late goals from Robin van Persie and Michael Carrick cancelled out Steve Sidwell’s first-half opener, but Darren Bent’s dramatic equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time denied the hosts victory.Moyes clearly left his players with one key instruction: ‘get the ball into the box at every available opportunity’.How do we know this? Well, take a look at the stats from that match.United produced a record-breaking 81 crosses over the course of the 90 minutes - almost one cross every minute!
If you say ’81 crosses’ to any Man Utd fan, they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.
You can even watch a three-minute video featuring all 81 of United’s crosses that day, complete with the appropriate music…
Here's how Mike Phelan and Jamie Carragher reacted in the Sky Sports studio...
Rene Meulensteen, Fulham’s manager at the time who previously worked as a coach at Old Trafford, described United’s style that afternoon as “straightforward”.
Fulham defender Dan Burn, meanwhile, said he had "never headed that many balls since the Conference”.
"I'm six foot seven so it helps when dealing with those sort of balls," he added
"Manchester United still have amazing players - on another day they could have scored more often but we defended really well."
Moyes would last just two more months before he was sacked by Man Utd.
The Scot’s contract was supposed to last for six seasons but the United board reacted as soon as it became mathematically impossible for the club to secure Champions League qualification.