It has been a tumultuous year for Manchester United, and football as a whole, ranging from the European Super League fiasco and the ultimate sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, all the way to a compelling European Championship campaign in the midst of things.
The English football calendar was to be rounded off in front of a packed Old Trafford, embodying one of the stories of the year as fans returned to stadiums not only across the country, but worldwide. Although there are more Covid-related issues ongoing again at the moment, it has undoubtedly been a year of progress in that respect.
However, on a footballing side of things, there has been clear regression at United. No doubt, the decline is encapsulated perfectly by United's year-end status. This time last year, Solskjaer's men with in the midst of a title challenge as they ultimately finished short in second. Now, it's somewhat an uphill climb for the Red Devils to finish inside the top four with Ralf Rangnick at the helm on an interim basis.
You can dwell on the highs and lows, with a number of extreme examples at both ends, but the present and future is all that matters in the end. To cap the year off, United faced 18th place Burnley on Thursday night, hoping to avoid another underwhelming result against a struggling side. Victory for the hosts would mark their first run of three consecutive wins against Burnley since between 1956 and 1957.
Rangnick rung the changes, making a total of six alterations to the side that had to settle for a point against Newcastle. Raphael Varane was one to drop to the bench, rested having struggled at St James' Park following his lengthy recent injury layoff. Eric Bailly - recalled from preparations for the African Cup of Nations due to Victor Lindelof's positive Covid test - was introduced alongside Harry Maguire.
"I was thinking of playing him," Rangnick said on Varane, "but the last time that happened after this muscle injury, he was then out for another couple of weeks, so we didn’t want to make the same mistake again. That is why he was on the bench."
The fullbacks were completely altered amidst a congested period after 16 days without a match, with the reintegrated pair of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw both with points to prove. Into the midfield, Nemanja Matic was favoured to Donny van de Beek in place of Fred alongside Scott McTominay, raising more questions as to the Dutchman's future at the club.
Even though Bruno Fernandes was suspended, Van de Beek still had to settle for the bench. Given how highly his teammates frequently speak of him, it’s mystifying that the ex-Ajax midfielder still can’t get any sufficient gametime - even with the managerial change thus far. For his own good, you can’t see any other option than to leave the club. It’s a sad predicament, as he’s clearly determined to succeed at United.
It was Jadon Sancho who stepped in for Fernandes as oppose to someone of the more like-for-like ilk - in essence Van de Beek or Jesse Lingard. Mason Greenwood kept his spot, but Edinson Cavani's introduction for Marcus Rashford meant the youngster was to operate in more of a wide role.
It was the first time the Uruguayan had lined up in a pair with Cristiano Ronaldo since their masterclass against Tottenham in late October, with Rangnick saying, "He is in good shape, so for me it was logical to play him and Cristiano together."
"The other changes are due to the fact that we only played three days ago. It's all about energy and fresh legs. We only played three days ago in an away game, when we got back very late, in the middle of the night, we could not train very much."
Burnley started the brighter, something that could possibly be put down to adaptation given the number of changes made by Rangnick. It seemed very much a 4-4-2 system adopted by the United manager, a variation to his commonplace 4-2-2-2 setup.
The visitors were getting joy down the flanks in the early exchanges, both through Johann Gudmundsson on the left and the right hand side of Dwight McNeill and Matthew Lowton. A delivery from a deeper area by the former met the head of Kiwi striker Chris Wood, who completely miscued his attempt.
From a United standpoint, someone who had positively impacted the game in the opening phases was the returning Shaw at left back. At one end, he produced a block to deny McNeill from giving his side an early go-ahead. Soon after, he played a pristine curled through ball over James Tarkowski into Ronaldo's path between the two opposing centre backs.
On this occasion, despite controlling the ball effectively with his head, the striker went for placement and his shot went awry. It is a real rarity to see Ronaldo miss such opportunity, one-on-one with the goalkeeper. A collector's item.
United did keep plugging away after the very early onslaught from Sean Dyche's side, effectively riding the challenge posed by their pressure. After only eight minutes, United found themselves ahead having scored their earliest goal of the season to date, their first coming inside the opening 15 minutes.
The move commenced through Bailly carrying the ball out from the back, distributing right to Wan-Bissaka. Greenwood promptly received the ball inside a congested penalty area, seeing his initially speculative goalward effort blocked before turning to create space and cut the ball back towards the edge of the box. Ronaldo was the receptor, showing intelligence and awareness to hang back on the 18 yard line to create an open area himself. The Portuguese international's touch was heavy in attempt to set himself for a shot, in hand teeing up the oncoming McTominay to swiftly finish with precision into the bottom corner.
It was the midfielder's first goal of the season, in fact his first since February.
Burnley still had their own chances in subsequence to both their early advances and the United opener, with their definitive threat engineering an end-to-end start to affairs. From the outset, it looked like a game with a number of goals in its future. Let's be frank, that's not always something synonymous with Burnley.
United's attack looked considerably more in sync, also contributing to the frantic opening to the match. The whole offensive unit looked enhanced by something, and that was likely majorly down to Shaw.
It had been a rocky season for the Englishman so far, but he continued to build on his very positive start to the game. His trademark creative edge really seemed to be returning from the very beginning of events, with Shaw also displaying his symbolic overlapping runs and delivering a multitude of balls into the box. He produced one impressive drive from his own half all the way into a shooting position, emphasising his expert spacial awareness. It was quickly growing into a pristine display of his all-round game.
Speaking of the left back, he was involved in the second goal, with the manoeuvre entirely focused down the left flank. There was initially a combination between him and Sancho in a deeper area before Shaw's hopefully-aimed ball towards the forward pair was intercepted, though a mix-up between Lowton and McNeill offered a second bite at the cherry. Shaw's duress helped him to recover the ball, knocking into the path of Sancho's purposeful underlap. The wide man cut inside with poise, rolling the ball towards the far corner, with a feint deflection off Ben Mee guiding the ball off the post and past Wayne Hennessey.
Unfortunately for Sancho, such was the fine margin of the ball actually finding it’s way into the net, it was ruled an own goal by the Burnley centre back.
Soon after, another chance went begging for Ronaldo, as he failed to get the ball out of his feet inside the box. McTominay was a key figurehead in the move, expertly using his physical attributes to drive forward and perfectly weight a through ball into the striker.
Opportunities were flowing for United, with Burnley's stance on proceedings only really subsiding aside from the occasional opening. There was certainly more elegance about United, with increased fluidity within their game - telling for the third goal, coming 10 minutes shy of the break.
The buildup play was distinctly neat, stemming from an exceptional switch of play left to right by Greenwood. Sancho found himself on the opposite flank this time around, controllinhg well and laying the ball off to the late-arriving McTominay, who unleashed from the edge of the box once more. This time, Hennessey was adept to deny the strike on the stretch to prevent it nestling in the top corner. However, the effort could only be pushed onto the post and Ronaldo opportunistically picked up the scraps from the rebound for a simple tap in.
The three-goal margin wasn't actually totally representative of a relatively competitive affair, with United simply the more clinical side. Howbeit, now-veteran Aaron Lennon provided a lifeline for Burnley only minutes later as the pause drew closer. Admittedly, he was aided by some more timid defending from Rangnick's side.
Bailly's lose touch in attempt to intercept a probing forward ball gifted Lennon possession on the edge of the final third, with Maguire backing off and allowing the surging forward to unleash. It must be said, the 34 year old placed the ball exquisitely into the bottom corner - just out of David de Gea's reach.
On the whole, ignoring the Burnley goal, United performed drastically better throughout the opening 45 minutes. Creatively, they were decidedly more astute. As a result of some noticeably more flowing football, often quite entertaining for those onlooking, the likes of Ronaldo were certainly obtaining the desired service that had been lacking.
There was no real requirement for any changes at the juncture, with Rangnick clearly satisfied by the first half's events. The German justified this post-match, "We had a few problems in the first 15 minutes, to find the right solutions and take the right decisions, but with the first goal we scored, we got a lot better. We showed how dangerous we can be, how flexible we can play with two wingers and two-full backs, on and off coming into the attack, and the two strikers."
A relatively flat start to the second half was really a sign of things to come. United had their moments, as did Burnley through occasional lively bursts, but it was a subdued to say the least. Regardless, United never looked as though they didn't have control on the match. Even though less was offered, Rangnick will undoubtedly have been pleased with his side's increased sense of authority.
A few breaks stood out from the home side, with one in particular stemming from a Burnley corner. Sancho showed an injection of pace to burst forward, though was slightly more hesitant this time around; Ronaldo joined his fellow summer addition, but couldn't be found as the Burnley defence retreated. Again, though, McTominay displayed incision to make a dart forward and offer himself, with the ball sitting up nicely for him to strike. Hennessey remained firm on this rare opportunity for minutes in Nick Pope’s absence.
It had been a sensational showing from McTominay, tenacious as the centrepoint in Rangnick's revamped 4-4-2 system, working with extreme efficiency both in and out of possession. He displayed quality on the ball both through pristine distribution and a number of carries, playing with more discipline and exhibiting some exceptional movement too. There was real purpose about his high energy approach, with a license of freedom alongside Matic - acting as the anchor deep in midfield.
There was one moment of concern during the second period, around midway through, with Varane introduced in an enforced change for Bailly. It was a worry for the Ivorian ahead of the upcoming AFCON, with a seeming muscle issue forcing him to head down the tunnel prematurely. However, he downplayed the scare post-match, "I'm fine, no pains. I was just a little tired from the trip."
Bailly's comments all but confirm that he actually had to make the trip back to Manchester all the way from his Ivory Coast training base.
Another standout break followed that particular change, with McTominay the catalyst as he, again, proved his improved passing range to send Ronaldo on his way. Sancho was the subsequent receptor of possession, with a wonderous inswinging ball repaying the favour to Ronaldo, who cushioned the ball to his forward partner. The interchangeability between the pair was smooth, with Cavani ultimately denied by Hennessey and his vast stature. Cavani was actually ruled offside, though he could likely have been retrospectively have been ruled onside by VAR if he managed to find the net.
No matter how much the goalkeeper knew about the save given it hit his face, the replays certainly bolstered its theroetical magnitude of the denial given Cavani was likely onside.
Despite still being in quiet control, it became growingly apparent that United were in need of some fresh legs. There were definitely more indications that still greater adjustment was required to become entirely accustomed to Rangnick's coveted intensity.
With just over 10 minutes to play, Diogo Dalot replaced Greenwood on the right side of midfield - in front of Wan-Bissaka at right back. The alteration was almost a statement towards the underperforming, more attacking presences on the bench.
Still, there were no signs of Van de Beek. No signs of him even venturing out for much of a warmup. His pain was further exacerbated in injury time, with Fred (a regular, mind) preferred to the Dutchman for a mere one minute on the pitch as he replaced Ronaldo. It was one final ovation for the number seven in the year he returned to the place where he learned his trade.
It was a walk in the park for United in the end, no matter how non-descript the second half may have been. Burnley ended up very much in the shadows, with any command diminished from Sean Dyche's side, cost by a few too many miscues.
"It was, as expected, a really tough and difficult game against a team who play physically and very direct in parts," said Rangnick after the full time whistle, "we knew that in advance so it was important we met the physical and technical demands."
"When the ball was in their half, we did well and also showed the qualities we have in our transition. It was important to score. In our half, there are things to improve on and we will work on that. It was important today to raise the energy level. Physically and energetically, it was a good performance."
It's certainly a positive manner in which to culminate an often strugglesome calendar year, with the performance hailed as "a lot better" by the man in charge.
In addition to Thursday's performance, it's also promising that Rangnick seems to really have the players on his side. A rallying McTominay said, "Now is the time we really start stepping up and doing much, much better. The manager is so demanding and we play for United, it is what we have to do. We are all learning an adapting. We play for United, we are dominant and we need to get results."
Heading into 2022, though, Rangnick is being pragmatic about widespread and admittedly realistic views that United are purely in a top four battle now, "I wouldn't say it is the minimum, but the other three teams are too far ahead. It is about the next development steps, it’s eight games without defeat now."
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