The relief was so profound and was expressed in numerous different ways in the Old Trafford area on Saturday. One can even say that the sound of the sigh of relief was the loudest. Manchester United’s 3-2 victory over Burnley, at a late hour and perhaps with a soft penalty, was not a breakthrough, but simply a nod to the club’s chaotic nature.
To begin with, this win was more like a cleanup of a very huge fissure in mood than anything else. With the amount of money spent and the level at which Manchester United set their sights, one should never see them having to count on the rescue mission coming from the last moments of the game by a penalty.
Besides that, they should not have experienced such a hard game against a freshly promoted squad and this all at their home ground. Despite their approach and willpower, the Clarets managed to unveil the weakness of the Red Devils, which seemed not to be solved yet. The defense was easily broken through, the team lacked the presence of the midfield section for most of the game, and the attack line, despite the brilliance of some of the players, was quite uncoordinated and not threatening enough.
Goals for the opposite side and a simple goal by Mbuemo that put United ahead at different periods were not so much the result of vigorous offensive play but more of pure luck. The episode that seemed to have cut the game short was not so much the pinnacle of the players’ luck as the penultimate piece of the confectionery made out of which the Red Devils had cooked their dessert.
After all this, the Ruben Amorim-led team has got the first three points under their belt this season, leaving the pressure off, at least for the moment. Nevertheless, any person that was at the stadium during the game knows that the team is far from perfect and still has a long way to go.
The problems are not merely superficial and are related to the team’s structure. A lucky win will never change a team that still appears more like a sum of talented individuals than a team with a common goal. The genuine test is not winning a scuffle at home against a newly promoted side, but showing that one can chain the good performances and dominate the game from kickoff till the end. Until then, any relief would feel a bit awkward with the reality slap in the face still quite present.
