How February Can Change Manchester United’s Fortunes

Manchester United has gone through a period of disappointment and underperforming to a degree we haven’t seen in a very long time. Draws with Aston Villa and Newcastle and a loss to Wolves summarize their recent performances perfectly.

However, February is bringing a run of fixtures that could see the Red Devils turn their fortunes around. Both in the Champions and Premier League, United has the chance to rise up the table again.

Season so Far

United has been the definition of hot and cold so far this season with only nine wins from twenty games in the Premier League, surprise defeats to Aston Villa, Wolves, and Leicester,  and a thumping by Liverpool and Watford.

A change of manager, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer being replaced, was seen as a way to turn their season around; so far, that hasn’t been the case. Five draws and six losses show just how deep the problems are running.

Their star players haven’t been firing either. Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Jaden Sancho, and Marcus Rashford have been average at best, with Ronaldo either keeping them alive or failing himself.

February Fixtures

On the other hand, February looks like a month where United can thrive again and pick up some much-needed points to stay in the race for a Champions League spot and keep their current Champions League season alive.

Their first match is a fourth-round FA Cup fixture at Middlesborough. Middlesborough is currently sixth in the Championship, and they are going to field their strongest team and can quite easily be a banana skin for United.

Their first Premier League game of February is against Burnley, a team that has become famous for its defensive prowess against bigger teams. Burnley has only won one game this season, but with eight draws to their name, they are proving to be a hard side to break down.

One of their bigger tests for the month will come against Southampton. Even though they have been almost as hot and cold as United, they have more than enough talent to put a goal or two against a struggling Manchester team.

Southampton is just the start of a run of Premier League games that could see United either easily win or lose. Leeds are next and are always a threat no matter who they play against. Marcelo Bielsa’s style of play is often hard to compete with.

The 23rd of February sees United play the first leg of their Round of 16 Champions League games against Atletico Madrid. Atletico can easily derail United’s Champions League run if they aren’t careful, and playing the first leg away at Atletico could prove to be a season-ender.

Their last game of the month is against a team that took them to the cleaners the first time they met this season, Watford. Considering we already know Watford can wipe the floor with them, United will need to be on top of their game to stop Watford from doing the double on them.

Competition

Currently in 7th, United is one point behind 6th place Spurs, but only one point ahead of Wolves. Spurs are two games behind, and Wolves have played the same amount and are arguably in better form.

United is going to struggle to get into the Champions League and even struggle to stay in a Europa spot if Wolves continue to keep up with them and Spurs win their games in hand. Brighton and Leicester are a bit further down the table but are still well in reach of United.

United is at the stage where they not only need to win almost every game they have left but also hope that the teams around them start slipping. There are too many teams that have games in hand that can overtake United in a matter of days.

Rest of the Season

United needs a change of attitude and performance ASAP. They are looking like a team without passion and drive, and the cracks are becoming bigger and bigger. A few wins aren’t enough to keep them in the running for a spot in Europe.

Many pundits, such as Roy Keane and Gary Neville, have both made it very clear that the Europa League isn’t good enough either; United missing out on both Europa and Champions League could be catastrophic. A change of attitude is needed, and maybe even a change to personnel.