2024 was a big year for Manchester United: huge highs, huge lows, desperations and everything in between.
In February, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acceptance was formally ratified. Then there was a sensational FA Cup victory over Liverpool in extra time in March, before lifting the trophy in May, the same month in which they finished a truly disappointing eighth place finish in the Premier League.
Erik ten Hag successfully retained his position and was even granted a new contract as a show of faith. There were also multiple new hires at senior executive level and a promising summer transfer window.
But the start of the 2024/25 season was poor. Ten Hag was sacked, Ruben Amorim was hired and sporting director Dan Ashworth lasted just five months in his role. This is not a quick fix and will most likely take time to build a sustainable and renewed sports operation.
Off the pitch, there are plans underway to create a new Outdated Trafford to be the centerpiece of a major urban regeneration and yet the club is also painfully feeling the financial pressure which has resulted in spending cuts and widespread staff redundancies. .
In teams struggling to develop their potential, the goalkeeper often stands out. André Onana It may have started with a swing in the fall of 2023, but by the time 2024 rolled around, it was literally saving the day overall.
Footballers will always make mistakes and as a goalkeeper you can’t hide. Unfortunately for Onana, some returned towards the end of the calendar year, but that doesn’t take away from their overall contributions throughout the full 12 months.
United almost began the Amorim period with a surprising defeat against Ipswich City, except for an impressive save from Onana and the Portuguese coach remembered it a fortnight later, when he came out to bat for his goalkeeper after a mistake against Nottingham Forest .
“He saved us many times, so we have to find a way to turn it around and score two goals to help our goalkeeper because of the way he, for example, saved us at Ipswich,” Amorim said.
TO Amad Diallo2024 was the turning point in his career at Manchester United. The Ivorian winger has been at the club for three and a half years, but only in recent months has he been given a consistent opportunity, even after his spectacular goal in extra time in the aforementioned victory. FA Cup tie against Liverpool.
Despite flashes of what Amad was capable of, Ten Hag never seemed to warm to him. An impressive start and display at Neighborhood Defend in August was followed by a gradual slide towards the periphery, supposedly due to an apparent loyalty and shared history with Antony.
The redemption was under the interim leadership of Ruud van Nistelrooy and continued until the end of 2024. At one point in November and December, Amad scored ten goals and assists in a run of nine appearances in all competitions. As a winger, his game is not full of tricks and movements, but what is easier and more direct is usually more effective.
United are a worse team when Kobbie Mainoo is not on the pitch, demonstrating the level of impact the 19-year-old from Stockport has had since graduating from the academy. This has not only been felt at the club level, because there is a valid argument to say that he also became England’s most important player on their way to the final of Euro 2024.
Like Amad, easy done well is better than complicated done poorly. Through that, Mainoo has become a midfield lynchpin around which United will, in the future, soon build a project.
Maturity on and off the court for a player so young and with limited professional experience is often the quality most associated with him, as is humility and a solid nature.
Rasmus Hojlund He has carried a lot of pressure and expectations on his shoulders since joining United in the summer of 2023. The young Dane was barely known at the time, making a total £72m deal to sign him from Atalanta even more amazing.
He also arrived with a back injury and took time to recover, initially finding life easier in the Champions League. But Hojlund started 2024 with excellent scoring form in the Premier League, scoring in six consecutive games.
An injury setback interrupted his flow at the time and it has always been a bit of a start and stop since, although there is clear potential in a rampaging centre-forward who carries himself in the right way.
There were 17 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions in 2024, certainly a respectable return given the circumstances, although it fell short of being outstanding.
leny yoro Apparently he was heading to Current Madrid. It made sense. Here was a teenage talent already compared to Raphael Varane, playing in the northeast of France, just as Varane did.
Madrid beat United to the signing of 18-year-old Varane in 2011, and ultimately signed only a shadow of the French centre-back a decade later. But this time the roles were reversed.
Yoro has been billed as a generational defensive talent, a Lille first-team player at 16 years old. While Madrid dithered, clinging to the hope of being able to sign the youngster as a free agent in 2025, United went big to secure a £59m package to sign him. immediately.
A pre-season injury means fans are yet to see Yoro consistently, but what he represents is the long-term potential to be world-class, while also being a player for now too.
Nobody United were expected to go to Wembley and beat Manchester Metropolis in the FA Cup final.
Under Ten Hag, the team had just recorded its worst ever Premier League finish of eighth and was on the verge of missing out on European football, while Metropolis had just won an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title and was seeking a second consecutive national double. .
It was not in the script for Alejandro Garnacho to put United ahead in the first half, and even less so for Kobbie Mainoo to add light to the scoreboard nine minutes later. Metropolis eventually pulled one point back, but it was a United performance that simply did not match that of the previous nine months.
The victory meant qualification for the Europa League and was even sweeter when facing the “noisy neighbors” who have won it for the last decade.
Although it’s all anyone talks about in professional football, the vast majority of football teams don’t actually win trophies. United fans were spoiled for years in that regard, but even the club’s so-called “joking period” has been considerably more successful than most.
