A new season and a new dawn for Manchester United
Hurray! The new Premier League season got underway on Friday.
In the sole evening match, Manchester United beat Fulham thanks to summer signing Joshua Zirkzee’s 87th-minute winner.
Three points, a clean sheet, and a 100% record. It sent us top of the table for little more than half a day. 😂
In reality, while we weren’t troubled too much at the other end, it wasn’t particularly convincing and was reminiscent of many performances last season.
Still, we can use the excuse it was the first match, but there’s a greater expectation on Erik Ten Hag and co after finishing a pathetic eighth last time around.
The FA Cup win may well have kept him his job, but excuses about injuries and not having the right players will fall on deaf ears this time.
Signings-wise, the aforementioned Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs De Ligt, and Noussair Mazraoui have all joined to freshen things up.
However, I’ve been more excited about the appointments we’ve made upstairs since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS partially took over in February.
Unlike the previous personnel of the post-Fergie era, we finally have figures with track records in sport.
They include:
- Jason Wilcox — Technical Director
- Dan Ashworth — Sporting Director
- Omar Berrada — Chief Executive
- Sir Dave Brailsford — INEOS Director of Sport
- Jean-Claude Blanc — INEOS Sport Chief Executive
Wilcox and Berrada have both worked at rivals Manchester City, which hints at what we’re trying to do: steal some of City’s DNA.
Add to that the experience of Dan Ashworth, who’s held positions as sporting director and technical director at several clubs, as well as his role as director of elite performance at the FA.
There’s also Jean-Claude Blanc, who had successful spells managing the commercial and operational aspects at Juventus and PSG.
Probably the most fascinating one out of the lot is Sir Dave Brailsford.
Much has been made of his ‘marginal gains’ theory since he was performance director at British Cycling.
He transformed a nation of underwhelming underachievers into the juggernaut of world cycling, helping Team GB win 18 gold medals across three Olympics (2004, 2008, and 2012). Even the two won in 2004 was the most since 1908.
Marginal gains implemented included:
- Optimised bike frames
- Tailored nutrition plans
- Personalised mattresses and pillows
- Heated shorts
- Heavy use of hand sanitiser
Brailsford has already been working hard to transfer similar ideas across to football.
During United’s pre-season tour in Los Angeles, training sessions were scheduled to target natural light, players wore tailored compression garments, and designated windows to eat and sleep were put in place.
If last season is anything to go by, it will take a lot more than marginal gains to get to where we want to be, but it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out.
As for my favourite INEOS Moisturising Hand Wash, it’s got to be Rhubarb & Tonka.
Smells lovely!
