Kudos to Manchester United as they have definitely managed to defy expectations this season despite the fixture list having been unrelenting since December and will finally return to ‘normal’ next term in the aftermath of complications caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Qatar World Cup.
The preceding few years have seen interruptions disrupting the domestic schedule but the key dates for the 2023/24 Premier League have already been confirmed with the campaign commencing on Saturday 12 August 2023, which also happens to be the traditional opening weekend.
United began the current season earlier than normal because of the World Cup, losing 2-0 against Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday 7 August. Hence a return to the normal domestic schedule will be welcomed.
The Premier League season had no alternative but to start earlier and end later to accommodate the World Cup, with the subsequent passing of the Queen in September also causing fixtures to be postponed – resulting in a gruelling schedule being created instead.
United played Burnley in the last-16 of the Carabao Cup after the break for the World Cup, and have since played 13 midweeks in a row, which highlights just how many games they’ve had to play over the last few months.
There are also at least four more midweeks to be played after the international break and it’s actually possible, depending on how fixtures are arranged, that United play for the remainder of the season without another single free midweek.
All things considered it’s actually pretty remarkable that United have not only survived throughout that period but have even excelled, beginning with winning the Carabao Cup in February and also with Champions League qualification also beginning to look most likely, not to mention the FA Cup and Europa League remaining realistic avenues for silverware after victories against Fulham and Real Betis last week.
This time last year United had been bundled out of the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup and the Champions League, not to mention having been defeated 4-1 by Manchester City in the league following a lifeless display at the Etihad.
Suffice it to say that the turnaround has been truly outstanding, made all the more impressive by token of it having been achieved within a season impacted with an unprecedented fixture backlog, further exacerbated with the postponement of fixtures and the World Cup wreaking havoc with the schedule.
Credit is due to manager Erik ten Hag for successfully managing the workload of players, carefully handling injuries while also pertinently maintaining momentum with strong performances under the constraints of a punishing schedule.
Obviously a return to the Champions League would reflect well for Ten Hag’s first year in Manchester, but it’s already noteworthy for now that he’s defied expectations since he joined and actually ended the worst trophy drought at the club for over 40 years.
Now the only obstacle standing in the way of an FA Cup final is Brighton, while it is certainly not unlikely for United to progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League against Sevilla, as the latter are significantly below the standard of Barcelona and Real Betis in La Liga.