Original title: Manchester United end 5 years without a title as early as next month, Ten Hag can rival Jose Mourinho! There is still drama in the Premier League title
The last time United won the title was on 25 May 2017, when the Red Devils beat Ajax 2-0 in the Europa League final to lift their first ever Europa League trophy. Over the next five years, United reached the FA Cup and Europa League finals, but failed to return and fell into a championship drought. Now, the opportunity to end the five-year title-free nightmare is in front of Ten Hag and his disciples, leaving only Manchester United's traditional giants in the last four of the League Cup.
With Manchester City, who have won the League Cup five times in the past seven years, upset Premier League vice-captain Southampton 2-0, Manchester United's opponents are only Saints, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. According to the draw, the Red Devils will face promoted Nottingham Forest in a two-legged semi-final. In the recent Premier League, Ten Hag had just led his team to a 3-0 victory, so there was little problem in qualifying for the final at Wembley.
Manchester United's final opponents are likely to be Saudi Arabia's Newcastle United, and the Magpies will certainly want to secure a Europa League place first, so they will not be able to cope with it. However, compared to Manchester City, it is obviously much less difficult to win the title with Newcastle.
The Carabao Cup semi-finals will be played on 25 January and 1 February, with United visiting Forest first. The final date is scheduled for Sunday, 26 February at Wembley Stadium in London.
Ten Hag has a chance to recreate Jose Mourinho's first season in charge, with the Portuguese maniac's first title being the Carabao Cup. If Southampton can knock out Newcastle again in the semi-finals, it may even be a repeat of that year's final match! In February 2017, United beat the Saints 3-2 at Wembley when Ibrahimovic scored twice including a header and Jesse Lingard scored.
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Not counting the Community Shield, Jose Mourinho is the first manager in the history of the team to win the title in his first season in charge of Manchester United, and Ten Hag has a chance to become second! At present, the Red Devils are still playing in the fourth line, in addition to the League Cup, the FA Cup and the Europa League also have a chance to win the title, Ten Hag signed well, and won at home to Reading in the FA Cup fourth round, and it is not a problem to qualify. Only the Europa League is more difficult, and a two-legged play-off match must be played against La Liga leaders Barça for the winner to advance to the main stage of the knockout round.
In the Premier League, United are currently in the top four, with Newcastle one game to match, trailing their opponents on goal difference. The Reds played the same number of matches as the top two Arsenal and Manchester City, both playing 17 games, trailing by four and nine points respectively. But if Ten Hag can play the next three league games, Manchester United can also qualify for the title!
United's next three league games are at home to Manchester City on 14 January, Crystal Palace on 18 January and Arsenal on 22 January. Manchester City visited Manchester United on 14 January, at home to Tottenham on 19 January and at home to Wolves on 11 January; Arsenal will visit Tottenham on 15 January, Manchester United on 22 January and Everton on 4 February.
If Manchester United can then win three consecutive Premier League wins, they can at least be one point behind Manchester City and six points behind Arsenal, and the title race is no longer just a fantasy.
Not only that, but if something unexpected happens in the match between Manchester City and Arsenal against Tottenham, Manchester United may even overtake Manchester City and be only 3 points behind Arsenal! With the Gunners not playing a make-up game in midweek, their match against Everton won't be played until February, one round less than Manchester United. In this case, Manchester United will create a huge psychological pressure on Mikel Arteta's team, which may lead to the collapse of the opponent.
After losing the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also showed weakness to the Manchester derby, declaring that if his team did not greatly improve its performance, the chances of facing Manchester United were slim. City did not have the likes of Ellin Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, but Guardiola emphasized: "I don't think the starting line-up is important, you need to perform and we are absent-minded."
"The better teams in the game won, Southampton played better and we didn't play well. We started badly and didn't play well afterwards." The boss added, "Today was far from where we should be, we were not ready to reach the semi-finals, the team was not ready. If we play against Manchester United with such a performance, we have no chance."
There is no doubt that Manchester United are the most powerful teams in the Premier League right now. Ten Hag's side still has various flaws, such as the new center is not yet in place, the depth of the substitutes is not strong, etc., but in the Manchester City derby at the weekend, Manchester United will not be an upset if they succeed in revenge.
Ten Hag has established authority for Manchester United in terms of standards and discipline, and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, prince Marcus Rashford and youngster Alejandro Garnacho have all been disciplined. Backed by its tough stance, United have won 20 of their 27 games, setting a new record for the new manager's early wins.
The 36-year-old goalkeeper Tom Heaton, although he has not played much, is also a member of the "team committee" that Ten Hag has created in the dressing room, using his experience to guide his teammates.
Heaton said: "It's fair that everyone can have their own opinion about strict discipline. My personal view is that this is the key to Manchester United's results. For players, now you have to be disciplined and you know you can't cross the line or you're out. I think Marcus [Marcus] reacted well to Wolves when they were hidden in the snow and when everything is in the same direction, that happens."
Heaton continued: "I think discipline does translate into performance on the pitch. Ten Hag sends a clear message about what is acceptable and what is not tolerated. Everyone is responsible, it's a profession, and if you go beyond boundaries, he will get you back in place. Once the team's results improve, everything will accelerate forward, and everyone will be proud of the horseshoe disease and work harder. So I say that's key, I'm talking about the manager's requirements throughout."
The Manchester United goalkeeper concluded: "Ten Hag is very direct and lets you know where you stand and what you are responsible for. In my own case, although I am still eager to play, I will also support David [De Gea], who is the main goalkeeper. I'm older than my team-mates, I've been captain at other clubs and I'll play my part."