But the crunch period is still to come, the period that will make or break our season.
Before we begin, you can read my other review from earlier in the season here.
It's weird to think that that was in November and so much had already gone on yet fast forward to March, and there are many similarities despite the new manager and being five months into the future.
When Ruben Amorim took over from Erik ten Hag which is crazy to think that this was this season, there was obviously a lot of optimism. New managers usually create a new and better atmosphere, performances start to improve, the results get better and there is an overall feelgood factor about the club
However...
Things have not gone exactly according to plan.
Premier League
When Amorim took over, United had just beaten Leicester 3-0 and were in 13th. Before this international break, we have just beaten Leicester 3-0 and are in 13th.
🤣😂🤣😂.
Good lord, what are the odds?
We've basically made no progress 😂.
The major difference though, was that even though we were in the bottom half of the table then with 15 points, we were just 4 off the top 4. Crazy to think, innit brev?
That made that position of 13th not appear utter shite.
Whereas now, it appears utter shite.
The position in the table has not improved for us (in fact, it got worse but we managed to claw our way back into 13th) yet the gap between us and the top 4 or indeed, any European position, has increased tenfold.
United are now 12 points behind Chelsea in 4th and 10 behind Newcasle in 6th who hold that final European spot.
What am I even talking about Europe? We are 7 behind Bournemouth in 10th. Getting into the top half is absolutely NOT going to happen.
Who'd have thought? Man Utd not getting into the top half of the Premier League 😐.
What has happened to us 😔?
This is all because ever since Amorim's arrival, he has failed to find any consistency in both performances and results. One could argue that it's only in recent times where his side have begun to some signs of consistency. The international break probably came at the wrong time for United.
The form under the Portuguese ain't great as despite us taking the lead within 2 minutes of his first game in charge at Ipswich (Rashford the scorer, even things with him went to shit) and thinking we were going to win the league, that game ended up in a boring draw. The following results and performances were very hit and miss as well.
A straightforward victory over Everton was followed by a loss to Arsenal before a 3-2 home defeat to the impressive Forest. United then did something a little unforeseen as Amorim managed to get one over Pep Guardiola again not long after his Sporting side smashed City 4-1 in the Champions League before Ruben moved to Old Trafford. His new team defeated their rivals 2-1 late on at the Emptihad thanks to goals by Bruno and Amad, two of United's shining lights this season with many feeling that this was the point where things would turn for the better.
It actually got categorically worse as Amorim and co went on a three game losing streak (two of which were at home) and what's more, United didn't score in any of those losses to Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle.
With Anfield next, everyone feared the worst yet somehow, United managed to put up their best performance of the campaign as we picked up an unlikely 2-2 draw at perhaps the toughest ground to play at in Europe.
How we managed to do that I don't know and it seemed that everyone was on the same page as both captain Bruno Fernandes and manager Ruben Amorim were upset at how they can perform as they did in this game but be downright dogshit in every other match.
Bizarre.
The Red Devils then reverted to default settings as thanks to a 12 minute hat-trick by Amad, we were saved our blushes at home to the Saints, who are factually the worst team in Premier League history.
Brighton then came to Old Trafford with the seagulls crapping all over us again and doing the double over United for the second season in three.
Inconsistent form continued as we faced three London clubs in a row picking up just the solitary victory (Fulham) before losing two in a row to Palace and Spurs.
Amorim was then facing the unwanted record of potentially losing three in a row without scoring for the second time in the same season (which would've broken some 100-year record or something) before heading to Everton.
Former United boss David Moyes didn't make things easier as it looked like Amorim was about to achieve that unwanted feat after the Toffees went 2-0 up in half an hour.
Things were looking grim before a captain-inspired comeback saw United get a 2-2 draw. Bruno scoring from a free-kick with Ugarte getting the equalizer.
This marked the start of a four-game unbeaten run in the league as Amorim saw his team beat Ipswich (despite going down to 10 men, Dorgu being sent off), draw to Arsenal (in a game we should've won) and have a routine win over Leicester to end off this period in the league.
Amorim's record in the PL reads:
Games - 18
Wins - 6
Draws - 4
Losses - 8
Goals - 25
Conceded - 28
Clean sheets - 3
Win ratio - 33%
Carabao Cup
Spurs seem to have been our scourge this season as in all three fixtures we've faced them, they've beaten us in all three.
Ange's side dumped us out of a competition that was one of our realistic chances of winning a trophy and potential to salvage the season from being a complete disaster.
When traveling to the Hottenham Totspur Stadium, we had just come off the back of that amazing late win in the derby.
Any hopes of taking momentum from the City win to Spurs were dsahed quick, fast and in a hurry as a bit of a cockup (not for the first time) by Bayindir who was deputising for Onana in goal allowed Dominic Solanke to put the hosts ahead in 15 minutes.
Both 'keepers (Altay Bayindir and Fraser Forster) were having a competition to see who can be the worst on the night as both made massive errors allowing for the opposition to score simple goals.
Onana would've been proud.
That quarter final ended 4-3 in Spurs' favor. One chance of silverware gone for United.
A really diappointing way to go out of a tournament that we had won just two years ago.
FA Cup
This was the trophy that we held.
Erik ten Hag somehow managed to lift the oldest cup competition in football which pretty much kept him in a job although not for long. With the Carabao Cup dream being over, hopes moved to the other domestic cup to perhaps provide some solace for what was fast becoming the worst season we've had in living memory.
And it wasn't an easy beginning to the defense of our trophy as we had to go to the Emirates to take on a side that has become quite difficult for us to beat over recent years. This did come after that draw at Anfield so maybe we could take some of the positive energy from that match into this?
Well, we certainly did as while the referee who shall not be named (Andy Madley) was wearing an Arsenal shirt underneath his referee gear (probably) and Diogo Dalot being sent off, we managed to pull off the improbable victory.
United held out to a 1-1 draw in normal time before knocking the Gunners out on penalties. Where Bayindir was woeful against the other North London club, he seemed to be a man possessed as he made David de Gea-like saves to keep us in the game (including a penalty) as well as two stops in the shootout that got us over the line.
He may as well have been de Gea after that performance.
This came before the controversial 2-1 win over Leicester (now managed by Ruud van Nistelrooy) as a late Harry Maguire header against his former side put United thorugh to the next round. He was offiside. As there was no VAR however, the goal stood due to the linesman not raising his flag.
A lucky break for Amorim and co.
A third Prem opposition awaited us in the fifth round: Fulham.
They were another team that we would be facing multiple times this season.
What luck we had in the previous round/s ran out as after another pretty dire showing by United, we once again went to penalties where the Cottagers managed to get one over us in their third attempt this campaign season.
A premature end to our FA Cup title defense in what has been one hell of a ride from the start of last season's competition until now.
Four out of the nine matches went to extra-time with three of those ending in shootouts, a couple of late wins and a nervy final last year was United's FA Cup run over the previous two seasons.
Never seen anything like it.
Europa League
The competition that our entire campaign is riding on. The Europa League is all we have left to play for this season.
After those disappointing opening three draws, United took off in Europe as Ruud's Reds beat PAOK 2-0 to get their first win in Europe before the November internationals.
Ruben's Reds then continued this form as while he saw his side go behind against Bodo/Glimt, United did make what is now a customary comeback to win 3-2 and get the Portuguese his first win of his reign.
That gave us better hopes of qualifying in the top 8 of the new-look league phase and straight through to the quarters.
What increased those hopes was winning the next four on the bounce. This led United to a third place finish with five wins out of eight and avoiding those two extra playoff matches that Amorim felt were important to miss as it allowed him more time on the training ground which was probably the thing he desired most at that time.
Facing Spanish opposition was always going to be difficult and after the 1-1 draw in the first leg against Real Sociedad, MUFC were disappointed as that match (and potentially tie) should've been put to bed given the goal scoring opportunities for the away side.
Thankfully, the second leg ended up being a little more straightforward although we did go behind early again (what's new?) and have to come back for the umpteenth time this season.
And like those previous comebacks, we did get the win as a 4-1 triumph against the Spaniards saw us safely through to the quarters where we face Lyon.
The draw and win over Sociedad meant United kept the record of being the only unbeaten team in all of Europe this season.
Europa League or not, that is an amazing achievement.
Advancing through to the next round means that our season is still alive.
Final Thoughts
This period under Amorim has felt like a season in itself! And we're only in March! There's still another third of the season left! It's crazy to think we had another manager at the start of the campaign as well.
Whenever a new manager comes in, expectations are higher and you believe that things will start to improve.
As you've seen though, we are in pretty much the same position as we were before the Portuguese joined the club, at least in the league.
More than this, it feels like we've truly seen just how crap these players are considering how poorly they've adapted to the manager's 3-4-3 system which admittedly, will take time to get used to best this long?
This along with little to no backing in the January transfer window has caused United and Amorim to be in quite the predicament, one that will see us end the Premier League in our worst-ever position with relying on the Europa League to make this season one to remember, I suppose.
The injuries to key players like Lisandro Martinez who is out for the season, Amad potentially out for the season, Shaw and Mount being forever out, even the backup goalies have been sidelined for some time, made things even harder for Amorim.
I am obviously disappointed with how things have gone for the new manager and I do feel sorry for him because of the difficult hand he's been dealt but at least in these last four matches in particular, we've seen some momentum.
It's now about trying to pick it up after the break and trying to end off this truly forgetful campaign on some high.
Background Images: Patrick Dorgu, Ruben Amorim, Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee | Images via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)