2024 was a year for Manchester United: huge highs, desperate lows and everything in between.
In February, the accession of Sir Jim Ratcliffe was formally ratified. Then March saw a sensational FA Cup extra time win against Liverpoolbefore lifting the trophy in May, the same month as a truly disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League.
Erik ten Hag successfully kept his job, even awarded 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 2024/25 was bad. Ten Hag was fired, Ruben Amorim was hired and sporting director Dan Ashworth lasted just five months in his tenure. This is not a quick fix and it will more than likely take time to build a sustainable sports operation with a new look.
Off the pitch, plans are underway create a new Old Trafford to be the centerpiece of a major urban regeneration, and yet the club is also being hit hard by the financial pinch that has led to spending cuts and staff redundancies.
In teams struggling to reach their potential, the goalkeeper will often stand out. Andrew Onan it may have started with a wobble in the fall of 2023, but by the time 2024 rolled around, it was literally saving the day on a regular basis.
Footballers will always make mistakes and there’s no hiding from that as a goalkeeper. Unfortunately for Onana, a few went back in towards the end of the calendar year, but this does not take away from your overall contributions for the 12 months.
United almost started the Amorim era with a shock defeat to Ipswich Town but for a stunning save from Onana and the Portuguese manager was reminded of that a fortnight later when he came out to bat for his goalkeeper after a gaffe against Nottingham Forest.
“He saved us a lot of times, so we have to find a way to turn it around and score two goals to help our goalkeeper because of the way, for example, he saved us at Ipswich,” Amorim said.
For Amad Diallo2024 was the turning point of his Manchester United career. The Ivorian winger has been at the club for three-and-a-half years but has only been given a consistent chance in recent months, even after his dramatic extra-time performance in the aforementioned triumph. FA Cup tie against Liverpool.
Despite glimpses of what Amad was capable of, Ten Hag never seemed to accept him. An impressive start and display in the Community Shield in August was followed by a gradual decline towards the periphery: supposedly because of an apparent loyalty and shared history with Antoni.
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 assisted in a run of nine appearances in all competitions. As a wingman, his game is not full of tricks and tricks, but what is simpler and more direct is often more effective.
united they are a worse team when Kobbie Mainoo is not on the pitch, which shows the level of impact the 19-year-old from Stockport has had since graduating from the academy. This hasn’t just been felt at club level either, because there’s a valid argument to be made that he’s also become England’s most important player on the road to the Euro 2024 finals.
Similar to Amad, simple done well is better than complicated done badly. Through this, Mainoo has become a midfield linchpin that United, in an ideal world, will soon be building a project around.
Maturity on and off the pitch for such a young player with limited professional experience is often the quality most associated with him, as are humility and groundedness.
Rasmus Hojlund has carried a lot of pressure and expectations on his shoulders since joining United in the summer of 2023. The young Dane was hardly a household name at the time, leading to a £72m global deal to sign- the one from Atalanta was even more surprising.
It also came with the back injury and took time to find his feet, initially finding life easier in the Champions League. But Hojlund started 2024 in great goalscoring form in the Premier League, scoring in six consecutive games.
Then an injury setback interrupted his flow and he’s always been a bit of a stopgap ever since, although there’s clear potential in a wrecking centre-forward who gets it right.
That was 17 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions in 2024, certainly a respectable return in the circumstances, if not exceptional.
Lenny Yoro was apparently Real Madrid– tied up It made sense. Here was a teenage talent already compared to Raphael Varane, playing in the north-east of France, just as Varane did.
Madrid beat United to the 18-year-old’s signature in 2011, eventually signing just 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 first-team player with Lille at the age of 16. While Madrid hesitated, clinging to the hope of signing the youngster as a free agent in 2025, United went big to secure a £59m package to land him. immediately
A pre-season injury means fans have 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.
no one United were expected to go to Wembley and beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
With Ten Hag, the team had just recorded a the worst finish in the Premier League of eighth and missed out on European football, while City were fresh off an unprecedented fourth straight league title and looking for a second domestic double on the bounce.
It wasn’t in the script for Alejandro Garnacho to put United ahead in the first half, and even less for Kobbie Mainoo to bring daylight to the scoreboard nine minutes later. City eventually pulled one back, but it was a performance from United that didn’t match the previous nine months.
The victory meant qualification for the Europa League and was even sweeter against the ‘noisy neighbours’ who have won it all over the last decade.
Although it’s all the talk in the professional game, the vast majority of football teams don’t actually win trophies. In that regard, United fans were spoiled for years, but even the club’s supposed “joke era” has still been far more successful than most.
