After a few weeks hiatus, I’ve brought back the Dark Horse Chronicles!
1st Dark Horse of the New Year: Manchester United
Manchester United started the year off in appalling form causing many to start “Jose Out” movements on social media and the real world. Despite a reasonable finish in the 2017-2018 season, this season hasn’t been anything close. It took less than half of a season to have shipped as many goals as they had in the entirety of the prior season. Some of the frustration was undoubtedly due to the near-constant injury problems, especially in central defense but United had been pretty poor throughout the season. That said, I thought that Luke Shaw has shown why he came to United in the first place, and he has been stellar when fit.
Although they came off of last season have been runner-up to an absolutely rampant Manchester City side as well as bringing home the Europa League trophy — this season has been totally different. They managed only 3 wins in the first 7 games, including losses to Brighton and West Ham which were serious shocks to the fanbase and losing to Tottenham which was far more likely in the fans minds. A string of wins in the midst of October and early November brought a little bit of hope back to the club — especially with Mourinho saying that they would be top four by the end of the year. Somehow, the team escaped the group stages in the UEFA Champions League and after a final run of winless games against lesser-opponents and a thrashing at Liverpool, Mourinho was relieved of duty.
