Eric Cantona: Man Utd can win the title next season
Manchester United legend Eric Cantona believes Man Utd can win the Premier League next season after dismantling their rivals in the Manchester Derby.
The Red Devils won 4-2 on Sunday thanks to goals from Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata, and Chris Smalling. Sergio Aguero scored twice for the Citizens but it wasn’t enough to secure a result as City lost their sixth match in eight fixtures. United now hold a four point advantage over their noisy neighbors and sit comfortably in third place, with the ambitions of moving ahead of Arsenal ever present.
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Second place seems to be the best possible finish this season, as Chelsea are eight points clear of United with a game in hand. Still, that hasn’t stopped former United striker Eric Cantona from confessing his optimism for Louis van Gaal’s squad going forward. He believes the Mancunians could challenge for the title next season, and I would have to agree with him, especially if United can make several key signings in the summer.
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Cantona chalks up United’s renaissance as a result of the squad finally buying into van Gaal’s philosophy, the same tactics that were the center of skepticism and criticism from fans and pundits earlier in the season. After winning their last six league matches, it appears that the players are finally taking to the possessive approach to matches.
Under the “total football system”, the squad looks to possess the ball as much as possible in order to create space and chances to score. In defense, the squad works as a whole to regain possession as quickly as possible. The style has improved the attacking efficiency and eradicated the defensive mistakes that were a constant last season.
Perhaps most importantly, the Dutch manager has found a way to secure points against the Premier League’s biggest opponents, most recently in the victories over City, Liverpool, and Tottenham. In total, against the top seven clubs in the league, United have secured 20 points off of six wins and two draws. Compared to a season ago when David Moyes struggled to get results against the upper echelon of the league, van Gaal has shown tactical superiority against his managerial counterparts.
Cantona has credited van Gaal’s Dutch mentality as a reason for United’s dominance:
"“It’s a great club and will be at the top. Next year, they can win the league. With a manager from Holland, it seems to be important for Manchester United. It’s the same kind of philosophy for the game, Holland and Manchester United.”"
The former French striker also praised United’s transfer technique of bringing in top level talent while still promoting youth:
"“The Premier League is so strong. It has so many clubs, so many rich clubs also, and so many clubs who work on young players. Some of them work on the young players and can buy the best players in the world, like United.”“I prefer this kind of club, who are rich enough to buy the best players they want, and also work on young players.”"
This summer, the same will likely ring true, as top level targets such as Mats Hummels, Gareth Bale, and even Zlatan Ibrahimovic have all been linked with moves to Old Trafford. However, the young talents of Warren Joyce’s youth team will also be looking to move to the senior level, with Adnan Januzaj and James Wilson just two of the most recent products. That means that our beloved Red Devils will be set up to win in both the short and long term.
It truly seems that Louis van Gaal has restored balance in Manchester and that United will soon rise to the throne as the top team in England once again.