The Manchester club had done a treble and so posed with their trio of trophies. Not the treble, admittedly, because the photo taken on Friday showed Alejandro Garnacho with the Premier League’s goal of the month award, Harry Maguire with the player of the month prize and Erik ten Hag with its managerial equivalent. Perhaps the young Argentinian will conjure something else spectacular, but it already feels safe to assume United will not retain the other two awards.
A day after the picture came a crushing defeat. Perhaps that was Manchester United in a nutshell: the brief sense of progress followed by the evidence there has been none. The markers of improvement and excellence instead belong to others. Bournemouth’s first victory at Old Trafford in their 124-year history made them the latest in a long list of clubs who, over the last decade, have ended a long wait for a win at United’s home.
