The last time United lost their opening two games of the season, they went on to win the league!
It was the 1992/93 season, the inaugural season of the Premier League and Sir Alex Ferguson was at the helm. It was United’s first victory in the top flight since 1967.
Steve Bruce was the captain for the majority of the season as Bryan Robson was ruled out of many games through injury.
Ryan Giggs had another strong season as he picked up the PFA Young Player of the Year award for a second consecutive season.
Though in hindsight it was a fantastic season, two games in and the fans at the time were feeling like we all feel now – like the club was staring down the barrel of a gun.
The opening game was away against Sheffield United, despite a brilliant goal by Mark Hughes who would go on to be United’s top scorer that season, Sheffield won 2-1.
The second game was at home and this time the Reds took on the Toffees, Everton. The game ended in a 3-0 loss, not quite the misery heaped on United by Brentford this past weekend but close enough!
Their third game would see a slight turn around as they drew with Ipswich Town and then went on a five league game winning streak.
In the following five games, they couldn’t come out on top as they drew against Tottenham, QPR, Liverpool, Middlesborough and Blackburn Rovers.
The first week in November and United had slumped to 10th as Eric Cantona arrived.
Replacing the injured Dion Dublin, Cantona made a massive and immediate impact for the Reds.
They spent the remainder of the season climbing up the table and battling it out with Aston Villa and Norwich City for the title, which they eventually ended up winning by ten points.
Now this United side doesn’t have a Cantona to come sweeping in to save the day, nor does it have a manager like Sir Alex but hope hasn’t died yet.
If Ten Hag can get a handle on these players who, as individuals, are world class and get them to squash their egos and begin to play as a team, perhaps United can begin to turn their fortunes around.
Whether they can take anything from the season remains to be seen with the clubs that used to be on a par with the Reds, being much more consistent in their performances and results but when United fans are down in the dumps, remember 92/93 – those bitter losses were the beginning of the glory days!
