Manchester United are moving in the right direction despite draw with Leicester

Manchester United still probably haven’t got it in them to win the Premier League this season. But keep up this form for the rest of the campaign and they might just start 2021/22 firmly in the title mix for the first time in what will be more than eight years.

United are victims of the increasingly polarised view of modern football that fuels social media – that the only state of being other than complete perfection is utter failure. There’s little room for nuance or context.

But United are far more complex than black or white success or failure. Dropping points against Leicester on Boxing Day is a setback in one sense because Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team were moments away from climbing up to second in the Premier League table. But, in another sense, it only serves to highlight the ongoing progress that continues to be made.

Leicester started the game above United in the table, were the home side, and still had to rely on a late equaliser to prevent themselves being leapfrogged.

United certainly didn’t lose any ground on where they should be aiming this year as a result of Axel Tuanzebe's unlucky late own goal. They're within touching distance of the top of the table, and still have a game in hand that, as things stand, would still take them up into second place if won.

It is also worth noting that the attitude of the squad was one of disappointment afterwards, which is what you want. This was not dropped points because of a poor performance, but because they went toe-to-toe with a team similarly high up the league and were caught with a blow right at the death.

That the players are reacting as they have done shows that the right mentality is there.

United have taken 20 points from the last 24 on offer in the Premier League. The performances haven’t always matched up with the results or been overly convincing, but in more recent games that is starting to change as well.

United burst out of the starting blocks against Leeds a week ago and were always trying to make things happen against Leicester. Ongoing weakness at the back, which the club hopes can be addressed in the summer transfer market, will eventually be eliminated.

That Solskjaer could name what he believed his strongest side to face Leicester and still start with Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Mason Greenwood, Alex Telles, Nemanja Matic and Donny van de Beek among his options on the bench is also an indication of exceptional depth. United were missing Aaron Wan-Bissaka as a result of injury, who would otherwise be an automatic starter.

United are not the finished article and only a surprising run of consistency would see them challenge for the Premier League title this season. But keep up this level of form for the rest of the campaign and strengthen again in the summer…it could be closer to reality than people realise.

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