All eyes are on Manchester United this season to see if Louis van Gaal can restore them to recent glories.
Many United fans who had grown up during the Sir Alex Ferguson era could not believe their eyes as their team lurched from one disaster to another last year.
Seventh place in the Premier League, outside the European spots, no domestic cup success and home-and-away defeats to rivals Liverpool and Manchester City it probably couldn’t get much worse.
The job proved too much for David Moyes but Van Gaal has made the right noises about being ready for the challenge.
He’s only been in charge for a little over three weeks at Old Trafford, but he appears to have the force of personality needed to succeed.
United enjoyed a successful pre-season tour of America, where they won the pre-season Champions Cup including notable victories over Real Madrid and Liverpool.
It has increased optimism amongst supporters that the Dutchman can get United back in the mix to win the League, and not just in the Champions League places.
However, BT Sport analyst David Ginola is refusing to take too much notice of pre-season results. But the Frenchman does expect better from United this campaign.
“The fans will expect Louis van Gaal to bring back that winning spirit,” he says.
“It was there for so long under Sir Alex Ferguson. He made them the best club in the world because of that.
“I don’t know Van Gaal personally but his trophies won at all the clubs he’s been at speak for themselves. And he did a great job with the Dutch national team.
“He looks to be the right man for the job. But only time will tell if he’s the right man for this situation, as he has a huge task in front of him.
“Pre-season is too early to judge how United are going to do. Everyone can be positive at this stage, but the Premier League is so intense.
“It’s so tough from August through to May with so many difficult games and I wish Van Gaal all the best.
“Last season was incredible. To finish outside of the Champions League and even the Europa League and lose so many games at Old Trafford was unbelievable. But it wasn’t just David Moyes’ fault, it was the players, too.
“Now it’s up to them to restore the stature of the club.
“United have the team and the squad to challenge for the League, and the players have the quality to recover. So we’ll see from the first game against Swansea how they look like managing.”
There have only been two new signings so far in Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, but expect a few more before the window shuts.
With League titles at four different clubs already, Van Gaal will back himself to do it again with a fifth at United.
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