Four reasons why the extended football break could work wonders for Manchester United

Three reasons why the extended football break could work wonders for Manchester United.

The season being stopped indefinitely due to the COVID-19 global pandemic has been tough to take for many football fans, but for some clubs it may prove a blessing in disguise.

In our opinion one of those clubs could be Manchester United, when the season was postponed the North West giants sat 5th in the Premier League (three points off 4th placed Chelsea), in a commanding position in the last 16 of the Europa League and in the last eight of the FA Cup.

With a strong chance of silverware, the club’s main focus will be to return to the Champions League, which might only have to be 5th place due to Manchester City’s current Champions League ban.

Here at Shoot we look at the four reasons this break could work out well for Man United…

The return of injured Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford

Rashford sustained a stress fracture in United’s FA Cup replay win over Wolves.

Man United were looking at facing the daunting prospect of finishing the season with arguably their two most talented players. Pogba himself has missed the majority of the season with a persistent ankle injury which required surgery. Whereas Rashford was forced off the field in January due to a back problem. The return to football in the summer could see both players being able to play a major part in the run-in which simply wouldn’t have happened without the extended break.

Ruthlessness in the transfer market

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come under some criticism for his comments to Gary Neville and Geoff Shreeves on SkySports, stating that due to the club’s high turnover and profits, they might be able to capitalise on clubs less wealthy due to the pandemic and inevitable loss of earnings. Ruthless indeed, but Solskjaer could be proved right, which would make for an interesting summer transfer market for fans of the Red Devils.

Rest for Squad

Due to fighting on the front of three competitions, games were coming thick and fast for United players. The Europa League is notorious for a heavy playing schedule and plenty of travelling. Adding to that, they have had FA Cup replays to contend with and every Premier League game has been crucial. With injuries affecting the squad, a good couple of months rest will be exactly what the United squad needed.

Good PR

It would be fair to say that some clubs have not come out well, due to some of their decisions surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic. Cross-city neighbours Liverpool were heavily criticised for furloughing their staff and had to make a U-turn on the decision due to the public backlash. United, however have not a put a foot wrong from the start, getting involved in some fantastic charity work in the Manchester area and promising payment to match-day staff early on in the lockdown phase.