Jonathan Wilson

And I think they ended up with, was it two wins in the final 12 games that season?

And it was pretty apparent by that summer that they'd made a mistake.

So 17 games isn't really very long to judge a manager over.

And what complicates that even more is there will be no European football in that time.

There will be no game with any pressure on it in that time.

Because frankly, it doesn't really matter what United do.

Getting in the Champions League, clearly.

But they should do that.

And also...

United this season, and this is an incredible stat, United this season have not played and will not play an opponent who has played more football than them this season.

Hang on, do I mean more or do I mean less?

Less.

Less.

Less.

It would have been better if I'd said that properly.

United have not played and will not play an opponent who has played less football than them.

So they're going to be fresher than every opponent they play.

So if they look...

if they play with great verve and energy, we have no idea whether that's because Carrick has found a tactical system which allows them to play with that freedom, or if they're just not knackered and their opponents are.

And Arteta hinted at this, and I think to his credit, didn't really dwell on it.