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When the 2016/17 season ended, Manchester United ended up with 2 Cups, a backdoor entry into the Champions League and a paltry 6th place finish in the league. That doesn't really make for good reading if you're a Manchester United fan.
However, with reinforcements in the transfer window, they started this season like a house on fire. Most of the players were doing what was expected of them. David de Gea was making superhuman saves, the defence was looking watertight, Paul Pogba was weaving his magic all over the pitch and Romelu Lukaku was scoring for fun.
Although they are third in the league table right now, they have looked a much meaner outfit than last season. They have scored four goals six times in the league this season, they boast 10 clean sheets (joint highest) and they have quite some players to thank for that.
#5 Anthony Martial
Anthony Martial had a blistering start to life at Old Trafford, scoring on his debut against Liverpool. The 2015 Golden Boy winner finished the 2015/16 season as United's highest goal scorer.
In came Jose Mourinho and that coincided with his sophomore slump. He managed just 4 goals in his 25 league appearances. Talks of discontent between him and Mourinho led to a lot of transfer rumours at the start of this season.
What transpired this season was just sheer determination. Anthony Martial's stats read- 8 goals and 7 assists in 27 matches across all competitions. The more staggering fact is that he came on as a substitute 10 times. Also, he has developed his all-round game and helped out defensively. It looks as if Martial will finally be able to fulfil his potential that prompted United to buy him in the first place.
#4 Phil Jones
Oh, Phil Jones! What can you even say about a player who has spent more than half his Manchester United career on the treatment table! Earmarked by Sir Alex Ferguson as one of the best defenders, Jones could never quite be fit enough to fulfil that.
However, this season his meteoric rise and surprising fitness has led to United's new defensive acquisition, Victor Lindelof, warming the bench. Jones' classic English, blood and thunder style of defending has helped United to have one of the best defences in Europe.
His untimely injury against Huddersfield, coupled with an injury to Eric Bailly has led to United leaking a lot of goals. Although he has returned to action, it looks as if he needs some time to get into the groove.
#3 Ashley Young
If I had told you 6 months ago that Ashley Young would be Manchester United's first choice left-back, you would say that I'm insane.
Fast forward to now and the former Aston Villa winger has pushed 3 specialist fullbacks namely Luke Shaw, Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind down the pecking order. The 32-year old has taken a leaf out of his team-mate Antonio Valencia's book and worked on his defensive attributes to stay relevant in the ever-changing Manchester United back-line.
In 16 league appearances, Young has scored twice and assisted a further 4. His natural ability to cross the ball into the penalty area is perhaps another factor that has led Mourinho to keep faith in him.
#2 Jesse Lingard
Jesse Lingard was thrust into the first team under Louis van Gaal and despite being talented to quite an extent, he's failed to nail down a starting 11 berth and had to be content with a peripheral role.
That was until this season. If there was is Manchester United player who is in form, it has to be Lingard. Starting from the Watford game, Lingard has largely displaced Henrikh Mkhitaryan as United's no.10. His solo goal against Watford, brace against Arsenal and the recent (United's face-saving) goals against Burnley have endeared him to the Old Trafford faithful.
Also, Lingard's work rate is a stark contrast to that of Mkhitaryan, where Lingard puts pressure on the opposition defences and tries to draw out an error.
#1 Paul Pogba
Manchester United's record signing and the most expensive transfer (at the time), Paul Pogba had a largely disappointing return to Old Trafford. The world's costliest player tag sort of seemed to weigh him down and he could just manage 9 goals and 6 assists in 51 games.
This season, however, after Neymar's record-breaking transfer to PSG and the arrival of Nemanja Matic for the midfield anchor role, has somewhat unleashed his full powers. He no longer had the tag of the most expensive player and was relieved of his defensive duties. This enabled him to play a much more free role on the pitch and he's already racked up 3 goals and 6 assists in 18 games this season.
Those numbers don't really show the full picture. Pogba's absence due to injury coincided with United's poor form. The stats are there for all to see- with Pogba, United have claimed an average of 2.6 points and scored 3.2 goals/game whereas in his absence those figures dropped to 1.8 pts and 1.5 goals respectively. This just proves how much United depend on their enigmatic midfield general.
