Do you still remember the season after Manchester United missed the European Championship last time?

Manchester United's club photographer has attracted the attention of new head coach Louis Van Gaal. At the time, Manchester United beat European champion Real Madrid 3-1 in front of 109,318 spectators in Ann Arbor, Michigan - a record of the largest number of football viewers in the United States.

"Thank you for returning the club to us," said the photographer who has worked at the club since 1993. He has witnessed the team's almost complete victory over the past two decades until the previous summer when Sir Alex Ferguson retired and Everton head coach David Moyes took over.

"Thank you, but I've done nothing yet," the Dutchman responded.

This scene happened during the preseason in 2014, when Manchester United scored 6 wins and 1 draw, scoring 18 goals. Newly signed Andel Herrera and Luke Shaw look in good shape, although Nemania Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand all left the team last month, it doesn't seem to matter. Van Gaal seems to be the one who solves the problem, everything is ready - although United ended up in seventh place under Moyes and interim head coach Ryan Giggs, the worst result since 1990 and therefore failed to compete in European competitions. Manchester City, which won the championship twice in three years, also needs to be pulled down.

The 2014-15 season was the last time Manchester United did not compete in European competitions - in fact, they only had 44 official games throughout the season. It is expected that the number of games this season will be similar - and how hard those long weeks may be. United played 59 games in the 2024-25 season, but this time, between October 4 and November 22, Old Trafford may have only one game.

Despite this sobering thought, people's optimism is now high. In 2014, those glamorous optimism bubble burst when Swansea City won the Premier League opening game 2-1 at Old Trafford. Manchester United drew 1-1 away with Sunderland in their second league match and 0-0 at Burnley in the third league. Between the last two games, Milton Keynes in the third-tier league beat Van Gaal's team 4-0 in the League Cup - a game that could have filled many gaps in the schedule. Former Manchester United captain Brian Robson asserted in June: "Everyone is saying that it needs a massive reconstruction - I don't think so", and this statement is being tested.

In this increasingly bizarre situation, Manchester United panicked. Marcos Rojo joined from Sporting Lisbon on August 20, and six days later, his Argentine compatriot Angel Di Maria joined from Real Madrid for a high price of £59.7 million. And Van Gaal wants more.

"There were a lot of rumors at the time, so once we asked him directly if he (Van Gaal) wanted me," Dutch defender Daly Blind told TA. "He said he was very happy with his roster and the season had begun - it was no problem because I was in Ajax. Then Manchester United lost 0-4 to a third-tier team and I got a call to join. I was very happy to join and play in the Premier League." On September 1, Monaco striker Radamel Falcao joined on loan for the season, people were ecstatic.

Van Gaal gave every player he took over, making an assessment before the transfer window closed so that United have time to act and avoid another disastrous season. Shinji Kagawa left as the window ended, as did Danny Velbeck. After international match days in early September, with the window closing, it feels like United's season will restart two weeks later against the Queens Park Rangers.

Darren Fletcher said in the offseason that targeting fourth place was "a dangerous mentality" and that Manchester United will "go out to win the league", but he will not spend another summer as a Manchester United player.

"Decisive action is needed," former club player Keith Gillespie wrote on Twitter. "After the road Manchester United is walking, it will die out with holes. The competitors are much better. We are back..."

"Ladamel Falcao. Angel di Maria. Marcos Rojo. Daly Blind," an excited writer wrote enthusiastically in the Manchester United Position fan magazine, I can't remember his name. "Read these names again. You're not playing Football Manager: This is real life. It really happened. They all play for Manchester United."

Signings like this help ease the pain of Manchester United missing the Champions League group draw at the end of August, and the Premier League was the focus because there was no intercontinental game to pay attention to (we will experience this again soon). Since England clubs were re-approved for UEFA in 1990, Manchester United has been able to compete in European competitions every year since mid-September. Their fans are used to playing in the Champions League and they will also laugh at each other when their archenemy Liverpool competes in the lower UEFA Europa League.

Then, suddenly there was no European competition.

But the ecstasy feeling from the signing is reasonable, as Manchester United beat Queens Park Rangers 4-0 — what Falcao called "Queen Park Rodgers" on Twitter. The Colombian didn’t even start in that game, but Ed Woodward, the principal mastermind of the huge summer transfer deal, left the boardroom seat with a smile. He saw Di Maria's outstanding performance in Manchester United's first outstanding performance this season.

Their next game is in Leicester City, not against Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in the same period last season; the 30 pound ticket for the away stands of the Royal Stadium was hyped up to 250 pounds, and Manchester United led 2-0 in 16 minutes - the goalkeepers were Robin Van Persie and Di Maria. However, despite its excellent offensive football, Van Gaal's side was punished for not being able to maintain possession and control the game when he took two goals twice. He conceded four goals in 22 minutes in the second half, shattering the confidence that he gradually built up after defeating the Queens Park Rangers. Home fans sang: "We want six!" Leicester City's club secretary called it the most exciting game in the history of the 12-year-old stadium, while the walls of the away locker room witnessed one of the most angry post-match coach roars in history.

"Indeed, we are a team in a transition period," a friend sent a message. "From bad to worse."

"That was a good meeting," forward Van Persie said of the post-match locker room meeting in Leicester City. "Everyone spoke freely and shared his feelings."

Van Gaal's record after six games is: 6 games, 1 win, 2 draws, and 3 losses. Last season, Moyes led his team to 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss - losing to Liverpool. Unlike the Scots coaching period, United got the easiest league start they could hope for, against all three new teams in the first five games.

Nevertheless, fans have an unfamiliar mood: patience is required. Van Gaal said it will take 100 days before we can see his results in taking charge of the team. Yes, three months are acceptable, and he is right, as Van Gaal's team becomes more pragmatic. Under Blinder's defensive cover, Manchester United lost only one of the next 15 games. The team beat Arsenal away and defeated Liverpool 3-0 at home. The team rose from 12th to 3rd before New Year's Day. At this time, the attention can finally turn to a non-Premier League event. The improvement in form helped during the long weeks between the matches.

In January 2015, Fletcher, Wilfried Zaha and Anderson all left; this month, the FA Cup became a popular adjustment, and the draw result was favorable: away against Yoville Town and Cambridge United - then home against the latter because they scored a 0-0 draw. The away game against Preston North was allocated 5,000 tickets and won 3-1. But then, in the quarterfinals, Arsenal ended the journey by defeating them 2-1 at Old Trafford.

As some degree of compensation comes from the continued outstanding performance in the league. From January 17 to April 12 to win the Manchester derby 4-2, Manchester United won 9 games, draws one game and loses one game, only 1 point away from Arsenal, who ranked second. Imagine what would have happened if they were doing well at the beginning of the season!

Chelsea leads by 8 points. On April 18, after they beat Manchester United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, the gap widened to 11 points. Losing 0-3 to Everton and 0-1 to West Bromwich at home resulted in a three-game losing streak, with seven days of dull time to carefully ponder those negative factors. United won only one of the last six league games, but – this season would be very satisfying – the fourth place result allowed them to qualify for the Champions League play-off, which they won and returned to the group stage.

This is a season of mixed feelings.

Di Maria scored only 3 goals in the league.

"It might surprise you, but Angel Di Maria is one of the best players I have ever met," then-United Central defender Chris Smalling told TA. "The ending was a bad ending, but when he first signed, he looked incredible. He did it on the court at the beginning too - he scored a sling in Leicester City, and I thought he would take us to the next level. We all looked at him and thought, 'We just have to give him the ball and he'll do something special'. Unfortunately, his days at Old Trafford ended so quickly that he was considered a loser because he was a great player."

Falcao averaged over 30 goals per season in four previous full seasons for Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco, and scored only four goals at Manchester United.

Smolin also liked him: "Radamel Falcao is one of the kindest people I've ever met. He speaks very well in English and is friendly. He talks to everyone on the training ground. We all really hope he can perform well, he has an amazing goal record, but he joined after a serious injury (an ACL torn in January of the previous year) and things didn't work out.

"Sometimes when things don't work out, the players are mainly responsible and you don't feel bad for them." Falcao is different. Due to previous injuries, he just couldn't play. A year later, he started scoring for Monaco again (30 goals in the 2016-17 season). ”

Van Gaal had a famous saying when signing in Falcao: "I believe we will make history together." Time proved him wrong.

This guy has a system, but came to a worrying and familiar conclusion: he has no player suitable for this system. He was in office for two seasons, but Manchester United qualified for European competitions in both seasons, and every season after that... until the past season.

For a Manchester United team who is also in transition, this may be a blessing in disguise - hope not to get worse.