Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United fans – particularly those who reached adolescence when the Class of 1992 made the first-team cut – have channelled their inner Ronin (Hawkeye’s murderous avatar in Avengers: Endgame) to beg the team not to give hope. Over the years, there have been numerous false dawns, slivers of light ahead of the tunnel that have made United fans dream again before they were snatched away, like Morpheus’ Nebuchadnezzar’s lament: “I had a dream, but the dream was taken from me.”
There was the Van Gaal era where fans were convinced that a former tactician – a man some claim invented modern football – could bring United back to the glory years. Then they convinced themselves that the Special One, by sheer dint of willpower and personality (and a little bit of the dark arts), the fallen Lucifer to Pep Guardiola’s Michael, would be the right person to resuscitate the Red Devils. They almost persuaded themselves, when Ole was at the wheel, that the good times were rolling again. It certainly felt like that on that night in Paris and when United were playing like the Fergie teams of yore. They even dared to hope that a man named Eric would lead the charge again, much like the collared Frenchman who did it in the early Fergie years.
And now, Ruben Amorim, the youngest Man Utd manager in half a century, is playing the Pandora’s Box’s old trick again. Of course, on paper, Amorim’s record is nothing to write home about. His record in his first 13 games reads: five wins, two draws and six losses. Most other Man Utd managers actually have better records. Sir Alex Ferguson’s read: three wins, seven draws and three losses. It’s what came after those 13 games that makes Manchester United fans believe.
But there has been something of the old grit that defined Fergie teams that has Utd fans daring to hope again. The back-to-the-wall performance evoked an older Man Utd vs Arsenal clash: the epic 1999 replay.
The similarities are astounding between the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay and the 2025 third-round showdown between the two clubs.
- Manchester United scored first with a sublime strike (David Beckham in 1999 and Bruno Fernandes in 2025).
- Arsenal had a goal ruled out for offside (Nicolas Anelka in 1999 and Gabriel Martinelli in 2025).
- Arsenal equalised (Dennis Bergkamp in 1999 and Gabriel in 2025).
- United had a player sent off (Roy Keane in 1999 and Diogo Dalot in 2025).
- United’s keeper saved a fantastic penalty and made numerous other saves to keep them in the game (Peter Schmeichel in 1999 and Altay Bayindir in 2025).
The only difference in the 2025 match was that it was decided on penalty shootouts and not a wondrous Ryan Giggs goal that made Maradona look up from his cocaine pile.
And in a strange way, it was a mirror image of the 2005 FA Cup final with its infamous Band of Brothers viral image featuring Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Mikaël Silvestre and Quinton Fortune.
Incidentally, Manchester United battered Arsenal in that match – a follow-up to the infamous 4-2 “I will see you out there” Highbury fight – but still lost on a penalty shootout with Paul Scholes missing the last penalty. That day, United had eight shots on target, 12 off target, and 12 corners (far more than Arsenal) but still lost.
It was a different ballgame in 2025. Arsenal had 26 shots to Man Utd’s seven, 71% of the possession, and a 3.3 xG to United’s 1.1 but failed to make their mark. United players have been struggling to adapt to Ruben Amorim’s style, but against Arsenal (like they did against Manchester City and Liverpool), there was a slight glimpse of the taste in the pudding.
In the cult classic Coach Carter – when Samuel L. Jackson was whipping a bunch of askew young men into shape – he was asked by his team what they should do since they hadn’t practised attacking. To this, Jackson’s Carter had said: “Run.” And that’s what United players did in the match, all of them running together as a pack to keep Arsenal at bay.
Harry Maguire, often the pantomime villain on the football pitch and even in parliaments around the world, was a colossus in defence. Equally driven were Lisandro Martínez and Matthijs de Ligt, the latter finally learning how to operate in a three-man midfield.
Of course, Arsenal’s inability to finish was one of the major reasons this match went to penalties, with Kai Havertz moved around the pitch like Roy Keane was screaming “You can’t score in a brothel!” in his ear.
But United fans will rejoice at the grit from a team that, during the last days of the Ten Hag era, looked like they were simply not interested in playing football. Whether it was Bayindir’s redemption after the horror performance against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, academy graduate Toby Collyer’s gut-bursting runs, Bruno’s Roy Keane impression or Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte in midfield, this was a team effort.
And the performance came against refereeing that launched a thousand memes about Arsenal players diving with abandon, which included a soft penalty and a red card.
A swallow doesn’t make a summer, and Manchester United will probably have to suffer for many more years before they finally have a team worthy of cleaning the boots of any of the vintage Ferguson teams. But for the moment, United fans can at least hope that the current side, even if they lack the sheer world-class talent of the Band of Brothers or the 1999 winning team or any of the great Fergie teams, will give it their all every time they are wearing the United shirt.
Next up in the FA Cup: Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City, the last interim manager of Manchester United and a man who knows a thing or two about the gigantic expectations that come with wearing the Manchester United shirt.