Well that was tense. Manchester United’s season was finely balanced between success and failure for 71 minutes against Leicester before Bruno Fernandes’ penalty put us in front.
Fernandes up until then had been having a poor game, and many of United’s players had lost the ‘zip’ they began the restart with.
No harm done in the Premier League though. United finished in third place and several key players will be due a rest before the Europa League resumes.
Even when the competition begins, United may want to rest some of these players for the quarter-finals and trust the understudies to step up.
Here are five players in particular who need a break…
David de Gea
You could argue that the best way for David de Gea to get past his Chelsea error would be to play through it, but United have another strong option in Sergio Romero who deserves a chance.
The Argentine should get the nod for the rest of the Europa League campaign, and De Gea should have a complete break.
It will be good for him mentally and physically, just to take him out of the firing line for a bit.
He has not looked himself this whole season and needs some time off to prepare for next season.
Nemanja Matic
It was a mini-miracle to see Matic start so many games for United through this busy period.
The Serbian started three games in eight days, and was a near ever present in the Premier League since games resumed.
He should get an extended break now before next season, with Fred and Scott McTominay desperate for game time.
Paul Pogba
It has been great to see Pogba back in a United shirt after so many months out injured.
Yet asking him to play so frequently was always going to be tough on him after spending so much time out, and his performance level began to drop over the past fortnight.
So it is crucial he gets a little rest now at least until the Europa League semi-finals, with a view to conserving his energy for next season.
Bruno Fernandes
What Bruno Fernandes has been able to do since joining United has been near miraculous.
Yet his performance levels have begun to drop and against Leicester he completed only 66 per cent of his passes.
He is struggling to connect with through passes to his players, he just lacks the sharpness he arrived at, and you would expect this considering he started every single game since the restart.
United need to give him some time off, and next season it is imperative we sign a quality alternative.
Marcus Rashford
Like Pogba, Rashford should never really have been asked to start so many games after the lockdown.
Considering his back injury, Solskjaer was asking for trouble really by giving Rashford so little rest, and he has got away with it.
His form has been patchy too, so the reward has barely outweighed the risk.
Now United must let Rashford have a break, and efforts must be concentrated on signing a player who can help provide more variance abd rotation in attack.
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