Downfall: Manchester United 2013-19 Quiz

Answer: David Gill announces resignation as Chief Executive

On 20 February 2013, Gill announced that after ten years of service as chief executive he would leave his role. Ed Woodward replaced him in the role on 1 July. Moyes took up his role in an official capacity on the same day as Woodward, although his hiring had been announced on 9 May 2013.

Moyes wanted to bring his staff from Everton to Old Trafford, so Meulensteen was no longer needed. He left on 26 June and joined Anzhi on 1 July. Giggs became a player-coach on 4 July and took over as interim player-manager when Moyes was sacked in the following April.

Answer: Stoke City

United incredibly lost seven out of their 19 home games in 2013-14. As a comparison, the team had only lost seven home games in the previous four Premier League seasons combined (a total 76 games). While a couple of these losses were understandable, such as the defeats to the league's top two teams in Manchester City and Liverpool, others were less acceptable.

Moyes' first home league loss as Manchester United boss came on 28 September 2013 in a 1-2 loss against West Brom. It was the Baggies' first win at Old Trafford since 1978. The Red Devils also lost consecutive home games to Everton (a first win for the Toffees at Old Trafford since 1992) and Newcastle within a disastrous four days, with the Magpies winning at United for the first time since 1972. While United did lose their away game against Stoke, they beat the Potters 3-2 in the Old Trafford fixture.

Answer: Kevin Mirallas

Moyes' reign ended with a 2-0 loss to the Toffees. Baines, who Moyes had tried to bring to United during the previous summer, scored a penalty just before the half hour mark. Mirallas added a second just before half time. The result confirmed Everton's first league double over United since 1969 and saw United fall 12 points behind the Toffees in the Premier League table. Two days later, Moyes was sacked as United manager after just 10 months in the position. Ryan Giggs was appointed as the team's manager for the rest of the season.

Answer: Ben Reeves

Although the United side was fairly inexperienced, with players such as Reece James (no, not the Chelsea star) and Marnick Vermijl starting, experienced players such as Javier Hernandez, Jonny Evans and David De Gea all started the game as well. For the first goal, Evans missed a pass completely, with Reeves eventually finding Grigg who made it 1-0. Reeves also delivered the cross for Grigg's second and played a wonderful pass to Afobe for the third. Afobe also scored the fourth.

While Alli did not register any goals or assists that night, he did play the full 90 minutes and impressed so much that by January 2015 he had been signed by Tottenham Hotspur.

Answer: Three consecutive league defeats

United lost 1-0 to Chelsea, 3-0 to Everton and 1-0 to West Bromwich Albion in consecutive league games in April and May 2015. It was the first time that the club had lost three successive league games since December 2001. Van Gaal's side ended their rotten form with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace in the next league game.

The team's longest streak without a win was also three games. While United did lose twice to Liverpool in 2013-14, the Red Devils got their revenge by beating Liverpool both home and away in 2014-15. They would not lose to Liverpool in the league again until December 2018.

Answer: 9

Despite finishing fifth in the table, United had only the 10th best scoring record in the Premier League table. Van Gaal's men scored 49 goals, the least of any team in the top eight.

Manchester City (71), Tottenham Hotspur (69), champions Leicester City (68), Arsenal, West Ham (both 65), Liverpool (63), Southampton, Chelsea and Everton (all 59) all scored more goals than United did. It was not all negative however as alongside Tottenham, United did have the best defensive record in the league. (35 goals conceded)

Answer: Wayne Rooney

Rooney scored eleven Premier League goals and 17 in all competitions in the 2004-05 season, surprisingly leading the team in both categories. Martial also scored eleven and 17 in all competitions in 2015-16. Saha, who was in the same United teams as Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, never managed to become the top scorer.

Cantona was the club's Premier League top scorer twice, scoring 18 in 1993-94 and 14 in 1995-96. Kanchelskis netted 14 times in 1994-95 to win the team's top scorer award also.

Answer: Watford

United's losses were a 1-2 at home to Manchester City, followed the next week by a 3-1 away loss at Watford. In October, United lost 4-0 to Mourinho's former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The team then did not lose a game until May, but back-to-back losses to Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur ended the club's chances of making it into the top four.

United thrashed Leicester twice, winning 4-1 at home and 3-0 away. The Red Devils won 3-1 away at Bournemouth and drew 1-1 at home. They drew 1-1 twice with Everton, with the Toffees saving a late point at Goodison Park and a Zlatan Ibrahimovic last-second penalty saving United at Old Trafford.

Answer: Bayern Munich

United won their first European Cup in 1968, adding a second in 1999 and a third in 2008. The club won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1991, adding the Europa League to the club's trophy cabinet in 2017. Bayern won the Cup Winners' Cup first in 1967, then the European Cup in 1974 and the UEFA Cup in 1996.

At the time of United's 2017 win, Barcelona and Milan not yet won the UEFA Cup/Europa League. Liverpool never won the (now defunct) Cup Winners' Cup. The Reds of Merseyside will never join this elite group unless the tournament is somehow revived.

Answer: Chris Smalling

That season, City were dominating the entire Premier League and their coronation as Premier League champions was imminent. In fact, the gap between City and second placed United was so big that Pep Guardiola's side had the opportunity to seal the championship with six games to spare heading into the derby. City took a 2-0 half time lead thanks to goals from Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan, but United responded with 3 goals within a 16-minute period in the second half. Paul Pogba netted the first two goals while Smalling steered in Alexis Sanchez' free kick. City's title was sealed 8 days later when United lost to West Bromwich Albion.

It was a frustrating year of near-success for the Red Devils. United ended the year as runner-up in the UEFA Super Cup (losing to Real Madrid), Premier League (to City) and the FA Cup (losing to Chelsea).

Answer: 2010-11

The 81 point tally saw United win 25 games, draw 6 and lose 7. They earned more points than they achieved in 2010-11, when the team collected 80 points en route to their record-breaking 19th league title. They achieved 89 points in 2006-07, 82 points in 1995-96 and 83 points in 2002-03.

United's 81 point effort was the 10th best runner-up points tally in the history of the Premier League at the time and, with a second placed finish, it was United's highest league finish of the post-Ferguson era at the time.

Answer: The signing of Diogo Dalot

Dalot's signing was confirmed on 6 June, although he only officially joined United when the transfer window opened on 1 July. Grant joined from Stoke City on 3 July, providing back up for regular goalkeepers David De Gea and Sergio Romero. That same day, fellow goalkeeper Johnstone joined newly-relegated West Bromwich Albion from United. Blind's move to Ajax would only be confirmed on 17 July.

It was a frustrating summer for United fans who were eager to close the gap on Man City and keep the rapidly rising Liverpool at bay. Despite being linked with top players such as Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti, Celtic's Kieran Tierney and Lazio playmaker Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Brazilian midfielder Fred was the only big money signing of the summer.

Answer: Jesse Lingard scored the last United goal of Mourinho's tenure

While Man United's collapse in Mourinho's third and final season was bad, at least it didn't match the ending of the Portuguese manager's second reign at Chelsea (2013-15). After early losses against Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur, United fell behind the early pacesetters and never caught up. Heading into the game on 16 December 2018 against Liverpool at Anfield, United were on 26 points from 16 games. A Jesse Lingard equaliser to Sadio Mane's opener was not enough, with substitute Xherdan Shaqiri scoring two late goals to condemn United to their first league loss against Liverpool since 2014. Mourinho was sacked two days later.

Mourinho won 84 out of his 144 games at Old Trafford, a percentage of 58.33%. Sir Alex Ferguson achieved a 59.67% win record. Mourinho's final derby in charge of Man United came on 11 November 2018 in a 3-1 loss to Man City. Mourinho signed a total of 11 first team players during his Manchester United tenure, and in order they were Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Paul Pogba, Victor Lindeolf, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Alexis Sanchez, Diogo Dalot, Fred and Lee Grant.

Answer: 12

After being appointed on 19 December, United went on a three month unbeaten run in the Premier League, defeating Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Hove Albion, Leicester City, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Southampton while drawing with Burnley and Liverpool. The run eventually ended on 10 March 2019 when Arsenal won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Granit Xhaka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The early part of Solskjaer's reign also saw an improbable comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 of the Champions League and a late push for a top 4 Premier League finish. However, a run of just one win in seven games at the end of the season, including three losses in their last five, saw the Red Devils finish sixth.

Answer: 1.82

United's average points per game in the Premier League in those six seasons was 1.82 (to the nearest two decimal places). This averages at roughly 69 points per season. United's most barren two seasons in this period were the 2013-14 season under David Moyes (where the team managed only 64 points) and Louis Van Gaal's final season in 2015-16, where they only picked up 66 points.

Relative high points were achieved in 2017-18, when United were runners-up in three different competitions and achieved an 81 point, second placed finish. (Their best points tally and Premier League finish in the post-Ferguson era up to that point). While they only picked up 69 points in 2016-17, the club did win the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League. They also lost only five times in the league that year.

The period between 2013 and 2019 was a time of downfall for the massive institution that is Manchester United. The club still won trophies in this period, but failed to seriously compete for the Premier League or the Champions League and suffered several poor league finishes by the club's high standards. This period of time will also be remembered as a moment when their rivals Liverpool and perhaps more noticeably Manchester City began to consistently win the game's major trophies while United struggled to keep up.