Last season couldn't end quickly enough for Manchester U. Summer brought some respite for their manager, their players, their fans and their pundits. It sort of wiped the slate clean and allowed them all to begin again with fresh hope. That's what close seasons are meant to do. It acts as a purgative. Everyone can dream again when the new season begins again.
But none of the fundamental problems have been solved for the club. Their fans are as deluded as always, their manager is as raw and backward-looking as he was in May, their players are no better, and their pundits are a handful of games from getting all narky and pissed off in front of global tv audiences again.
It won't be long now before everything implodes. We all know it. So do they.