Why Daniel James should be proud of United’s first season

However, when the season finally got up and running, the attacker had to settle for a spot on the bench against Chelsea on the opening weekend. That gray August afternoon at Old Trafford was memorable for a variety of reasons: an overwhelming 4-0 victory over our old rivals, Pogba’s passing, Rashford’s final, but it was James James’ cameo at 16 minutes that stole the spotlight for the most part.

Carried on with the score on 3-0, our number 21 certainly wanted to make his mark in the proceedings, and when Paul Pogba released the wing on the edge of the box he had a thought in his head: shoot.

It certainly wasn’t the cleanest of finishes, but Dan and the 73,000 odd supporters of the Theater of Dreams didn’t care. After a summer of loss of the family for James, the emotion spread in his celebrations. It was truly a touching moment to see the euphoria that accompanied that goal and remains one of my personal highlights of the season so far.

After that, it seemed like a no-brainer for Dan, who took the Premier League in his stride. An initial top-top inauguration followed eight days later, in a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, before James scored against Crystal Palace the following week.