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| Is Sneijder going to be the man pulling the strings this season? Photograph: Giampiero Sposito/Reuters |
Although United’s team lacked a degree of flair and creativity last season, a record-breaking 19th league title is signs that Fergie still knows what he is doing. A 3rd Champions League final in 4 years proves that he, and the squad, can cut it in Europe too. However, with heavy investment already under-way at Old Trafford he clearly feels that competition from the likes of Man City and Chelsea is increasing. The acquisitions of David De Gea, Phil Jones and Ashley Young at a combined price of nearly 70million shows that Sir Alex is buying young and he isn’t afraid to spend a few bob doing it.
Goalkeepers
With the retirement of Van Der Sar, there was a need for a new goalkeeper. Anders Lindergaard is unproven and will likely be the willing back-up to the newly arrived David De Gea. Ben Amos is a young and decent enough 3rd choice keeper. Leaving the oddly superb shot-stopping but unbelievably error prone Tomasz Kuszacak to be on his way out of Old Trafford.
Defence
The acquisition of Phil Jones and the emergence of Chris Smalling can only lead me to think one thing, an exodus of defenders from The Red Devils. Wes Brown and John O’Shea have been heavily linked to Sunderland and a move could not be far away. Jonny Evans will need to discover himself as a right back if he has a chance of staying at United, or he will be out the door (most probably on loan). Ferdinand and Vidic will be the main pairing at centre back with Evra ready to be ever-present at left back. Rafael or Fabio, if you can tell them apart, will probably rotate at right back. There is also talk of Valencia becoming an attacking full back to accommodate Nani and Ashley Young on either wing – but I doubt this will happen.
Midfield
The hardworking players such as Fletcher and Park have come to light in recent years, however, this has come at a cost of a lack of creativity. Scholes, will be sorely missed from the United ranks and a replacement is needed that can dictate the tempo of play. Ideally, this job will be filled by Carrick, however he proved last season that he can either blow very hot or very cold and consistency is not his strong point - the fact he favours a backwards or sideways pass is also worrying. A creative central midfielder is a must and it is of no surprise that names like Sniejder, Nasri and Modric have been mentioned.
The addition of Ashley Young to Nani and Valencia will offer a degree of rotation between the wingers and was an area that needed investment. Young’s pace and directness will be welcomed in the United squad.
Gibson should go after proving that all he has is a long shot. Anderson should be given one more season to prove himself as some sort of creative midfielder and players such as Obertan should be shipped out on loan for some first team experience.
Forwards
When you have players such as Rooney, Berbatov, Owen and Hernandez it’s hard to say that investment is needed. But add to this the return of Welbeck from his loan at Sunderland and it’s clear that no investment is needed. I was in a minority, but was happy when Owen was given a contract extension and I would also be disappointed to see Berbatov go. The infamous Bebe has moved on loan to Besiktas and I assume Macheda and Mame Diouf will be joining him on the loan list soon.
Dave
Was it not £50 million for De Gea Jones and Young?? Other than that good blog!!
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