I think we have a good squad. Maybe not good enough to win the title yet, or most likely even challenge, but still good enough to get top 4 and challenge for the title in 2020-21 onwards.
Firstly, we have a goalkeeper in De Gea who at his best is the best goalkeeper in the world. Its just a matter of whether he can regain his form from 2014-15 to 2017-18 and before, and judging by the solid pre-season he’s had, I back him to do so.
We also have the second best defence in the league, in my opinion. Maguire gets into every team in the league due to his defensive and distributional abilities, hence why City wanted him and Wan-Bissaka does the same aside from Liverpool due to his defensive abilities, potential and high energy. Along with that, Shaw and Lindelöf have great potential and judging by last season, both are fully on track to realise it.
Moving on to the midfield, McTominay is yet another player with a high ceiling and just like Shaw and Lindelöf, is on the right track to realise it and reach the top. His commitment is second to none as well, something any player needs to make it to the top of the game. Needless to say, Pogba is world class and would get into any team in the world when on song, let alone the league.
Most likely, the three who will likely play in front of Pogba and McTominay to start the season will be James, Lingard and Martial. Sharing an opinion with most United fans, I am not happy that Lingard is going to start the season as our number 10 due to the obvious reason that he’s not good enough for a team with title winning aspirations. However, Martial and James are two players with huge talent and potential, along with an astronomical amount of pace to burn. Martial has already shown his quality in various games over the last few seasons and if used right and mentored properly, could be magnificent this season. James has been extremely exciting during pre-season and showed that hyped up pace was no joke. While he’s been lacking in end product, that is something coachable and improvable.
Finally, Rashford is yet another one with massive potential. I honestly believe that if he improves his finishing, he will go on to be the 25 goal a season striker that we’ve been craving since Van Persie. He constantly gets into the right positions to score and has already outscored many greats when they were at his tender age of 21 (Henry, Drogba etc).
However, on a slightly negative note, we are lacking in depth a little in midfield and upfront if we don’t sign Mandzukic. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, as we have four very talented players coming out of the academy ready to be understudies to the first 11 in Garner, Gomes, Chong and especially Greenwood. In addition, players like Romero, Tuanzebe, Pereira, Mata, Sanchez and should we sign him, Mandzukic are more than capable backups who can make a positive difference too.
What i’m trying to say is that this is a talented squad that we have at our disposal who I think are capable of challenging for and even winning the title if not this campaign, then in future seasons. Its really not all doom and gloom if you try to positively break down our current squad as i’ve done, so lets be positive about this season!
I've got a lovely little prediction post I made earlier which I think should sum you up nicely.
