“I will be successful here. There are players here that won’t be part of that.” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on the 21st April this year. Fast forward the clock 4 months and his words have meant very little. Only the ageing Antonio Valencia and out of contract Ander Herrera have departed. The likes of Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly etc have all managed to somehow cling on to the club for longer, and the so called ‘clear out’ has failed to materialise. Some would say that is much like nearly everything the last few years under the Ed Woodward regime.
It is not just in the departures area where the club has failed. Bringing in Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will solidify the often shambolic defence, but it remains in the midfield and attack where the weaknesses will expose themselves once the season begins.
Looking at United’s central midfield there is 1 top class player, and that is a guy who wants to leave, Paul Pogba. To partner him you have the options of Fred (a guy who is very inconsistent), Nemanja Matic (who is arguably finished), Andreas Pereira (not proved anything at the top level) and a young and learning Scott McTominay. That is a very scary set of options for a team aspiring to be challenging for the Top 4 and the Europa League, and not improving upon that feels like a very foolish thing to do.
Ole seems like a nice guy by all accords, but you can’t help but feel United have a manager who is deluded in that ‘traditions’ of the club are going to lead to success. He believes playing the likes of Pereira and Jesse Lingard instills these traditions. It’s a complete farce.
With Romelu Lukaku expected to depart the club before Thursday’s transfer deadline it leaves the club very light in terms of Forwards. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have suffered massively with consistency issues over the last 2–3 years and the jury is still potentially out on both, in particular Martial, a guy who seems to often be standing on the touchline with his hands by his side. Rashford and Martial are going to need to deliver big time this season if United are to have any sort of success. Can they do it? Absolutely, but it still relies too much on situations and circumstances, something the true top clubs in the World do not do.
The saving grace for United is that the other challengers for the Top 4 places have question marks on them to. Arsenal are the equivalent of a bodybuilder who refuses to train legs, extremely top heavy and with zero to little foundations. Chelsea (like United) have a club legend as manager who is still very unproven, and who have been the victim of a transfer ban. Relying on Tammy Abraham as the forward to replace Eden Hazard is a massive gamble, and ultimately one that will make or break their season.
It is a long season, and surprises are often in the Premier League, but United are going to need alot of fortune and good management to get in the Top 4.
It is not just in the departures area where the club has failed. Bringing in Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will solidify the often shambolic defence, but it remains in the midfield and attack where the weaknesses will expose themselves once the season begins.
Looking at United’s central midfield there is 1 top class player, and that is a guy who wants to leave, Paul Pogba. To partner him you have the options of Fred (a guy who is very inconsistent), Nemanja Matic (who is arguably finished), Andreas Pereira (not proved anything at the top level) and a young and learning Scott McTominay. That is a very scary set of options for a team aspiring to be challenging for the Top 4 and the Europa League, and not improving upon that feels like a very foolish thing to do.
Ole seems like a nice guy by all accords, but you can’t help but feel United have a manager who is deluded in that ‘traditions’ of the club are going to lead to success. He believes playing the likes of Pereira and Jesse Lingard instills these traditions. It’s a complete farce.
With Romelu Lukaku expected to depart the club before Thursday’s transfer deadline it leaves the club very light in terms of Forwards. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have suffered massively with consistency issues over the last 2–3 years and the jury is still potentially out on both, in particular Martial, a guy who seems to often be standing on the touchline with his hands by his side. Rashford and Martial are going to need to deliver big time this season if United are to have any sort of success. Can they do it? Absolutely, but it still relies too much on situations and circumstances, something the true top clubs in the World do not do.
The saving grace for United is that the other challengers for the Top 4 places have question marks on them to. Arsenal are the equivalent of a bodybuilder who refuses to train legs, extremely top heavy and with zero to little foundations. Chelsea (like United) have a club legend as manager who is still very unproven, and who have been the victim of a transfer ban. Relying on Tammy Abraham as the forward to replace Eden Hazard is a massive gamble, and ultimately one that will make or break their season.
It is a long season, and surprises are often in the Premier League, but United are going to need alot of fortune and good management to get in the Top 4.
