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What The STARTING XI Can Look Like For The Red Devils And What To Expect From The Team Next Season

transfer, Manchester United transfer news, Daniel James

With the EPL 2019/20 season approaching soon, Manchester United have a race against time of shortlisting players they want to pursue and actually acquiring them. After a sub-par 6th place finish, fans would be expecting major changes in the both the system and the players at the club.

Senior team players like Antonio Valencia and Ander Herrera have been released recently. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer wants to revamp the squad at his disposal.

Afterall, rivals Manchester City and Liverpool have much better squads (Both quality and depth wise). The evidence for the same can be visible through the club’s actions. Alongside the aforementioned players, Millen Baars, Joshua Bohui, Zachary Dearnley, Callum Gribbin, DJ Buffonge, Regan Poole, Tom Sang, Tyrell Warren, Callum Whelan and Matty Willock have been released (with probably many more to go).

Daniel James has already been snapped up by Manchester United for a fee of 18 Million Pounds. The 21 year-old has shown a lot of potential and heart in the 18/19 season with Swansea City, but whether the winger will fulfill his dreams is still a question for the future.

What we have here is an analysis on the Manchester United squad, where we will discuss how they would  shape up by the first week of the upcoming EPL season (10th August,2019).

SQUAD

Goalkeepers

David De Gea has one more year left on his contract, and therefore Manchester United should try and tie him down to a new deal ASAP. He has been the  one of major positives in the past few seasons, but United’s form might have rubbed off on him in a few performances. I guess that’s what happens when your team stops performing at their best.

Others like Sergio Romero and Joel Perreira are very likely to stay put, so there isn’t much to discuss in this department.

Defenders (Full Backs)

Valencia has been released, and I believe Ashley Young should follow suit. The fact he was provided with a contract extension was weird, to say the least. Manchester United need to get players like Joao Cancelo, Thomas Meunier or Aaron Wan-Bisaaka  to inject that pace into their overall gameplay since dynamism is such a big part of United’s style.

Coming to Diogo Dalot, he is the sort of talent who had very good patches of form last year, but still has a lot to improve as a complete player. We predict a sort of command in his playing style as the years progress. Luke Shaw hasn’t been able to play at his very best, but just like Dalot shows a lot of promise. People expected him to adapt pretty quickly to life at Old Trafford, but he hasn’t been able to do so.  

He has shown some signs of improvement and still shows that willingness to grow more as a player, even though time’s running out. Timothy Fosu-Mensah is a fan-favourite at Manchester United and even though he couldn’t save Fulham from relegation, he has matured a lot over the past two seasons.

He is a very good second choice left back. I pretty much think about Matteo Darmian leaving for some other club as well after putting in below par perfromances.

Centre Backs

Manchester United should not think twice before putting Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo on the transfer list and pray to the almighty that they’re snapped up. All three had absolutely horrendous seasons, with no signs of improvement. Manchester United have been woeful in this department in the past 3-4 years and they are the prime accused.

Some sort of belief can only be restored among the Manchester United faithful if they end up purchasing atleast one excellent CB , with names like Matthijs De Ligt, Kalidou Koulibaly, Kostas Manolas, Harry Maguire and Ruben Dias to name a few. Eric Bailly has been good whenever he’s played, but his recent injury against Chelsea highlights how injury-prone he is.

This might end up being the reason why he’s put on the transfer list aswell, but that’s a bit unlikely. The only defender who’s definitely gonna be in the starting line-up is Victor Lindelof. He has been the Red Devil’s best defender last year. Also, Axel Tuanzebe has been brilliant for Aston Villa and should make it into the first team squad next season.

Midfielders

Nemanja Matic has one more year left in his contract. To give him a new contract would seem very stupid, given his performances. What would be even more stupid is letting him on a free transfer next year. So, Matic needs to be sold.

Eric Dier has been touted as the perfect replacement for Matic, with Ole apparently very much liking his playing style. Sean Lonstaff is also a midfielder on the club’s radar, with him playing quite brilliantly this season.  Fred, Andreas Perreira and Scott Mctominay should be retained as all have shown glimpses of brilliance in the past season.

What all three lack is experience, which can be easily garnered this season and then a more thorough and informed decision could be made on their fate. Solksjaer would have more time to see al three play, and according to his playing style can assess and come to a conclusion about which of these he could see playing for him after the next season.

Now coming to Paul Pogba, he is the sort of player that everyone knows has a lot of class oozing.  He’s the best midefielder among the lot, but he hasn’t been completely able to replicate his playing level at Juventus under Allegri. Maybe a move to Real Madrid to play under the guidance of Zizou would have footballing gods smiling on him once again, but currently he isn’t helping Manchester United.  

Some speculation about Manchester United buying James Rodriguez, Youri Tielemans or James Maddison if Pogba actually leaves is doing the rounds and to be honest that wouldn’t be a bad deal. Ander Herrera has been released recently, but the same fate has been avoided by Juan Mata, who was offered a new contract for the shifts he put in.

Forwards/Wingers

Alexis Sanchez has spectacularly flopped at Manchester United. He’s the highest earner at the club at present and has drawn the wrath of the fans with his performances this past season. He’s even made some of his fellow team-mates wonder why they aren’t being aid as much. He’s carrying a lot of negativity with him, and thus needs to leave Manchester United.

Any club splashing money for him is highly unlikely, thus Manchester United need to find loan suitors for Sanchez and that too really really fast.  Jesse Lingard hasn’t performed well in a very long time for United, but since he’s a very good squad player (and him being a fellow from the academy) he should be retained.

Anthony Martial has somewhat a different approach towards the team, but he’s very talented (as he’s shown in the past). Martial’s form has been down for a while, but if Solksjaer is able to work on his attitude and believes in his abilities, Martial is a type of player who shouldn’t part ways with the team as of yet. If not, a certain Welsh Winger might be on his way to Old Trafford to fill his boots. Ring any bells?

Lukaku doesn’t seem to fit in Solksjaer’s plans at all and hasn’t proved himself on the pitch aswell. If any offer comes for him with a figure even close to the price Manchester United paid to get him, Lukaku will be happily sold off. Replacement options are many, with Mauro Icardi and Paulo Dybala being the ones talked about a lot.

Marcus Rashford, on the other hand has a completely different situation all together. Although out of form, Rashford is one for the future and one can expect him being offered a contract extenion very soon by Manchester United. Rumours that FC Barcelona have been doing the rounds for the yound English forward may be a bit stifling, but a deal being finalised for the same is difficult to say the least.

 

FORMATION

Solksjaer will most likely stick to a 4-3-3, with a triangular midfield. Transitions would be present in the midfield, where someone like Mctominay will play a deep defensive role, letting players like James Rodriguez, Maddison create chances and whip crosses in the box. A lot of direct football can be expected from Manchester United next term. A new centre back pairing is almost inevitable, with changes in the fullback positions pretty imminent as well.

 

ED WOODWARD AND HIS CONTRIBUTION

Ed Woodward made it his first priority to get a Technical Director at Manchester United after the sacking of Jose Mourinho. He needed someone to bridge the communication gap between him and Solksjaer.

A Technical Director also provides the club with different potential signings that could be snapped up  That task hasn’t been done yet, but should be completed in the coming weeks.

This hiring process should be sped up, as it might help discover more targets, thus in turn providing the club with more and more options to choose from. People in line for this include ex Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, as well as his one time teammate Darren Fletcher.

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