25 May 2021 11:36:27
I subscribe to The Athletic, does anyone else? The journalism is good and feels more reliable than the gutter press (although not the Eds on here) . A recent article of theirs suggests that we want to land one of the following: Kane; Ronaldo; Sancho or Grealish and have one of these 'marquee' names supplemented by one of Varane, Pau Torres or Kounde with Rice as an option for the holding midfield role.

The above names will clearly be expensive, whether that be transfer fees, wages or both. So who strengthens us most?

In my humble opinion the spine of the team is the most important and it is where we need to improve the most. Next year we 'should' have a clear number one, likely Henderson, and that consistency should help the defence. Maguire will remain undisputed first choice, and in fairness to Harry we have quite clearly missed him despite his shortcomings. Shaw, for example, is a much better player when he is alongside Maguire. It's no great shock that we are desperate for a centre back and so in my opinion this has to be a priority. The transformative impact of Van Dijk and Dias on their respective title winning teams is evidence enough. If it wasn't for his injury record then I would be all for Varane, however on balance I fancy Kounde to blossom over the coming years and could see his attributes marry up well with those of Maguire.

Aside from centre back the first choice central midfield pairing of Fred and McTominay is a glaring weakness. They don't match up favourably to any of our rivals, including lower down the table with the likes of Allan and Doucoure at Everton or even McGinn and Douglas at Villa. They lack the quality on the ball and the forward passing capabilities to make an effective pairing. Typically you want a 'passer' and a 'runner' and whilst I have no issues with McTominay as the 'runner' I have 1000's of issues with Fred as the 'passer'. Is the problem the players or is it Ole's selection? Would Pogba in a two or DVB in a two alongside McTominay be better? Yes, I think it would but not with a leaky defence. It may well be that strengthening defence allows is the panacea for the midfield thereby lowering the priority of the likes of Rice.

Shifting gaze to the front man now. You all know my loathing of Martial, if he wears the shirt one more time it will be one time too many. Cavani is a class act, but is very much the wrong side of 30 and cannot start twice a week despite his professionalism. Greenwood may develop into a number 9, but at 19 can we lead the line for Manchester United? Yes, Rooney did, but he was paired with a van Nistelrooy and didn't have to do it all himself as a lone striker. I think this makes the case for a number 9 quite clear. If a player like Kane becomes available then you can't let him go to a rival, imagine Kane in the Man City team, it would be frightening. Even in a poor Spurs team he's nearly hit 25 League goals this year and has won the Golden Boot, again.

Kane leading our line with Cavani playing more of an impact role is frightening. Greenwood to the right where he has been most impressive and Rashford reinstated on the left with Bruno behind is as strong as anyone in Europe. If we can keep Pogba and play in a midfield two with a strong defence behind him then there are very few holes in the squad. Amad is coming on leaps and bounds, he should be rotated with Greenwood on the right and deserves more game time. Bringing in a Sancho would severely hinder the progress of a young man that we paid £35+ million for.

This team has made progress, 2nd in the League and potentially a European trophy is evidence of that and we need to build on this momentum. With a stronger spine, strengthened by Kane and Kounde, could see us lift the title.

1.) 25 May 2021
25 May 2021 12:44:03
Athletic as in a Charlton fanzine? 😁.

2.) 25 May 2021
25 May 2021 12:51:51
Fresh!

I agree with you about Sancho. However he can also play on the left wing aswell. If he did play there it might help to spurs Rashford on aswell as ensuring that he gets over his injuries that have hampered him.

The maim thing Utd must do, is to prioritise their signings. No messing clubs about etc. If a deal can't be done move onto the next target.

3.) 25 May 2021
25 May 2021 13:51:57
How is mctominay considered a runner or better than fred? Scoring a few goals doesn't make someone a good dm or b2b mf. I agree that fred is poor on the ball, but mctominay is no better than fred on the ball, atleast fred actually contributes defensively, most times i see mctominay in defensive situations he just stands around hoping wan bissaka or one of the cb's take care of the defending bit. The few unfortunate times he does take the initiative to win the ball back, it more often than not ends up being a foul. He's basically Cleverley just taller and even more scared of forward passes.

4.) 25 May 2021
25 May 2021 15:23:09
CsM,

I was a bug fan of McTominay, when he played as a box to box midfielder. But he hasn't played as one for a while now and is largely ineffective alongside Fred.

The problem is when managers play players out of position and makes them less effective on the pitch. That said, there is no excuse when it comes to giving the ball away cheaply.

Fred has bags of energy, but tends to go on a one man mission, usually in front of our area and lose the ball.

The simple thing of passing the ball is often made hard in this Utd team. Either the Systems doesn't work or the players aren't good enough or quite simply, it is both.

Hopefully this summer, we will see better players arrive. I'm hoping for 2-3 player arrivals with a few players being released and sold. I'm hoping to see a complete team, rather than a patched up team.

5.) 26 May 2021
25 May 2021 15:30:36
I do as well Fresh, but I wouldn't say they are any more reliable than anyone else. I suppose they need to attempt to seem that way in order to justify the subscription cost. Most of their journalists have worked elsewhere before, some for decent journalism institutions and some for utter rags and gutter press.

As for where is the biggest area of need, I'd have it closely tied between CB and CDM.

In defence we are lacking a genuine world class player and leader. If we could sort out a deal for Varane we would have one of the best defenders in the world during his peak years. Its a no brainer if we can conclude such a deal. While being 28 means he isn't a long term impasse to some of the younger CB's we have coming through such as Teden Mengi.

However, I think it is in signing someone like Rice that has the greatest chance to be transformational to our side in my opinion. Bringing in a true holding midfielder and relinquishing our dependency on McFred means we could play a more creative and technically proficient player along side the new signing in a double pivot. Meaning our midfield will be better placed to dictate the game and exert more control on a game. Giving us greater defensive solidity and a better platform to launch attacks.

I'm not so convinced about a striker as a big need, certainly not now we have Cavani for another year.

If we can improve our defence and midfield then we will be less reliant on our forwards to score multiple goals to win games and outscore the number of goals we concede. While the greater control of the game means we will likely create more chances and chances of higher quality.

Considering we will have Cavani, Greenwood, Rashford and Martial who are all very talented and capable of scoring 20 goals a season each. I don't see a dying need for a striker.

I have a lot of faith in Greenwood and feel he could surprise a few next season. He turns 20 in October and looks to have filled out and matured recently. He has had a tough season off the pitch and has shown a certain amount of resilience to over come those issues and find his form again.

My main concern beyond CB and midfield is that we heavily rely on Bruno for creativity. Therefore, I'd look to bring in another player who can carry some of that burden and even allow us to rest Bruno occasionally without completely blunting our side.

Sancho is the obvious name, but if the budget doesn't stretch that far then Raphinha or Pedro Neto could provide interesting EPL proven alternatives.