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IN

Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk) – £47m
Diogo Dalot (Porto) – £19m
Lee Grant (Stoke City) – £1.5m

OUT

Michael Carrick – Retired

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Having watched those 2 games closely, I am of the opinion that midfield was the one area of the pitch where Ferguson could be out-coached. His successful teams thrived on pacy wingers and strikers who were mercurial on the counter attack. His style of play would see the wingers attempt to use the entire width of the pitch and whip in some deadly crosses or move infield to create in the box. Teams that were able to deny Manchester United width and control the midfield performed well against Ferguson.

There are 2 notable midfielders who featured for Sir Alex during his final years – Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick. Scholes developed into a playmaking master passer under Sir Alex but he was known early in his career as a box to box player with a devastating shot from long range. Carrick has been at the heart of most things that United do well for many years. He is adept at disrupting the opposing team’s passing all while being an exceptional passer in his own right.

Both Carrick and Scholes were featured heavily because of their ability to read the game and make every pass conceivable. Almost all the remaining midfield players featured under Ferguson were high energy (box to box) players. They were not as polished as passers.

Since the early 2000’s these are the midfield players either signed or promoted by Manchester United.

*Paul Pogba came up through the ranks at United and left on a free transfer in 2012.

*Jesse Lingard is still with Manchester United.

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2016/17 was another turbulent season at Old Trafford. Although Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United qualified for the UEFA Champions League after winning the Europa League, their Barclays Premier League form left a lot to be desired. Manchester United finished 6th in the standings – a whopping 24 points behind league winners Chelsea. The team accumulated 15 draws and score only 54 goals (23 less than 5th place Arsenal and 31 less than Chelsea). To make matters worse, Manchester United lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic to season ending injury having scored 28 Goals from 44 appearances in all competitions. Mourinho will definitely look to bring in some goal scoring options.

Similar to last year, it will be interesting to see who leaves during the transfer window. Although Manchester United boasted the 2nd best defensive record in the Premier League, Mourinho is looking to further bolster his defensive line. As a result, Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones find themselves on the list of possible exits from Old Trafford this summer.

The only guarantee this summer is that Manchester United will be linked with plenty of players.

IN

Victor Lindelof (Benefica) £30.7m
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £75m
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) Undisclosed

OUT

Josh Harrop (Preston North End) Free Transfer
Regan Poole (Northampton) Loan
Kayne Diedrick-Roberts Released
Faustin Makela Released
Wayne Rooney (Everton) Free Transfer
Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) £9m
Sam Johnstone (Aston Villa) Loan
Dean Henderson (Shrewbury) Loan
Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Crystal Palace) Loan
Guillermo Varela (Penarol) Undisclosed
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (Leeds) Loan
Matty Willock (FC Utrecht) Loan
Andreas Pereira (Valencia) Loan

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The match changed early on when West Ham’s Sofiane Feghouli received a straight red for a challenge on Manchester United defender Phil Jones. This forced the Hammers into a spirited defensive effort. They kept United at bay for 63 minutes until second half substitute Juan Mata opened the scoring. United sealed the game in 78^th minute with a Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike even though replays showed he was in an offside position.

A few talking points…

David De Gea the difference

The final stats showed Manchester United dominated the game with 64% possession and 13 shots on goal to West Ham’s 8 but anyone who watched the match would have seen that West Ham was in the game until the final minutes. United’s first goal came a few minutes after Michail Antonio failed to get past De Gea with a one on one opportunity. If not for the heroics of, the final result could have been a lot different. De Gea also saved a Manuel Lanzini shot in the 44th minute to keep the sides level before halftime.

 Return of Manchester United Magic

2 days after Manchester United scored 2 goals in the last 10 minutes of the game, the key refereeing decisions went their way in this match. The return of anything close to “Fergie Time” would be a welcome site for any Manchester United fans. These are still early days, but optimism is back in the red half of Manchester.

Manchester United streaking

Don’t look now but the Red Devils have now won 6 in a row. This streak dates back to a December 11th win against Tottenham. They also extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games. United last lost on October 23rd against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

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I find myself in a strange place with the rumored hire of José Mourinho on the horizon. I have the utmost respect for his coaching record but I must admit that I am not a fan of the man. The simple fact is he is a former Chelsea manager (2 times over as a matter of fact). This is a man that has helped shaped Chelsea history and made them into a premier league force. I was always worried facing this team even with Sir Alec Ferguson at the helm.

I cannot argue that he is a winner though. He is exactly what Manchester United needs in my opinion. There has been an outcry this season about the boring nature of the football played under Louis van Gaal. While I agree that the football was uninspiring at time, I believe that the “boring football” was just used as another reason to sack van Gaal. Had van Gaal’s boring football produced a string of 1-0 victories that propelled the club to the title, “boring football” would be an afterthought. At the end of the day, results matter most. Louis van Gaal’s team did not produce results expected of a Manchester United outfit.

With the sacking of van Gaal, José Mourinho is in pole position to secure the job. Many fans and pundits alike have labelled Mourinho as boring as well. This is due to the fact the Mourinho is known to play a very defensive brand of football in the big games. I have no issues with this. Sir Alec Ferguson was very conservative in big games as well and fielded teams that reflected that approach (Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher featured heavily in big Champions league games). Once again, results trump style here.

A further look into some basic statistics show that Mourinho led teams have shown a propensity to score goals. The 2015/16 version of Manchester United scored only 49 goals in 38 premier league games. They failed to threaten the opposing goal in too many games.

Check out this great article about José Mourinho from sky sports “Is Jose Mourinho really a defensive coach who doesn’t trust youth?“

Just to add to Adam Bate’s article here are some more numbers that show the scoring output  during the premier league season by Mourinho teams .

During José Mourinho’s first stint in the premier league from 2004-2007, Chelsea averaged 69 goals scored per campaign. Manchester United averaged 71 goals.

* José Mourinho’s left Chelsea on December 17th 2015.  Chelsea outscored Manchester United in both 2014/15 (Louis van Gaal’s first season in charge) and 2013/14 (David Moyes & Ryan Giggs).

For what it’s worth, I would have loved to see Mauricio Pochettino at the helm  of Manchester United.

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There will be no respite for Louis Van Gaal as his team faces Chelsea on Monday. If he is not relived of his duties today only a victory on Monday will extend is tenure. There is no quick fix for Manchester United but the Stoke game is rife with areas that Manchester United must improve on in order for United to start playing better. Here are 4 important observations that have lingered throughout the season.

1. Van Gaal has no idea what he can do to change Manchester United’s trajectory.

Much like his predecessor Moyes, he looks confused and lost. The problem for Manchester United is that unlike Moyes, Van Gaal was given free reign to spend (to the tune of £250 million). None of his players have made an impact. Matteo Darmian was the best player through the early part of the season but is now injured. Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Depay have been huge disappoints while Javier Hernandez is tearing up the Bundesliga with his goals (11 from 14 appearances). The most worrisome thing about Van Gaal’s tenure at Manchester United is that he still does not know who is best 11 is.

2. Manchester United confidence is at an all time low.

At no point during the game did Manchester United look like scoring. There was a vast difference when both team was on the ball. Stoke City (like all team against this Manchester United side) were confident on the ball. They were decisive in their movement and always looked like a threat to score. Arnautovic, Bojan and Shaqiri caused the United defense fits. For Manchester United, it was more of the same. Their game features lost of sideways and backward passing. This then leads to wayward long balls.

3. Memphis Depay should not be playing for Manchester United.

He is having a hard time adjusting to the premier league but the major issue at the moment is his attitude. He has not shown any desire and often spends more time sulking and complaining to the refs. He has also been guilty of giving the ball away on far too many occasions. He was culpable for the opening goal after a terrible attempt at a header to his goalkeeper. After scoring 22 goals for PSV Eindhoven last term, Depay has scored only 2 goals in 13 appearances for Manchester United.

4. Marouane Fellaini is hurting his team’s play more than he is helping.

Yes he offers a direct option but that’s the only thing he seems to bring to the team. His control and passing are very circumspect. There have been numerous occasions where United are showing promise in attack only for the ball to end up with to Fellaini. Because he is incapable of making the final pass, he often plays the ball backwards or sideways often overlooking the player making the forward run. Yet shockingly, Van Gaal has persisted with him.

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It would not happen on this night in Germany. Manchester United were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage following a 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg. This marked only the fourth time in their history that Untied failed to qualify for the knockout round.

The Red Devils were left to rue the many wasteful opportunities they had in a very open game. They struck first after a beautiful through ball from Juan Mata in the 10th minute. He found Anthony Martial who calmly slotted past the keeper for the first goal of the match.

A mere 3 minutes later, Naldo equalized for Wolfsburg. The defender volleyed past David De Gea after freeing himself from Smalling’s marking. Wolfsburgs’s quick response seemed to sap some of United’s energy. United were firmly on the back foot at that point. The hosts scored in 29th minute to take the lead. It was a delightful piece of football as Manchester United’s defense was carved apart.

Manchester United thought they had equalized shortly before the half only to have the goal waived off. After vociferous protests from the Wolfsburg players and fans, the referee ruled that Juan Mata who was in an offside position impeded the view of the goalkeeper.

Manchester United grew desperate in the second half. However, they rarely created scoring opportunities. An own Goal by Josuha Guilavogui, gave United some hope but Wolfsburg reclaimed the lead 2 minutes later. Again it was Naldo who found separation from the defense and put the ball into the back of the net.

All things considered, United were extremely poor in this years competition. Their inability to move the ball with pace and precision was quite glaring. For a club with such rich history, the result today is simply unacceptable.

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Attack/Forward

Centre-Forward/Goal scorer

Pace, pace, more pace and GOALS. On paper Manchester United have a formidable attack but last season’s goal returns showed the reason why they spent in the region of £6m (in addition to his wages during the season) to secure Radamel Falcao on loan from Monaco. Falcao turned out to be a disappointment scoring only 4 goals from 29 appearances. Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie did not fare much better with the former scoring 12 goals from 33 appearances and the latter scoring 10 goals from 27 appearances. Neither Rooney nor van Persie are known for their pace either. Swifter and more decisive movement would help Manchester United’s attack for the upcoming season.

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