Manchester United finished 7th last season in the Premier League, their worst possible result in almost a decade. After the retirement of their legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson things did not shape up well under Scottish manager David Moyes. The club terminated Moyes’ contract and decided to bring in another experienced and veteran manager Louis van Gaal at the helm of affairs. The Dutch man decided to reconstruct his squad and in the process, made quite a few marquee signings last summer. He spent a total of 196 million Euros to acquire the likes of Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Marcos Rojo, etc.
The team had an impressive pre-season tour where they defeated the best clubs of the world including reigning European Champions Real Madrid. A lot was expected from the Dutch manager who had guided the Netherlands national team to the World Cup semi-finals just a month back.
Unfortunately, Louis van Gaal’s debut did not go as per his plans. Manchester United went down 1-2 in their very first match of the season against Swansea City. In the first four matches under his reign, which included 3 Premier League and 1 Capitol One Cup match, they failed to register any win. They even lost to a League 1 team M.K Dons. Van Gaal’s maiden victory came against Queens Park Rangers in September when United thrashed them 4-0. But again they faced an embarrassing 3-5 defeat in the hands of the newly promoted side Leicester City. Things were looking a bit messy and the nightmare of the previous season were haunting the fans yet again. The team was jolted by continuous injuries. Almost half of the squad went out with injury scares and Van Gaal had serious issues to deal with the crisis. But thankfully the experienced Dutch manager handled the situation well. Manchester United came back to winning ways from the setback strongly. Since November 2014 the team started winning matches in the League and remained unbeaten for quite some time.
Manchester United is currently placed at the third position in the league table behind Chelsea and their city rivals Manchester City. Even though they are 9 points behind the league leaders, they are still highly in contention of winning the title.
The main problem, which the team is facing is their back line. They had almost spent more than 60 million Euros in acquiring defenders like Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, and Daley Blind. The thinking behind shelling out so much cash for 3 players of the same position was not clear. Marcos Rojo is primarily a left back. Shaw and Blind too prefer to play from the same position. The lack of quality center backs in their squad made them loose crucial points in the earlier stage. Also the team took time to adjust to his 3-5-2 formation. They have only managed to find one good center back in the name of Paddy McNair who is a product of their youth system.
Best Players so far in the team.
David De Gea: The Spanish goalkeeper is undoubtedly the live wire in the team currently. His impeccable performance throughout the season has kept the team afloat in the title race. De Gea’s inspiring performance has saved the team from defeat in many occasions this season. He was practically unbeaten in almost every game.
Wayne Rooney: He is the leader of the team in every respect. The versatile captain nowadays operates generally from the midfield just behind Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie. His work rate is simply outstanding. Rooney creates chances, scores goals and defends when required. He is undoubtedly the best on-field player in the squad right now.
Prediction
Manchester United are likely to finish at the same position which they are holding currently, 3rd. Even though they are still in reckoning to win the title, it is highly unlikely that they will win it in reality with such a poor defensive lineup.