What Manchester United need to do to win back the Premier League

After a trophy less 2011-12 season, Sir Alex Ferguson must not only win back the fans and the critics by making statements of intent with marquee signings but he must also look towards the future and build a rock solid bedrock of a core group of players who will go on to define United’s success on field for years to come. For that he needs to build a squad strong enough to handle the rigors of 4 competitions as well as take injuries and suspensions in its stride without compromising on quality.

Assuming that a perfect squad of 25 players would include 2 players for each position in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, 3 goalkeepers and 2 players who could probably fit in different positions like a certain John O’Shea plus as many squad players and reserve players as you like outside the 25, the United squad at the end of the last season can be broken down as follows:

Goalkeeper:

1. David De Gea
2. Anders Lindegaard
3. Ben Amos

Defence:

1. Patrice Evra
2. Fabio
3. Rio Ferdinand
4. Nemanja Vidic
5. Jonny Evans
6. Chris Smalling
7. Rafael

Midfield:

1. Michael Carrick
2. Anderson
3. Darren Fletcher
4. Tom Cleverley
5. Ashley Young
6. Antonio Valencia
7. Nani
8. Paul Pogba

Striker:

1. Wayne Rooney
2. Chicharito
3. Danny Welbeck
4. Dimitar Berbatov

Utility:

1. Phil Jones

Squad Players:

1. Ryan Giggs
2. Park Ji Sung
3. Michael Owen
4. Paul Scholes

Among these players there have already been and there will be a lot of movements during the course of the summer. We will tackle them again department wise.

GOALKEEPING:

If we start with the goalkeeping department, there will be no changes with it being reshaped just last season with the signing of De Gea and Lindegaard the season before. So, there will be no departures from here. Tomasz Kuszack has been released; however he had absolutely no role to play last season.

LEFT BACK:

There already are two players present in Evra and Fabio. However, Fabio will be sent out on loan as stated by Sir Alex. Secondly and more importantly, Evra is not growing younger and at 31, age is catching up with him.

CENTRAL DEFENCE:

There again will be no departures from this section of team, and barring injuries, it is by far the most stable department in the entire squad with 4 solid players in Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans and Smalling. If you’re thinking where Phil Jones is, have patience, I will come back to him.

RIGHT BACK:

In defence, this is the trickiest position. The only recognized player in the squad is Rafael. Though he has an experience of more than 70 games and has played for us in that position in a lot of big matches, the question is whether you can put your money on him to do a job for us there like a Dani Alves. However, he is our best bet and I would retain him and trust him to come of age and really stand out this season.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD:

United’s Achilles heel since Cristiano Ronaldo left the club, this is the most crucial position which needs to be filled and quickly, with Paul Scholes being no more than a squad player in what will be most definitely his last season at the club. Although there will be no departures unless Fergie decides to release someone or Darren Fletcher does not recover from his illness, there are recruitments required just to bring back the penetration of the midfield into the opposition defense. The only confirmed departure will be that of Paul Pogba who decided to move over to Juventus without even giving a shot at a first team player at United.

WINGERS:

With United being overtly reliant on wingers to set up its attacks, there has been a lot of attention paid to this position and naturally as a result this position is quite well stocked with Nani, Valencia and Young with Park filling up whenever necessary. As for departures, Nani has been ringing the bells for a move away from Old Trafford which does not put Sir Alex on the backfoot but rather cripples him in his wealth of quality options. Park may also be loaned out in order to get him more playing time.

STRIKERS:

This position is also quite comfortable for Sir Alex with Rooney, Hernandez and Welbeck being on form. Owen has been already released and only a good offer is required for Berba to move on.

So, after seeing the probable departures, and considering that they all happen, the squad will something like this:

Goalkeeper:

1. David De Gea
2. Anders Lindegaard
3. Ben Amos

Defence:

1. Patrice Evra (issue with age)

1. Rio Ferdinand
2. Nemanja Vidic
3. Jonny Evans
4. Chris Smalling

1. Rafael

Midfield:

1. Michael Carrick
2. Anderson
3. Darren Fletcher
4. Tom Cleverley

1. Ashley Young
2. Antonio Valencia

Striker:

1. Wayne Rooney
2. Chicharito
3. Danny Welbeck

Utility:

1. Phil Jones

Squad Players:

1. Ryan Giggs
2. Paul Scholes

Now that we have the skeleton of the squad, we can look at replacements who can come in and make an immediate impact and fit into the squad.

In left back with only Patrice Evra present and with him losing a stride or so due to age, Sir Alex will not be content with just having Ezekiel Fryers as a back up option. He should therefore go for a left back who can not only alternate with Evra for maybe 2 seasons and then take over full time with Fabio for company.

Best Choice: Leighton Baines

In right back, Rafael will be first choice with Phil Jones who will be used as an utility player expected to chip in. Sir Alex has a lot of faith in Rafael and would like him to establish himself as a regular in the team. Therefore, no signings are required.

In Central Midfield, we required an attack minded player who could penetrate the opposition defence with incisive passes and Shinji Kagawa has already been signed to that end. But the Japanese player being only 23, Sir Alex will search for a more experienced operator who can pull strings in the midfield while pushing the play forward on a regular basis like Scholes and will be looking to sign someone.

Best Choice: Luka Modric

If Nani leaves, I don’t expect Sir Alex to allow Park to go on loan. However even then there won’t be good enough backups in place for Valencia and Young. I expect Sir Alex to play Kagawa there whenever needed along with Park and maybe even Ryan Giggs. Not a major problem and no signing is expected in this position as well.

Going forward, Sir Alex has world class strikers in Rooney and Hernandez and in Welbeck he boasts of a world beating striker of the future. However, he needs a striker in the mould of Berbatov who can hold the ball up in the final third and be target man for the wingers.

Best Choice: Robert Lewandowski

Thus, I expect Sir Alex to buy 3 more players in the form of Baines, Modric and Lewandowski this summer and I’m sure they will prove to be decisive in the title race next season.