After a successful campaign last season in which they won the League for a record 19th time and finished runners-up to Barcelona in the Champions League, the Red Devils get prepared for another grueling season, albeit some changes. Sir Alex has surprisingly gone out and spent more than his rivals Chelsea and Arsenal and the fresh blood coming in should make them serious favourites for the title this year again. But there a whole lot of United loyals who will not be a part of the champions’ title defence this season.
Manchester United – What's in store this season?
United’s talismanic midfielder Paul Scholes bid farewell to the game after a glorious career while aging goalkeeper Van der Sar also announced his retirement. While Ferguson has signed David de Gea as a replacement for Van der Sar and the young 20 year old from Madrid has big gloves to fill to stake a claim among the United legends. On the other hand, United, through strongly tipped to sign Wesley Sneijder, haven’t yet found a replacement for Scholes and Ferguson is quite confident that Anderson can step up and take the place of the United main man since a decade. With Darren Fletcher also struggling to recover from injury, Tom Cleverley is another youngster Ferguson sees with the potential to succeed Scholes. Darren Gibson has played alongside Carrick occasionally but has been a touch inconsistent in the middle.
The off-season also Ferguson sign Aston Villa star Ashley Young who can operate on either flank and also play the role of the supporting striker if required. The signing also means that United now have a surplus amount of players to play on the wings. Antonio Valencia has sufficiently recovered from the injury that forced him to miss a major part of the season last time while Nani, despite being left on the bench for the Champions League final, is an integral part of Sir Alex’s side. Ryan Giggs, like wine, has been getting better with age, and will be desperate to add another league and European Trophy in his glamorous trophy cabinet before he calls it a day. Park Ji Sung doesn’t start as much as he used to in his hay day but Ferguson knows his worth and has quite often proven to be a big match player. Gabriel Obertan is a star for the future and it is speculated that he will move to Newcastle for a season on loan.
Last season Ferguson had a problem with his forwards. Wayne Rooney was woefully out of form while Berbatov was solely responsible for leading the attack line. Javier Hernandez was just a rookie and nothing big was expected from him. This time things have turned around! It is Berbatov who doesn’t find with Ferguson and found no place even in the substitutes for the final at Wembley. Hernandez scored 20 goals last season and is expected to be one of the players to watch out for this season. Rooney, after realizing that his future is at Old Trafford, is the player of the old terrorizing defenders with his runs and sharp shooting abilities. Michael Owen signed a one year extension and is expected to play an important role whenever he gets an opportunity while Bebe, Macheda and Welbeck are all expected to break into the first team sooner rather than later.
Ferguson’s back line looks even more stronger than it did last season despite the departures of Wes Brown and John O’ Shea to Sunderland and the retirement of Gary Neville. Vidic like always is the rock of the defence while Ferdinand will look to remain injury free this season. Chris Smalling impressed quite a few whenever he played in place of Ferdinand last season. Rafael and Fabio are legends in the making according to Sir Alex while Evra is rapidly growing into one of the best left backs in the world.
United’s full force will begin their season at Wembley as they take on their noisy neighbours and title contenders Manchester City in the season opening Community Shield clash and that will be a sign of things to come in the upcoming season.
Tags: Community Shield, David de Gea, EPL, Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League, Red Devils
