Losing the battle but winning the war. It’s a marathon not a sprint. We can roll out all sorts of sayings to appease the fans who are horrified by what’s going on at Manchester United.
Of course it was a bad result but, truth be told, no other team in The Premier League had an injury list anything like United’s at the weekend. It was a cruel blow for the new manager on his debut.
And, the fact remains, that this squad just needs its injured back plus a few tweaks. The team isn’t in as bad shape as the doom mongers would have you believe.
But, if the team lacks one potent quality most, it’s pace. United have good passers and finishers but they need someone to run at the defence at pace with the ball. Januzaj can do it to a degree but he lacks the experience and ground speed to have the sort of impact as someone like Robben – and the pace and power of the Dutchman is exactly why Louis’s 3-5-2 worked so well at The World Cup.
Luke Shaw will add pace on his return. But Manchester United need to buy more in.
So Louis needs to add raw pace to his side and recent reports suggest that he may spend around £66m on exactly that. They are close to sealing a deal for Marcos Rojo – a very quick lad. The Guardian says:
Manchester United close in on signing Marcos Rojo from Sporting Lisbon
Argentina defender valued at £16m plus Nani
And, in terms of potentially available additions in the forward areas, perhaps we need look no further than Angel di Maria. He is very Robben-esque in his ability to carry the ball at pace up the field and trouble defenders. Reports today suggest that Manchester United are going to pull out all the stops to buy him. And he would offer just the boost that the squad needs right now.
The Daily Mail reports:
Manchester United are prepared to commit as much as £100million to their pursuit of Angel Di Maria as the ailing Barclays Premier League club try to beef up Louis van Gaal’s squad before the end of the summer transfer window.
The £100m would cover both the Real Madrid winger’s £50m transfer fee and his wages at United
United manager Van Gaal is desperate for world-class additions and has told executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to do all he can to bring winger Di Maria to the club from Real Madrid.
Manchester United will probably have to pay over the odds for a player who is yet to convince on a long-term basis. But he’s coming into his prime, has just had his best season and will offer exactly the sort of pace and dynamism so badly lacking from this team. At this point Manchester United need to pay over the odds or get left behind.
Let’s see Di Maria in action. United fans: worth the cash?
Akilu bello
Aug 18, 2014 at 7:29 pm
Ed woodward you most buy new players be for closed transfer window,
Iswell
Aug 18, 2014 at 9:13 pm
Please tell mr E. Woodword to do his best to sign Di Maria nd more quality players to strenghten the squad before d closing of window. man u is more than this mess.
gilbert
Aug 19, 2014 at 12:52 am
Di Maria is so good on the ball…. Try harder and sign him plus Alex Song and Darley Blind if we want to be title contenders as Arsenal have done.