Last season Louis van Gaal had a World Cup to negotiate before he even took the reins at Manchester United.
Yet he brought several world stars to the club. As it turned out Radamel Falcao bombed and Angel di Maria wanted to leave the club, just a year into his contract – but, in fairness to the Argentine, he was left to rot on the bench for the second half of the season which the lad would not have expected given his status as one of the top 10 players in world football.
This summer there is a real concern about arrivals at this point.
Because, with a whole summer to make his mark on the squad, there are still worrying frailties in the team.
Yes, he has made Manchester United a much sturdier looking unit. The additions of Matteo Darmian to the defence and Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin to the midfield gives Manchester United a far more sincere look.
And Memphis Depay could become a world star in a year or two.
But, so far, you would have to say that the calibre of those leaving – Angel di Maria will surely be followed by David de Gea – looks far better quality than what United have bought in.
And it’s up top where the real concern lies.
Because Manchester United have shed RvP, Falcao, Nani and Di Maria but only brought in Depay up top.
We believe that the front three is ever more important to success. If you have a world class front three then the rest of the team is secondary. Still important, but secondary to the front 3.
Barcelona have Alba, Mascherano, Pique and a veteran Alves in defence – decent but nothing special – but they have Suarez, Messi and Neymar up top. That’s why they are the best team in Europe.
Real Madrid have Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe and Carvajal. Again, there are mistakes in that group. But Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo negate those problems – which is why they are the second best team in Europe.
Manchester United have solidified their defensive areas but their front line looks thinner than at any time in the last decade.
Rooney is top class. And Depay could be but he isn’t even playing up front right now. Instead he’s in the hole behind Wazza, were his pace isn’t exploited and his impact has so far been negligible.
We wonder whether the sole addition of Pedro would be enough. Indeed have Manchester United given enough consideration to their attack over the summer? Is there still a list of targets or is Louis simply scrambling around for new options at this point?
More questions than answers and it seems that the options are running out for Manchester United in this window.
But we believe that if they don’t buy two more top forwards this summer then they will have another decent but unremarkable season.
