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| '19 times and that's a fact' |
Two and a half months after knocking bitter-rivals Liverpool off their perch, the Champions head into the new season buoyed by a perfect pre-season with little to complain about. Good things come to an end for better things to come along. With the likes of Gary Neville, Edwin van der Sar and Paul Scholes hanging up their boots and gloves and a young wave of players including Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and Paul Pogba emerging to the front, it's the beginning of a new era at Old Trafford. Often criticised about merely grinding out results, the young team (averaging 22.5 years) that took the field against Noisy Neighbours Manchester City in the Community Shield showed displays of impeccable football and staged an Oh-my-god comeback.
Strengths:
1. Money well spent: The Red Devils have done very well in the transfer market. In David de Gea, they have captured a young, yet experienced goal keeper with great potential. Versatile Phil Jones will provide United with great options at the back, and in central midfield if required with his Michael Essien-y style of play. Wing wizard Ashley Young is, in my opinion, United's best signing so far for this season. He will provide United with additional artillery with his unlimited supply of crosses and will also be a great asset to the team in dead-ball situations.
2. New kids on the block: The biggest outcome of United's pre-season has been the emergence of Tom Cleverley (who has a smoking hot girlfriend, btw) and Danny Welbeck (whose girlfriend is not hot enough to be there on the internet, if he has one). They've been SO good in pre-season that Fabio Capello included them in the England squad for the Holland friendly, which sadly never happened. (Damn you, rioters). A large section of the United supporters are so impressed by Tom, that they feel there is no need to sign Wesley Sneijder.
3. Perfect balance and Plenty of Options: United have the perfect balance of experience and youth, of defence and attack. They have world-class replacements for almost every position. They had Dimitar Berbatov, last year's Premier League top-scorer on the bench. Now that's saying something.
4. The Roo factor: Wayne Rooney, wounded with his on and off-field problems, was a shadow of the player that blasted in 38 goals in 2009-2010. But he has a point to prove and he'll be raring to go. And when Roo gets going, you can't really do anything about it.
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| Orgasmic |
Weaknesses:
1. The Centre-back partnership: To be honest, the Vidic-Ferdinand duopoly, that was once solid as a rock and led United to glory on multiple occasions, seems to be coming to an end. There are plenty of options at the back- Vidic, Ferdinand, Johnny Evans, Cris Smalling and Phil Jones. But United are yet to find the perfect combination at the back.
2. The holding-midfielder: The CDM position has turned out to be a problem for Sir Alex. Whatever said and done, Carrick is good, but not world-class, which was evident in both the heartbreaking Wembley clashes last season (City and Barcelona). Fletcher has missed a lot of football lately, and it will take him some time to get into the thick of things.
3. Between the sticks: David de Gea looks a promising prospect and a good long-term investment. But critics often point out his lack of experience in the Premier League, his frail physique and his lack of composure. Edwin van der Sar's gloves will be hard ones to fill and his commanding presence and intimidating physique will surely be missed by United.
Pre-season:
Manchester United 4 -1 New England Revolution
Manchester United 7 -0 Seattle Sounders
Manchester United 3 -1 Chicago Fire
Manchester United 4 -0 MLS All-Stars
Manchester United 2 -1 FC Barcelona
Manchester United 6 -0 New York Cosmos
Manchester United 3 -2 Manchester City
Transfers:
Players in: Phil Jones (Blackburn, £16.5m), Ashley Young (Aston Villa, £20m), David De Gea (Atletico Madrid, £20m), Pierluigi Gollini (free, Fiorentina)
Players out: Wes Brown, John O'Shea (both Sunderland, undisclosed), Bebe (Besiktas, loan), Gary Neville (retired), Edwin van der Sar (retired), Paul Scholes (retired), Owen Hargreaves (released), Ryan Tunnicliffe, Scott Wootton (both Peterborough, loan), Conor Devlin (released), Joe Dudgeon (Hull City, undisclosed), Nicky Ajose (Peterborough, undisclosed), Robbie Brady (Hull, loan)
2010-2011 position: 1st
Football Finesse prediction: 1st, 2nd
Men to watch: Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones, Ashley Young
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