Taking the broom to United, Van Gaal has work to do

For the coming English Premier League season, all eyes will be on the red half of Manchester to see if last year’s dramatic fall was just a stumble or something more.

Season 2013/14 was a disastrous 12 months which saw them sack a manager, slip from the top four and suffer something of an identity crisis becoming Manchester’s second team.

The World Cup break has provided a good opportunity for supporters to take a deep breath, and new manager Louis van Gaal and the backroom staff to take stock.

After an underwhelming transfer period prior to the 2013/14 season in which David Moyes used his summer and new found ‘big four’ wealth to bring in the most famous afro in Belgium and little else, it is critical this next six weeks yields some solid buys.

The new gaffer has the courage of his convictions, with the most recent evidence being his extraordinarily brave call to bring on Tim Krul in goals for the Dutch penalty shoot-out against Costa Rica.

With every English tabloid throwing around ridiculous rumours, it is impossible to know who the Dutch master has his eye on. So rather than speculate on who is coming to Old Trafford, let’s see who is likely to be on the way out and what positions Van Gaal will need to strengthen before the window closes.

In goals is probably the least of the Dutchman’s concerns, with David De Gea establishing himself as number one and beginning to live up to expectations, though some competition outside of Anders Lindegaard would be nice.

In defence, United were kitchen sieves in big matches last season, with losses including 3-0 to Liverpool, 3-1 to Chelsea and 3-0 and 4-1 results to Manchester City. The loss of Patrice Evra to Juventus is not earth shattering, but Luke Shaw will need to hit the ground running. Coupled with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand departing, suddenly there is a distinct lack of experience and leadership across the back four.

Phil Jones and Chris Smalling face make or break years, with the opportunity to grab a regular starting berth should they be good enough. United fans took a large sigh of relief when Alexander Buttner announced he was leaving for Russia and taking his below-par performances and Instagram account with him. Clearly a strong centre back should be at the top of Van Gaal’s list.

In midfield Van Gaal needs to put on his gardening gloves and pull out the weeds, with none bigger than Anderson (pardon the pun) and his fellow Portuguese speaker Nani. With a glut of midfielders at his disposal Anderson was shipped on loan to Italy last campaign, while Nani is the ultimate tease, so any bid of around $5 million for either player should be snapped up in an instant.

Ashley Young, who cost $18 million, will no doubt see United take a loss when sold but he is another who isn’t near the top 20 players at the club and should move before he becomes the next Shaun Wright-Phillips.

With an inexperienced back four likely, Tom Cleverley does not appear to be the man to guard them and does not possess the passing range to play higher up the park. He seemed bogged down by the pressures of Manchester United and a move to a mid-table team would be ideal for both player and club.

Michael Carrick and the returning Darren Fletcher will again be asked to shoulder this burden while the signing of Ander Herrera should help alleviate the pressure.

Now what to do with Moyes’ favourites Marouane Fellaini and Wilfried Zaha? Both have come with huge price tags and it will be interesting to see where each fits in with the new manager’s plans. My guess is that he’ll keep both of them considering they have both dropped significantly in value and United of late have worried increasingly about their bottom dollar.

Fellaini had his praises touted by Belgium Manager Marc Wilmots, who blamed Moyes for playing him out of position, while Zaha just needs a run of games to prove himself. Keeping these two on the books United would do well to buy another workhorse in the mould of Park Ji-Sung for those horrible away fixtures in Poland and the cold Wednesday nights in the midlands.

Finally the attacking mids and forwards can be an area of strength when Juan Mata, Adnan Januzaj, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie are in form. Last year they looked all at sea, with a number of forwards played out of position and not linking up, which was a trait of old United teams.

With those stars to choose from, Chicharito and Bebé (yes, he is still on the books) should exit stage left and perhaps there is room for one final piece in the puzzle.

With Liverpool signing Rickie Lambert as a back-up is Brendan Rodgers acknowledging that sometimes the big man upfront can work. Van Gaal showed at the World Cup using Klass-Jan Huntelaar as the later minutes specialist can work.

While I’m enjoying Man United having a period away from the top, if Van Gaal manages to sign a strong centre back, a workhorse midfielder and another centre half willing to be second string, the Red Devils could well find themselves back in the Premier League mix.