By Mark Weasley
Last weekend in the Manchester derby, the gulf in quality was very evident as Manchester City swatted us aside with relative ease as two unlikely setpiece goals gifted The Citizens a 2-1 victory, which was amazingly their fifth victory at Old Trafford in six years. While United will point to the fact that record signing and influential player, Paul Pogba was suspended for the clash.
Jose Mourinho has spent more than £300m since taking over at Old Trafford last season but Sunday’s game showed that we still need more quality players to be able to compete with Manchester City and go on a run of dominance like we used to enjoy under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.
United have been linked to a host of top names such as Antoine Greizmann, Paulo Dybala, Gareth Bale and Ivan Perisic of which if we secure the signatures of one of two of these players, we can truly say that we have a squad that can compete with any in the whole of Europe. While Leicester City showed that not spending big may also give you the title, their triumph is a sporting miracle which can only happen once in a blue moon.
For a club to be able to compete favourably in The Premier League and in Europe, that team must possess proven winners and a squad full of quality in all departments. The January transfer window is knocking at the door, meaning that there is another chance for us to make inroads in the busy world of getting new players.
There are players currently at our team that wouldn’t start at our nearest rivals. For such players such as Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Ander Herrera and most recently launched, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, United must do away with such players and get individuals that can take a game by the scuff of the neck and change it. Though we have a team full of quality, we still can’t certain with the likes of Bayern, Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG, Manchester City and Barcelona, teams that are labelled as favourites to win the Champions League.
Our manager, Jose Mourinho must also alter his playing style a bit in a bid to attract more big names to our illustrious club, and take us back to the zenith of English football. Jose was brought in to return us back to our former glory. While the signs are there, a certain Manchester City and Jose’s nemesis, Pep Guardiola are looking more likely to dominate for some few years.
However, the unpredictable nature of the league means that no team can have it their way all the time. The next two transfer windows are two opportunities to set things right.
