Manchester United finished the 2009/10 season in 2nd place, just one point behind league winners Chelsea. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side has had a brief period to regroup after the 2010 World Cup and they will be looking to bounce back strongly this season. By defeating Chelsea 3-1 in the Community Shield match at Wembley on Sunday whilst wearing the new Man Utd home shirt, this will have given the squad a huge boost going into the start of the English Premier League season.
Over the last two seasons, Man Utd have not spent as much money as they would have in past seasons. This is down to the huge debts the club have and it might take years before they can make any major signings again. The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo left the club for a world record fee of £80m and Man Utd did not spend any of this, gives weight to their financial troubles. The club appear to be bringing in younger players to wear the 2010-11 Nike Man Utd shirt, including the capture of Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) for £7m and Chris Smalling from Fulham for £10m.
Although Man Utd’s season begins on Monday night at home to newly promoted Newcastle United, the club still has around 3 weeks to bring in another couple of players. Man Utd have a strong squad, but many supporters would like to see another creative midfielder in the team, such as German youngster Mesut Ozil, as a long-term replacement to Paul Scholes. Time will only tell if the Red Devils decide to spend any more money before the transfer deadline on 1st September.
If no other players are signed, Man Utd fans will certainly hope that their key players do not get injured, otherwise they might struggle to win the league this season. Rio Ferdinand only played a selection of games for the club last year and due to him getting injured in a training session just days before the start of the World Cup, he will miss the start of the season. Owen Hargreaves has had a couple of serious injuries and has been out for around 2 years; he will also miss the start of the season. Anderson was in a car accident over the summer and will also be out of action. Michael Owen and Wes Brown are injury prone players and due to the advancing years of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, they cannot be relied upon to play every game this season.
It means that players such as Danny Welbeck, Fabio, Rafael, Jonny Evans, Gabriel Obertan, Darron Gibson and Federico Macheda must now push to become first team regulars, as they should certainly be given more of a chance to prove themselves in the coming season or two. These young players could now be given the chance to become household names in a new Man Utd away shirt like Beckham, Giggs, Scholes and Neville did in the mid-1990s and due to Man Utd’s current lack of funds, there might not be a better chance to do so.
Written by Danny Watson, a sports writer who blogs about football shirts.
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