AFTER returning to the Premier
League’s top four, Manchester United have once again recruited
extensively but there are concerns about the balance of their squad
ahead of the new season.
Manager Louis van Gaal has spent around £77 million, notably
bolstering his midfield with the additions of Bastian Schweinsteiger and
Morgan Schneiderlin, to take his spending since succeeding David Moyes
last year to around £230 million.
With Robin van Persie and
Radamel Falcao having left and Javier Hernandez out of favour, it leaves
Wayne Rooney shouldering a heavy burden up front, but former captain
Bryan Robson believes the midfield reinforcements can provide the
platform for a first sustained title assault since Alex Ferguson’s
departure in 2013.
“The manager has built the midfield area to a
point where we look strong enough to dictate the tempo of games,” said
Robson, now a club ambassador.
“Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin look really good signings. They are
going to be the powerhouse of United’s midfield and that should hold us
in good stead over the season.”
United fans raised on the
all-action displays of players like Robson and Roy Keane have long
lamented the lack of oomph in the team’s midfield, but if anything, the
club now have too many midfielders on their hands.
United, who
finished fourth last season, deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation in pre-season,
but Van Gaal has pledged to revert to the 4-3-3 system that belatedly
brought the team success in the latter part of the 2014-15 campaign.
It
means that Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera
and Marouane Fellaini (who is suspended for the first three league
games) will be competing for only three starting berths.
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