Manchester United: Close, but not Close Enough

 

Manchester United are going into another season without winning a trophy. They have failed miserably to even get a little bit of silverware in competitions they usually dominate. The FA Cup and EFL Cup semi-final losses will sting a lot because those were very winnable contests, and they choked them away. They've done it again in the Europa League semi-finals, falling to a strong Sevilla team that exposed the glaring gaps in quality in the squad. I am looking directly at you, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire. For once, the defeat was not David De Gea's fault. It's becoming even more clear United are not at the level they want to be. They are performing at 75%. They are getting the contributions from Bruno Fernandes, their new golden boy, but they have to find ways to score outside of the penalty area. You can't rely on taking penalties to take you over the line. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford at least tried to score. This loss to Sevilla was the wake-up call they didn't want but life is cruel and so is the game of football. Suso's curler in the first half made the United backline look like a screen door: too many holes, nothing to stop the bugs from getting inside the house. They let Sevilla take over the game after that goal and once again, they will go without a trophy for a third straight season. Not the standard they are used to but such is life. 

At least the sting of this loss can be nullified by the fact they punched the ticket to the Champions League with their third-place finish in the Premier League. They should feel good about that. United have exceeded expectations, but it is now time to meet the standard of old. The way they do that: fixing their backline. This has been a huge problem for the last five years: average defense and an over-reliance on De Gea's goalie play to keep them in the hunt for the Premier League title and for the Champions League. So how do they fix their defensive woes? They're going to have to spend; probably close to the GDP of a small Caribbean island to get them up on their English rivals. We all know they have the money but who do they target? It's obvious, isn't it? Jadon Sancho, the next great English talent. It would seem fitting to bring the young winger back to the UK, to play for the most decorated English club, to be the focal point of Manchester United's long overdue rebuild. How much are Dortmund asking for him...120 million euros...and the deal has to be made by...August 10th...and they didn't get it done...well, this sucks. Sancho could've been the difference-maker in the Europa League semifinal. It could have been United hoisting that trophy, not a ragtag group like Sevilla. The same questions are surrounding United heading into another tough offseason: is Ole the right manager, can Rashford and Martial finally play up to their potential, is De Gea still the starting keeper after two poor seasons between the sticks, and the biggest one of all, are they ever going to get back to that level they achieved under Alex Ferguson?

Here's my take on United: they have pieces to build on, ideally Fernandes, Rashford, and Martial. I would include Pogba but I wonder if the love affair with the Frenchman is starting to diminish. For a player that cost 89 million euros and is a World Cup winner, he has been lackluster for United (chalk it down to injuries or pressure, whatever excuse you want). They might be better off testing the transfer market for him and see if they can get a decent return. Probably won't happen, but it's becoming a trend each year: the squad underachieves, finger-pointing happens, nothing changes. Lucky enough, this new United squad shows signs of potential Premier League title contention, but they will need the defensive boost to close the widening gap between Liverpool and Manchester City. Not to mention, Maguire and Lindelof will not be enough to stop stronger clubs in the Champions League. They do not play Champions League-caliber defense; at best, they are mid-tier English team defenders. Forget Sancho, United need to target a center-back before they head into a seventh season without fixing this issue. This is where United needs to go from here. They are getting closer to returning to a successful and consistent form, but they will need to rely less on penalty-taking and more fluid football. That means perfectly-timed and calculated attacking, staunch defending, and control in midfield.