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What are Manchester United’s most pressing issues?

By on July 16, 2015

Louis Van Gaal’s job description was clear when he arrived at Manchester United last summer: conduct a complete overhaul. David Moyes’ crossing-first tactics had become stale within a year at the club, as if they were ever truly ripe. The aging squad needed a new face, and Moyes himself had never quite fit in at Old Trafford; where Sir Alex Ferguson made good teams great with spirit and tactics, Moyes fell short. United needed a new identity.

Van Gaal got United a new squad. Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera, and Marcos Rojo all joined to form the basis of a new-look starting eleven. Newfound vigor was breathed into United’s lungs and faith restored in the heart fans. A year since Van Gaal joined, just sixteen of the forty-four players that Van Gaal inherited remain on United’s squad.

As Van Gaal famously promised, it took his side a few months to stick but eventually, a fourth place Premier League campaign came together and gave The Red Devils their coveted Champions League birth ( a qualifier against either CSKA, Club Brugge, Monaco, Young Boys, Sparta Prague, Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos or Rapid Vienna).

United are back at (or at least near) the top and a good team once more. This summer, it’s Van Gaal’s job to polish this side into a great squad and restore United to its former heights — but that’s a much more complex task. With a quality squad to work with, Van Gaal has to be both cunning and prudent in the transfer market.

The Dutchman has already spent  a combined total of nearly £70 million on Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay, Matteo Darwin and Bastian Schweinstieger, but another marquee signing seems in the offing. Particularly, United need to invest in a center-back as well as a forward after the departure of Robin van Persie earlier this week. Wayne Rooney, too, is reaching the twilight of his prime and thoughts about life after United are creeping into the picture. At the moment, those seem to be Van Gaal’s biggest worries as the transfer market starts to wane.

Favoring a back-four, the issue wasn’t about how to play but whom to play. With a squad packed with star quality, particularly in the midfield, even players like Di Maria were occasionally benched. This preseason, outlining the shape of his starting eleven will be a priority for the Van Gaal.  Compared to last summer, this preseason should be more about small tweaks than bold changes for United.

So what do you think are United’s most pressing issues? We’ll have a chance to speak with Louis Van Gaal and United players next week during their preseason tour of the US and will pose your best questions to them. Send us your questions for the players and staff in the comments below and on Twitter to @FootballEvryDay and we’ll handpick the best to ask.

Photo credit: ING Nederland, via Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.