Football News: Some Previous Issues Still Remain At Manchester United

So far this season we've learned a few new things and been reminded that some previous issues still remain at Manchester United.

Firstly, goalkeeper is still a major issue, and one that doesn't look like it'll be fully sorted out in the short term at least. Onana is unlikely to leave and we've seen in the first two games that Bayindir is only good enough to be our back up keeper. He has done well playing out from the back for the most part, and his keeping has been fine. However, for such a tall keeper he doesn't look comfortable in the air; the mistake against Arsenal and he also flapped a couple of times against Fulham (and got away with it).

It does seem that after the Arsenal game, teams will target him. Senne Lammens looks like he will sign any day now, yet he is a young keeper with only one year of regular senior football under his belt. He is also coming from a weaker league, albeit one that in recent years has done a great job to churn out some really top talent. Long term he might be the guy, but he will take time to both adapt to the EPL and to continue to develop his game. When he starts to be a regular he will make occasional mistakes and we will have to support him when he does, even if it costs us points.

The next major thing we have learned is that our midfield needs serious work. While signing Baleba would definitely help, we need more than just the one signing there. Casemiro for 60 minutes is still our best midfielder, but lacks the legs for a full 90. Ugarte has several great qualities that would suit the more defensive role in midfield, but lacks the positional sense due to his aggressive mentality leading to him always stepping out to win the ball.

Mainoo should be a regular, he has a lack of stamina and acceleration that is ideally needed, plus he is only suitable to play as the more offensive No.8 which puts him in direct competition with Bruno. Speaking of which, Bruno is the real problem with this team, he isn't ideally suited to any of the roles in the team, and if we are brutally honest he isn't really suited to a genuine top class side. He plays best when the team is built around him and he has the freedom to go where he pleases. Top sides that challenge for and win major honours are rarely if ever built around one individual.

He is our Steven Gerrard, our best player, but also the one holding us back as the team is too focused around him. It might me time to give him a gentle nudge so that he accepts moving elsewhere this summer. Because we will not be able to fully embrace our future while holding onto our past. Bruno in midfield paired with options that either lack the athleticism or positional awareness means teams will always be able to get at us through the heart of midfield. We don't even need a world class midfield, Amorim's system doesn't require one, just a functional midfield that can do the role adequately.

If Baleba is definitely off the table this summer, then we absolutely still need to look at bringing someone else in to help add balance while either selling Bruno or reducing his game time to being a rotation option with Cunha for the left No.10 position. I'm oddly confident that we will sign someone, otherwise loaning out Collyer made little sense. Personally I still think Lucien Agoume makes a lot of sense, strong, quick, athletic, great at winning the ball, rarely dribbled past, great reading and positioning (most vital skill given our current options), good in the air and great on the ball. Also available for a reasonable price and would work well with Baleba if we were able to sign him next summer, as well as any of our current options.

Our forwards just need some time to gel and get used to the team. Cunha so far looks the best of the three but then he has also had the most time with the club, training with the coaching staff and getting to grips with the demands. Mbeumo looks like he's still getting his fitness up to scratch, and Sesko will need time to adapt to the league as well as to the demands of the manager. It's important that we don't throw him in before he is ready as we know the media are hoping to be able to write about another Man Utd flop, he won't get the time he needs from them.

Personally I don't think he would have made much of a difference if he started the last two games, but if he had and hadn't scored you know there would already be some articles questioning him. I think he'll start against Grimsby, but wouldn't be surprised to see him return to the bench for the game against Burnley.

Defensively we actually look pretty good, Yoro is showing his class and MdL has really stepped up this season so far. The only question mark is over the LCB position. Heaven is still very young and inexperienced, Martinez is still injured, and Shaw has looked good at times but lacking at others. Maybe it's a case of him needing to fully adapt and he will get better as the season wears on. Although with Shaw you do seem to be just waiting until he next pulls up injured.

In an ideal world I think you'd probably move on both Martinez and Shaw and bring in a quality top class LCB with good experience to be first choice and give Heaven someone to learn from who he can rotate with as cover. If either of Martinez or Shaw could be relied on to stay fit they could have been that player, but sadly I don't think we can rely on either of them to stay fit. Which is a shame as Martinez is one of my favourite players in this squad.

We aren't playing terribly, but it's the fine margins that we have found ourselves just the wrong side of so far this season. I think the first time we score in the first 10-15 minutes in a game is the game where we will smash someone by a big score. Really, the only thing holding us back right now is that midfield balance, get that right (with a signing) and we will be better able to control games and turn our promising attacks into more goals and put less pressure on our defence and keeper leading to less mistakes and goals conceded.

Written by Shappy August 26 2025 11:36:19