A Clear Assessment of United's Squad

A squad-by-squad look at Manchester United’s options, focusing on goalkeeper stability, defensive weaknesses, a reshaped midfield, and the attacking mix, alongside expectations for a growth season and longer-term title hopes.

Obviously this was not the start to the season Manchester United wanted, but I think a clear assessment of our squad and where we are is a good way to look forward to what this season might bring.

Goalkeeper:

We've sent both Onana and Bayindir out on loan, as neither are good enough to be relied on in the EPL, while we've also sold the young Vitek after a great season on loan last year. We've brought in Karl Darlow and extended Heaton's deal for another season.

With Lammens the clear No.1 (and now the shirt to prove it) and Darlow as back up, we are probably a little stronger here this season than last season. Hopefully Lammens continues to develop and improve, and doesn't take a slight step backwards (as can sometimes happen in a young player's second season). But at least with Darlow we have a higher quality back up.

Defence:

On paper we look fairly secure in each position bar LB. Dalot and Mazraoui at RB, MdL, Martinez and Maguire offering experience at CB, with Yoro and Heaven as top quality young prospects, along with Shaw at LB, with maybe Amass and/or Dorgu.

The problem is when you scratch a little deeper, it becomes clear there are fundamental issues within our defensive options. Dalot is solid at RB, but Mazraoui, despite being the more gifted player, just seems to flatter to deceive.

While at CB, two of our three experienced options are serious injury concerns, while the other is average and potentially declining, leaving just our two young prospects as regularly available options.

Shaw at LB is another serious injury concern, as well as questions over his actual quality and performances. Leaving Amass, who is very inexperienced, and still a little lightweight in a physical league, while Dorgu has shown more promise further forward.

Unfortunately, LB is the only position that might get some improvement before the transfer window closes. As such, it looks like defence might be a serious weakness for us this season, with a potential lack of experience, consistency, and in some areas quality. This is the area of the team that will be rebuilt next summer (with at least Martinez, Maguire and Shaw leaving when their contracts expire).

Midfield:

This was the big focus of this summer's transfers, and in truth I think we should commend the club on a job well done. In a particularly volatile market, they have done an excellent job at signing three players with EPL experience, for less than one and a half Elliott Andersons.

They've also done a good job of providing a really good mix of different profiles in midfield, giving Carrick a wealth of options to alter the shape/tactics in his midfield.

Mainoo provides press resistance both in defence and in attack, ball carrying for progression, and goal threat. He's a player who thrives in small/tight spaces and can draw in opposition players before wriggling past them and finding a team-mate in the space he has created by drawing players in. Tielemans provides experience, top quality passing and playmaking, as well as some leadership.

Santos has energy, work rate, quality passing, and ball recovery. Maybe the most natural of the options at sitting deeper and dropping between the CBs to collect the ball and play out from the back with vertical passing through the lines. Baleba brings the physicality, a powerful specimen of a man, strong in the tackle, hard to knock off the ball, dominant in the air, and able to power through midfield with ball carries. While his passing is probably a little underrated, he is capable of some great passes, but maybe lacks a little consistency with them.

You probably want to pair one of Santos or Baleba with one of Mainoo or Tielemans to create more natural pairings, but you could pair any of them together and have a functional midfield dependent on the tactics you want to play for that specific match.

The biggest problem I can foresee with our new midfield is finding that right balance. While having many different options gives a manager variety, it can make it hard to have a clear identity, and it means rotation could force a change in tactics to better suit the available players. It could take the manager a couple of months to find that right balance/identity. Sometimes it can be easier if there are fewer profiles of midfielders within a squad, with similar profiled players acting as back up/rotation meaning less change to the tactical set up when you have to rotate.

Forwards:

We haven't signed anyone new to our squad in the forward areas (yet). However, with Rashford returning and with Shea Lacey maybe becoming more prominent in the first team squad, the manager will have some new options to play with. Finding the right blend is less of a challenge in forward areas than it is in midfield or defence, and rotation is more common and actually beneficial. With Rashford back we have a different option on the left.

While the hope is players like Amad, Sesko and Dorgu can continue to develop and improve on their performances from last season, the club will rely more heavily on players like Bruno, Mbeumo, Cunha and Rashford. Zirkzee provides a different option, but is rarely effective in the EPL, unfortunately. While there is a definite lack of support/rotation/challenge for Sesko at CF. We have lots of players who can cover there, but none of them play the role as a natural or true CF, which can leave us a little blunt in attack when Sesko isn't playing.

Overall then our keepers look settled and secure. Our attack has a variety of good options and some high quality young players who could really step up and prove themselves top class this season. Midfield looks to have a variety of different profiles with plenty of quality, but finding the right midfield identity/balance will potentially take a little time, but the real weakness in this squad is in defence. If we can get MdL and Martinez fit and available for the majority of the season then we will have a very good season, but without them we will struggle to keep clean sheets, and will be reliant on high scoring in games to pick up points.

This will be another growth season, rather than a true challenging one. The squad getting back into the swing of playing in Europe, and being able to balance that with league and domestic cups football. A season where our attack continues to grow and develop, particularly the younger options. Where we develop a midfield and by extension a team identity. And a season where we will be hoping players like Heaven and Yoro really develop and take big strides towards fulfilling their potential, meaning that there is less pressure on the defensive rebuild next summer.

If we can continue to improve and develop this year, and make the right key defensive signings earlier next summer, then we might be able to mount a serious title challenge in 2027/28, potentially (maybe more hopefully) lifting the title in 2028 for our 150 year anniversary. Although in truth I think this squad will need a further year of playing together before truly being ready to win the title.

Written by Shappy August 26 2026 12:11:20