Manchester United | Season 2016/17 preview.

The Red Devils will try to win the title!

When it’s up to Manchester United, there are always huge expectations for one of the giants of the English football. A season without Champions League football is a big disappointment for the fans of Manchester United, but they are now enthusiastic about the new era with Jose Mourinho as a manager of the team. They can be very optimistic about everything, because it just can’t be worse than when Moyes and van Gaal were the managers. In addition, the signings are very quality players, who can affect positively the performance of the team!

Moreover, the fans can even expect a battle for the title, because Manchester United are going to focus mainly on the Premier League. With the long bench and the good and experienced players, it’s not impossible United to win the title!

The Transfers:

Manchester United have so far kept all their key players. They only signed 3 very quality players, who can only improve the team’s performace. The Red Devils paid no transfer amount for the Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Moreover, they bought Eric Bailly, who made a huge impression with his former team Villareal. The defender is very good in the air and was one of the key reasons for Villareal’s great performance in defence.

Henrikh Mikhitaryan was the third new player to arrive at Old Trafford. The Red Devils paid €42 m. to his former club Borussia Dortmund. He will be very useful to his new club with his composure and technique. Mourinho will expect a lot from the best Armenian player.

Key Players:

To begin with, the goalkeeper David de Gea is currently one of the best players at his position. If he stays at United, de Gea will have a massive impact on the team. Smalling and Blind will surely maintain their partnership in defence, as they secured team’s good performance in defence during the last season.

Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger will be very useful in midfield. They are both very experienced players and can change the pace of every single match. In addition, Memphis Depay will surely show great development under Mourinho’s management. You all know what Depay is capable of when he is in form, and the Portuguese manager knows best how to get the best from every single player.

Juan Mata was the key player for Manchester United last season. Now, we don’t know whether the Spaniard will have a similar role in the team, but it’s always good to have such talented player in the squad. A player, who can decide every single match!

For sure, Wayne Rooney won’t be used as a midfielder. It’s true that Rooney has learned a lot from Paul Scholes, but it is in his nature to be a forward, and Mourinho knows that. So, Rooney can make a good partnership with the new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Englishman may be used in a position behind the Swedish striker.

Of course, Manchester United have a very big squad! And there are players like the new signing Bailly (CD), Matteo Darmian, the young talent Marcus Rashford, the biggest talent of Armenia – Mikhitaryan, the Argentinian international Rojo, Anthony Martial, Morgan Schneiderlin and Marouane Fellaini. These are great players and with the right coach, they have the power to become the new champions of England!

Probable Starting XI:

• 4-2-3-1: David de Gea; Marcos Rojo (Daley Blind), Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Darmian; Schweinsteiger, Carrick (Schneiderlin); Mikhitaryan (Mata), Depay, Rooney (Martial); Ibrahimovic.

The History:

The history always repeats! And when we take a look at it, we can see Manchester United are the most successful team in England. The Red Devils have won the Premier League title on 20 occasions! They have won the FA Cup 12 times and The Capital One Cup on 4 occasions. So, Manchester United have great traditions and will strive to repeat these successes. Moreover, it’s been 3 seasons since the last time Manchester United won the title in The Premier League – this is the longest period United have left without the title.

The Red Devils have won The Champions League on 3 occasions, but unfortunately they won’t take part in the competition this season. Instead, they will play in The Europa League, which competition is often underestimated by the English clubs.

The Expectations:

With Jose Mourinho, we can again expect a pragmatic playing style, but we all know what is the Portuguese capable of! However, the most important thing in the Premier League is winning points. For example, in season 2008/09, when Manchester United won the title, The Red Devils recorded 16 victories with a 1 goal margin, 10 of which were with the correct score of 1-0. My expectations are about something very similar. It is very important for Jose Mourinho, his teams to be tactically disciplined. So, I think we won’t see a lot of goals in Manchester United’s matches. But, I expect that The Red Devils will earn much more points!

The most successful English club will surely be concentrated on The Premiership. The team’s performance in the cups and The Europa League will be in the background.

Even as a kid, I was imagining that I could be a top-club manager and I always had this historical connection of Old Trafford being the Theatre of Dreams. My first visit here was exactly a dream for me because it was on the way to winning the Champions League with Porto.Jose Mourinho