United will be contenders... if they get Bale
MANCHESTER UNITED start the new season as one of the biggest spenders so far in the transfer window yet they are still not real title contenders.
When you compare them to the squad Pep Guardiola has assembled across the city, Jose Mourinho is two or three players short of challenging the Manchester City boss for top spot.
Manchester City are the Premier League favourites, and rightly so. Whatever misgivings there have to be surrounding their defence, Guardiola has an incredible array of attacking players to chose from. They are going to be great to watch and should win the league.
Mourinho knows his team’s limitations and he was on the defensive this week, before and after the European Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid.
We should not read too much into this game. Manchester United are way behind Real Madrid now and have stagnated since Alex Ferguson quit, while the Spanish side have thrived and continued to improve and win trophies.
As the first team to retain the Champions League since its inception, we are going to have to change our assessment of this Real Madrid team.
They might not be as exciting but they have gone on to achieve more than the Barcelona side of 10 years ago, which was wonderful to watch but did not dominate Europe’s biggest prize.
Mourinho knows there is a gulf between the two clubs but he looked frustrated watching the game, perhaps because he knows he needs two or three more signings. He said as much the night before the game with his subtle bidding for Gareth Bale, should he be available.
Last week I said that teams still have a lot of business to do in the transfer window and it is certain to have an influence on the title race.
And if Manchester United sign Gareth Bale it changes their perception and they would be serious title material. Judging by the reaction from Real Madrid and Bale, it looks unlikely to happen. United need a real injection of pace in the side. They have it in Marcus Rashford, who showed he is their only player who can beat an opponent. Anthony Martial has that ability too but will he even be considered for selection? Rashford opened up Madrid a few times and should have scored.
Against Madrid, they were dominated for long periods by better players and a better team and it did amuse me that when they needed a goal, they turned once again to Marouane Fellaini.
I’ve heard the groans at Old Trafford when Fellaini comes off the bench to warm up and he’s a player who will never win over some United fans, no matter how effective he is. Mourinho clearly knows he has his uses but how much longer will the fans put up with it?
Nemanja Matic is a great signing and was one of the best players against Madrid. He is exactly the player Mourinho wanted and it is an even bigger mystery that Chelsea sold him, now Antonio Conte says he didn’t sanction the move.
It was a tougher night for the other big money signing, Romelu Lukaku, who proved he is far from the finished article when he comes up against top quality opponents.
Although he won’t play against the calibre of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane every week, he has to do better when he is playing in the big games and has a vital job to do to help his team.
When you play the way United are going to play under Mourinho – sitting deep against sides who will keep the ball better than they can – the onus is on the strikers to hold the ball up and take three or four touches to let the rest of the lads get up the pitch with him.
The other night he kept giving the ball away because of the physicality and quality of Ramos and Varane and watching him against Everton over a couple of seasons, it’s a facet of his game he needs to improve. Manchester United supporters are used to cultured finishing from their strikers, but don’t ever expect to see Lukaku beautifully stroking home a top corner finish like Sheringham, Cantona, Solskjaer, Cole, Yorke or Van Nistelrooy. As he proved with his awful miss against Madrid, Lukaku tries to whack the leather off the ball, whereas those skilful players of the past at Old Trafford knew how to shape their bodies and feet, let the ball almost hit them, and pass it into the net.
I know he scored in Skopje this week but he has not scored in an elite game yet and he is going to get these chances. He has to take them.
There is an argument that as long as he is scoring and winning games against the lesser teams, his record in the big matches won’t matter. But I don’t buy that.
Historically, the team that wins those games wins the league. Manchester United need to beat teams in the top six, not pick up draws and that is when Lukaku needs to do his job.
It is usually the manager who spends the most who picks up the Premier League and although we have yet to see what the new-look City plays like, they are the best and most expensive squad. It is their title to lose.
They have the squad to compete in every competition but are Matic and Lukaku enough to make the dramatic leap from fifth to first this season for Manchester United? I don’t think so.