As the dust settles on Manchester United’s worst ever Premier League finish we questioned – Is it really that bad?
It has been well documented that Manchester United have suffered with injuries in key areas, 14 different centre-back pairings for example, which is a plausible excuse, as is the poor performances of top professionals which can never be accounted for but if Sir Jim Ratcliffe is reading this (he’s a big listener of the 5 Star Potential Podcast so it’s possible) here is how we would start next season taking into account the club’s stature, league position and the fan’s desire for there to be some structure moving forward.
The Mental Game
How many radio shows, podcasts, Monday Night Footballs have you listened to or watched this season where the pundits have asked who is inspiring these players? The Class of 92 walked in to a dressing room with Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes and Wayne Rooney talks about joining United with the likes of Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes & Ruud van Nistelrooy in the dressing room – nowadays you’ve got talents like Rasmus Højlund looking up to Anthony Martial & Kobbie Mainoo looking at how Donny van der Beek’s career is progressing, it couldn’t be clearer, right? It’s time to tap in to the winner’s mentality, change the backroom team to include the likes of Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham, Wayne Rooney, Steve Bruce (he’s not done much recently has he?), Paul Ince, Mark Hughes etc etc.
We brought in Roy Keane & Teddy Sheringham to join Darren Fletcher & Steve McClaren for their winning experiences with United and added Paul Robinson, Kevin Ball & Hugo Oliveira to freshen up the coaching team. We appointed Leonardo as the Director of Football to compliment the history of United’s Brazilian and Portuguese players.
Winning Squads
When we look at two successful, winning squads they are comprised of 20 & 21 players that started more the 3 league games, if you are a long time listener of the podcast you’ll know that we bang on about having 2 players for every position so we’re looking at Fergie and that Champions League final and shaking our heads... Giggsy right mid? Who are we to question the great man, he got it done and the current United squad is miles off in comparison. We are not looking at squad size for the moment, what we are looking for are the comparisons:
Onana – Schmeichel – Ederson
There is no debating that Onana had a shaky start at United but as Gary Neville rightly or wrongly points out, being a United goalkeeper is the hardest position on the pitch *Roy Keane shakes his head* - but we are happy to keep Onana as first choice for now.
AWB – Neville – Walker
Kyle Walker has been a brilliant asset for Manchester City and England, his recovery pace is such a get out of jail card that he’s opens up different tactical options for his managers. When we look at Gary Neville, was he the best footballer? No, but he done all the basics brilliantly and as one of the most decorated players in Premier League history, doing the basics brilliantly can get you a long way in the game and this is why I would keep Wan-Bissaka at right back, but utilise him in a way that suits his game, keep him next to the centre-back doing what he does brilliantly, defending, instead of bombing forward where he starts to look like Bambi on a frozen lake.
Varane/Martinez - Stam/Johnsen - Dias/Stones
FOURTEEN different pairings says all you need to say about United’s centre-back catastrophe. Varane is leaving in the summer so that’s one problem we don’t need to deal with. Lisandro Martinez is class, he has the quality and determination you need from a centre-half, yes he’s not the tallest but he’ll put his body on the line for his team. Lindelof is another player that has just existed at United, there have been flashes of excellence from him but the consistency just isn’t there, another one for the exit list. Then there’s Harry Maguire, I think he’s still got it but he needs a massive confidence boost and for the other areas of the pitch to be doing their jobs well for him to thrive, he stays for another season.
Shaw – Irwin – Gvardiol
Another black hole in United’s defence this year was the injuries they sustained at left back, if Shaw can stay fit he’s an asset to United and can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Irwin and Gvardiol as his peers. Then there’s Malacia, nobody really knows what’s happened to him this year but when he played, he played well so he stays.
Casemiro – Keane – Rodri
In terms of silverware it’s not a bad comparison but when you look at the performances Casemiro has put in this year he’s not fit... to tie the shoelaces of Roy Keane & Rodri, United need to hope that the Saudi money can save them with this one otherwise they’re hanging on to a literal anchor, man.
Fernandes – Scholes – de Bruyne
United’s best and most consistent player, Bruno Fernandes is what a United player should be, apart from the jumping around like he’s taken one from a sniper.
Garnacho – Beckham – Silva
He played too many games last season for someone learning their trade but I think everyone can see that there is a star player emerging but he needs time to develop and not end up burnt out. Diallo can certainly play a part with rotation in this position. Antony however
Rashford – Giggs – Grealish
On his day Rashford is unstoppable but this season his day’s out have been more frequent than good performances for United but he’s a United lad and unless a big transfer offer is on the table he needs to stay put. We also believe that the returning Sancho needs to be part of the conversation as well, with the right arm around him he can and will flourish.
Højlund – Cole/Yorke/Solskjaer/Sheringham - Haaland
They wanted Harry Kane, they didn’t get Harry Kane and they ended up signing potential and I think he’s had a good first season for his age and experience, especially in this United side but when you’re comparing him with the firepower United of 99 had or that of Manchester City it’s quite evident to see that options and rotation is required in this squad.
I’ve purposely left out the likes of Mainoo & McTominay on the basis that they’ll be staying at the club but I think if you were to compare them to Foden & Butt respectively we wouldn’t be far wrong.
The For Sale Board
Victor Lindelof
Anthony Martial – End of Contract
Christian Eriksen
Casemiro
Raphael Varane – End of Contract
Antony
Donny van de Beek
Jonny Evans – End of Contract
WANTED
Four centre-backs – Martinez and Maguire + 2
Combative Midfielder to replace Casemiro – in the mould of Roy Keane
Striker to rotate with Højlund
Budget of £150m plus player sales.
The Result
The summer of 2024, France are European Champions with Randal Kolo Muani making amends by scoring a 115th minute winner for Les Bleus and Manchester United done some business. What kind of business I hear you ask.
Centre-Backs
We started the window looking to plug the holes United had in defense, we needed two centre-halves, one with potential and one that could step in to the right side of the pairing.
For that right side we picked up Mohamed Simakan from RB Leipzig in a deal worth £30m (£15m up front followed by three yearly payments of £5m). 6’2, pacey and could play at right back if the injury plague strikes again and at £86k p/w his wage is significantly lower than his predecessor, Varane.
The ‘potential’ player we picked up to fill that forth space was Jarrad Branthwaite from Everton. He was fantastic last season, he’s British and he’s the type of signing Manchester United used to make. His total transfer figure was £85m which is pure English tax, however it was £30m upfront plus 3 yearly payments of £16.6m and £9m spread across appearances. He’ll come into the team providing cover for Martinez and hopefully progressing to take his place as he develops.
Next up we had to look for our combative midfielder, I wanted someone that was a bit Keane-esque, so I went looking for a screenshot of Roy Keane from Championship Manager days which lead me to this ‘Dubbed the Next’ post on the website where it suggested that Joe Hodge was the player I was looking for - we’ll strike that one down as a miss…
I dug further and found a screenshot from 1999, prime Roy Keane, I mean look at those attributes!
It’s safe to say that when you plumb those attributes into Football Manager, there isn’t another Roy Keane but when you scale your expectations back a little there was a Premier League player that I thought could definitely do the job and he went by the name of Bruno Guimarães. Newcastle wouldn’t initially play ball but when I told the press that he was our Top Target, Eddie Howe shit the bed and said it was now out of his hands. We had to pay a pretty penny for him though including more Premier League tax, the total value of the deal can reach £170m but it was £60m upfront followed by 3 yearly payments of £33.33m plus £10m if United win the Premier League. Now if you take the fee of £160m minus the sale of Casemiro (£48m) add the £20m United still owe Real Madrid for Casemiro and then minus the differences in their wages… it’s still a massive amount of money! BUT, his five year deal will take him up until he’s 31 and hopefully he won’t decline as quick as his countryman.
Last but by no means least is the forward to support Højlund’s development and give United the options in front of goal and for £39m the signing of Viktor Gyökeres was completed from Sporting Lisbon. They are very similar players with the Swede being slightly further along in his development giving United great options in front of goal, with Gyökeres, Højlund & Rashford there’s a real sense of competition and appetite for goals as there was back in 1999.
With 3 weeks of August left to go Victor Lindelof looks to be heading off to Juventus, Antony has bids accepted from Napoli and Newcastle, Donny van de Beek can’t be given away, Christian Eriksen joined Everton for £5m & Casemiro joined Al-Ahli for £48m. Hopefully we’ll shift those players before that window slams shut!
So there we have it, the 2024/25 Manchester United first team squad and I think it stacks up well for the first season of change at Old Trafford.
If you would like to download this save file you can here, please make sure you share your results with us on the socials or via email, it would be great to see how this squad gets on.
Thanks to https://www.fmrte.com/ for their database edits which helped us put together his save file - be sure to head their way for more downloadable content.