Having recorded their first victory for some time away at Everton on Saturday afternoon, a mightily impressive Manchester United side ran out 3-0 winners, maintaining their third-placed position in the Premier League at the same time.
With Wayne Rooney also grabbing his first away goal in 11 months and his first strike at Goodison Park for eight years, it was a day to feel incredibly chuffed about for our resident Red Devils fanatics who also point out that following the 3-0 drubbing at Arsenal before, this was a great showing of bouncebackability.
Louis van Gaal will be delighted that the Red Devils seem to be sharing the goalscoring burden around too with Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera getting on the scoresheet with Anthony Martial not registering in his last two games.
It remains to be seen how far United can go in the Champions League this term with a fixture against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League tomorrow evening but a lot of our resident United supporters are hoping that the Red Devils can take everybody by surprise while staying right in the title hunt until the end of the season.
With United boasting incredible strength in depth in the midfield department in particularly, it seems van Gaal is able to rotate in this position without necessarily weakening his starting eleven and if United can strengthen with another defender and striker in January, they could very well be in business.
If new arrivals do come into Old Trafford, we could also witness some departures and that’s why we’ve devised a five-man list of players Louis van Gaal needs to axe at the club in three months’ time.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players Louis van Gaal needs to axe at Manchester United in January.
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Victor Valdes
His brief Manchester United career so far has resembled something of a disaster with Victor Valdes being the dictionary definition of an outcast under Louis van Gaal right now.
Having signed Sergio Romero and retained David De Gea in the summer, Valdes is simply surplus to requirements but the former Barcelona man failed to negotiate a move away from Old Trafford before September 1st.
At the end of last month, The Mirror claimed van Gaal would happily sanction an exit for Valdes in January on the condition that he didn’t sign for Liverpool as an upgrade upon Simon Mignolet.
Since then, Newcastle United have also been linked with the signing of Valdes given the season ending injury as suffered by Tim Krul on Netherlands duty.
It definitely seems a case of when, where and not if regarding Valdes’ impending departure from Old Trafford.
Marcos Rojo
Returning to the United fold from the off against Everton at left back on Saturday afternoon, some eyebrows were raised regarding Marcos Rojo’s inclusion given the fact United fans had read earlier this month that the Argentine was out of favour at Old Trafford and was being lined up by Zenit Saint-Petersburg in a January transfer window raid.
Given the season ending injury suffered by Luke Shaw, Daley Blind was initially called upon by van Gaal who reverted the versatile Dutchman from centre back to left back but given Rojo’s inclusion on Saturday, perhaps he’ll receive a reprieve after all.
Having seen his United career interrupted by injuries so far having signed last summer, there’s no doubting that Marcos Rojo is a good player – he just needs a run of games to find his best form.
That said, Blind is a favourite of van Gaal and with Phil Jones back from injury now, it will be touch and go in regards to van Gaal retaining Rojo for the long-term in January.
Nick Powell
Yes, Nick Powell is still on the books of Manchester United despite being a complete and utter outcast alongside the likes of Victor Valdes at the moment.
His goal scored on his Premier League debut against Wigan Athletic back in 2012 seems an awful long time ago now and given the fact Sir Alex Ferguson has since moved on after being the manager that brought him to the club from Crewe Alexandra, we think the writing is on the wall for Powell.
Most definitely in that category of talented young English players being mistreated and potentially losing their way in the game, we find it strange that United didn’t sanction a loan move for Powell in the summer.
While another loan switch could easily suffice in January, we think that it is in both United’s and Powell’s interests to allow the player to join a new club permanently so he can rejuvenate his career.
Receiving just nine minutes’ game time so far this season coming on as a late sub against Arsenal in United’s 3-0 drubbing at Emirates Stadium recently, James Wilson is still unable to shake that bit-part tag from his name.
Seemingly only retained at Old Trafford in the summer given the fact United only boast two others forwards in the shape and form of Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial, for as long as that duo are fit, Wilson will be nothing more than an unused substitute.
Definitely a player who could be a future hero for United long-term, Wilson should definitely be retained at the club but a January loan switch to a lesser Premier League outfit would suit the player in terms of regular game time and value adding experience.
A lot will depend on whether van Gaal can land an additional striker in the January window however, otherwise Wilson will be retained as a back-up option we feel.
Jesse Lingard
Receiving his first action of the season, coming on as a substitute for Juan Mata at half-time on Saturday at Everton, Jesse Lingard has been waiting a little while to stamp his mark on this United team.
One of the better players in a forgettable European Under-21 Championships tournament for Gareth Southgate’s England in the summer, Lingard like Wilson is only a bit-part player at United right now given their plethora of options in attacking midfield.
Most definitely needing to be retained by the club, a January loan switch to a Premier League club in January would be the next stage in the player’s development with Lingard having already completed Football League loan switches to Leicester City, Birmingham City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Derby County.
