Just when Manchester United fans in the Football Transfer Tavern were about to in rather fickle style blurt out a series of expletives regarding Louis van Gaal getting his ass into gear in this summer’s transfer window, bam!
Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin will be Red Devils stars next season; how good does that sound United fans?
The arrival of the top quality midfield duo has just kicked the transfer window up a notch while making Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham fans turn around with turned up noses and the kind of expression that suggests ‘now what are we doing?’
With Matteo Darmian also now in the bag from Torino, it has been some weekend for our Red Devils regulars who have been ordering double measures out of pure and utter excitement.
Our landlord needs to put a new order in for some spirits at the start of this week to cash in on this wave of Red Devils euphoria but if the truth be told, we’ve had steady custom from United fans who always pack out the tavern while previously ordering the hard stuff in an attempt to cope with their lack of activity!
That’s all change now of course following Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin’s arrivals and the tavern is again suffering its spate of scrawled over bar mats that now don’t only document a beer brand but rather United’s dream starting XI for next season!
We’re taking a look at one right now while questioning, is this Manchester United’s strongest starting eleven?
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Click on the image below to reveal what we believe to be Manchester United’s strongest XI for this season.
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David De Gea
Just imagine if he was staying!
For as long as David De Gea-gate rumbles on regarding his impending switch to Real Madrid, we’ll continue to stick him in our strongest Manchester United team galleries, such is the calibre of his goalkeeping.
With Los Blancos club icon Iker Casillas having now transferred to FC Porto amid scathing comments from none other than his mum claiming the Portuguese side are the equivalent of a Segunda B side compared to Los Blancos, everything points towards Real Madrid now completing a deal for De Gea in the coming week or so.
That will be a huge shame for everybody connected with Manchester United who have become almost embarrassingly indebted to the services of De Gea over the past two seasons who bailed them out while saving countless points on many an occasion.
Matteo Darmian
Poor old Matteo Darmian!
He was the focus of seemingly all of Manchester United fans’ excitement in the middle of last week and now he seems to have been forgotten about altogether!
Clearly and more appropriately understandably usurped in the excitement stakes by both Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, United have done something so un-Arsenal-like in literally ticking off a number of items on their summer to-do list in pretty much 48 hours!
But oh yeah, back to Darmian.
Well, he’s an Italian international who some United fans have pretended to know everything and anything about but something most people are familiar with is the fact he was the raiding right back who caused England so many problems in the World Cup last summer in the group stages.
United fans look forward to getting to know much more about him on a week to week basis this term.
Chris Smalling
How far he’s come since getting sent off away at Manchester City last season.
Well, perhaps we’re giving him too much credit because with Smalling they tend to be baby steps rather than those that should belong to a 25-year-old footballer but nevertheless, the former Fulham centre back did grow stronger and stronger in his performances towards the end of last season.
Making the cut ahead of his fellow ‘project’ of a United and England colleague Phil Jones, we’ve included Smalling because of the fact that he seems like he’s now finally intent on getting his head down while putting in decent performances on a week-to-week basis.
Don’t get us wrong, if Sergio Ramos rocked up as the next Galactico-type signing at United tomorrow, I’d have regretted writing this slide but until such a vision comes to reality, Smalling merits his place in this eleven.
Marcos Rojo
Remember this guy United fans?
Well, United fans didn’t see as much as Marcos Rojo as they would’ve liked last term due to the Argentine succumbing to a number of spells on the sidelines with injury but having performed well at the Copa America, he looks in good stead to make the starting eleven cut under Louis van Gaal.
Capable of playing at left back of course like he does with his country, Rojo’s tenacity and aggression are traits that see him succeed at centre back also and this is where we’ve placed him on our squad.
At the end of the day, although United seemingly magicked Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin out of thin air, we don’t think they’re going to repeat the trick with Mats Hummels and Sergio Ramos so Rojo keeps his place in this eleven.
Luke Shaw
Manchester United fans thoroughly look forward to now who is effectively Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling buckling under the pressure of his astronomical £49 million fee this forthcoming season but if the truth be told, this is rather rich!
Having seen Ed Woodward agree to fork out £27 million on Luke Shaw from Southampton last season, United fans firmly had their tails between their legs with each passing week in which Shaw didn’t look like, well, Luke Shaw or the player Red Devils fans were hoping he’d continue to be at Old Trafford.
The lucky thing for everybody connected with United is that Shaw is still only 20-years-old and well, football fans aren’t fickle enough to write off a player after just one season yet…well, on second thoughts?
It seems Shaw has evaded the fickle boo boys so far so gets in our eleven ahead of undoubtedly improving this season.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
When Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer said his piece about warning Bastian Schweinsteiger off a summer switch to Manchester United a few weeks back, this looked an insufferable rumour that was heading for a future ironic retweet from a Liverpool fan!
But everybody will be damned because after the early scepticism, something truly refreshing happened this transfer window and Schweinsteiger moved like that, winging his way into Carrington, sunglasses on, with the type of self assuredness and swagger only a World Cup winners medal with Germany can bring!
The United hate mob are claiming it’s a strange signing with the player now 30-years-old but please remind us just when it was that football become that much more snobbish to write off an entire catalogue of players who’ve now lost the number 2 from their age?
Morgan Schneiderlin
Admit it now; on Saturday evening did you agree with the likes of Metro who were claiming that Arsenal now had a clear run at landing Morgan Schneiderlin because earlier that weekend, United were wrapping up a deal for Bastian Schweinsteiger?
On the face of it, it looked as if United were either going to sign one or the other but in the end, it turns out that Ed Woodward has been absolutely ruthless in swooping for both while totally revamping their options in the centre of the park.
We dread to think what both Daley Blind or Ander Herrera are thinking right now although they’ll have to get their ‘it’s great competition to have in the squad’ scripts ready for airing!
Angel Di Maria
How dare we put one of the flops of last season in a strongest Manchester United eleven for next season article!
Well, we’re sorry to fickle football fans everywhere but we believe Di Maria will still come good at Old Trafford, after all, he can’t get much worse!
If we’re totally honest, Di Maria actually started the 2014/15 season in his new surroundings rather well, lighting up the league with that sumptuous strike away at Leicester City.
However, ever since the mid-point of the season, the Argentine let himself down getting sent off against Arsenal in the FA Cup while allowing himself to do something no footballer should ever allow himself to do – encouraging the manager to select Ashley Young, yes Ashley Young over the likes of you!
Juan Mata
Juan Mata seems to have enjoyed a renaissance with the sport in which he’s employed to play last season, finally giving United fans some encouragement that he is indeed the player they thought they’d be signing from Chelsea.
After a slow start to life at Old Trafford, Mata has got better and better and now represents one of the first names on the team-sheet with the Spaniard now being able to look back on March 22nd 2015 as the day in which he arrived as a big time player with United.
Denoting the day in which Steven Gerrard decided to lodge yet another simply terrible moment into his hugely forgettable last 18 months in stamping on Ander Herrera, the same game saw Mata bag a notable brace with his second representing one of the goals of the season.
With both Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin providing cover in the midfield as deep-lying playmakers, Mata even has the pleasure of taking up his favoured number 10 role in our strongest starting XI, the lucky devil!
When you consider his place in the starting eleven was threatened by Adnan Januzaj at one stage, it’s been some turnaround for Mata at Old Trafford.
Memphis Depay
Through no fault of his own, Memphis Depay was only a few weeks, if not days ago looked upon with a sense of disappointment, only for the fact that in a case of having nothing to do with him as a player, he represented Manchester United’s sole purchase of the summer so far with United painstakingly biding their time in the market.
The fact a deal was agreed for the now former PSV Eindhoven schemer incredibly early and even within the schedule of last season, United fans’ euphoria regarding his signing has naturally dwindled and dwindled but having been officially unveiled of late, the excitement is on an upward curve once again.
In Depay, United have signed one of the most exciting talents in all of Europe and when you consider he’s enjoyed a similarly successful early career to the likes of Raheem Sterling, you have to ask yourself just why is it that the England international costs £18 million more than the Dutchman?
Wayne Rooney
His powers have been steadily waning; he doesn’t score enough Premier League goals; he’s not done it at a major tournament ever since Euro 2004.
All statements that belong to members of the Rooney hate mob but while there is of course some truth in the above comments, they’re only foolishly exacerbated by those who choose to ignore what else the Manchester United striker brings to the table.
Yes, his contract rebel past was uncomfortable for everybody to witness but with that debacle now firmly behind him, Rooney has now managed to see off Robin van Persie – oh and that Radamel Falcao guy – in still being United’s most trusted main man up top.
Something has to be said for that right?
At the end of the day, Rooney still fights for the Red Devils cause all season long and gives the team that edge that few others have been able to provide on such a consistent basis.
The captain of the Red Devils’ ship, we firmly believe Louis van Gaal needs to reserve a ‘hello, hello, HEY’ for those that continue to question Rooney’s on-field abilities.
