5 Things you need to know about Man United ahead of the Premier League season

1. The Premier League previews continue with my team Manchester United who are actually in a good spot heading into the new campaign, last season was a tale of two halves with Ruben Amorim’s time as manager curtailing in December through to January after a run of terrible results against the likes of Everton, West Ham, Wolves, Aston Villa and Leeds leaving United in mid-table by the middle of January. Michael Carrick came in and instantly changed the mood with wins against City and Arsenal that pushed the team towards the top 4 eventually ending the season in 3rd place which was a huge success in my opinion, the cups were disastrous for United last season exiting the Carabao Cup to Grimsby in the most horrifying game I think I’ve ever watched as a United fan. The FA cup wasn’t much better going out to Brighton at home in the 3rd round but in the Premier League United where 1st in the form table from Carrick’s arrival to the end of the season so there’s plenty to be positive about heading into the new season, the question now is how big of an impact is European football going to have on this squad?

2. How has the transfer window looked for United so far? Well it’s been a very quiet window for the most part with Andrey Santos coming in from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans coming from Aston Villa as the only two major signings for United so far, in terms of outgoings Casemiro has left for Inter Miami whilst Rasmus Hojlund has permanently gone to Napoli after a successful loan last season. That’s about it so far for transfers which is pretty mental considering I think we still need a left-winger, left-back and a third midfielder, we could also probably do with another striker considering Zirkzee’s fluctuating form but I can’t see that happening. There’s no shortage of rumours about who United are going for next whether it’s Lewis Hall at left-back or Manu Kone at Roma for midfield but with the first two signings coming out of nowhere I wouldn’t be surprised if the next signing is someone we aren’t aware of yet, all things considered United need at least two more signings if they want to cement that Champions League spot in my opinion with how competitive the league will be this year. We’ll have to wait and see if they do have more incomings coming through the door over the next 3 weeks, I certainly hope so.

3. How has United’s pre-season gone so far? United kicked off their pre-season with a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham in Norway in a game which United dominated but did lack any threat in front of goal, next up was a 5-0 win against Rosenborg with Lacey, Zirkzee, Devaney, Amass and Williams getting on the scoresheet with the Academy boys putting on a show in the second half. After that came a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid with Bryan Mbeumo notching both United’s goals after conceding early against the Spanish giants, as of writing this preview the last pre-season game was against PSG which ended 1-1 with Mbeumo scoring United’s only goal in another good performance from Carrick’s side. They play two more pre-season friendlies before the start of the season with the first one coming later on this evening against Leeds United at Croke Park which is shaping up to be anything but a friendly, their final pre-season game comes against Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan on Saturday in a game I cannot wait for. Lets hope Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo have some payback for Amorim on Saturday, United kick-off the Premier League season away at Hull City next Saturday.

4. Who are the players to watch for United this season? There’s a few players I want to highlight ahead the new season, the first one is Marcus Rashford who is now set to stay at United following a successful stint at Barcelona last season. It’s been 50/50 most of the window but it looks like Carrick wants Rashford in his squad ahead of the season which I think is a good thing considering the lack of options we have on that left-wing, if we can get a hungry and driven Rashford this season I can see him performing really well for United this season. The next player to watch for me is Amad Diallo who was a disappointment for me last season but after a successful World Cup for the Ivory Coast I’m hoping we see him at his best this season on that right-wing, finally I think the final player to watch is Mason Mount. He’s played deeper this pre-season alongside Andrey Santos and has looked really good in the games so far but there’s always one sticking point when it comes to Mason Mount, the injuries. He picked up a knock against PSG in the opening minutes which I hope isn’t a sign of things to come for the season, if he can stay fit for the majority of the season I think Mason Mount is really going to surprise many people this year. Let’s hope so for him and United.

5. Predictions for United this season. Usually I’m pretty pessimistic when it comes to United as getting my hopes up always ends in disaster but I am hopeful for us this season under Michael Carrick, I think the goal has to be finishing in the top 4/5 again whilst winning a cup of some sort. We’ve been absolutely awful in the Champions League since Sir Alex Ferguson retired so I do think it’s really important to make a good stab at that competition seeing as we worked so hard to get back in it last season, the same goes for the Carabao and FA cups which we embarrassed ourselves in last year. I think if we can bring home a cup and stay in the top 4 that would be a successful season in my eyes, some people might be hoping for a title challenge but given our window so far I just don’t see it unfortunately. I’m very open to being proved wrong obviously, let’s see how United end the window in the next few weeks. There has to be more signings coming through the door, right?