Stretford End: United And You

Rating Solskjaer's First Full Season Signings

20-08-2020

Manchester United’s season concluded after bowing out of the Europa League semi-finals against Sevilla in Koln, Germany. One thing that has become clear with the way our season finished is that we lack depth in the team. Solskjaer deserves the praise for the players he has bought in and the club should continue to back him if we want to seriously contend for the title. With that said, I’m going to rate our signings and give my thoughts on how they’ve performed this season.

Daniel James  [22 y.o, Left-Winger, £15.30m]
The Welshman was signed from Swansea and was announced as our first signing of the 2019/20 season. James started off with a bang, coming on in our first game of the season Vs Chelsea and scoring our 4th goal in the 81st minute. He then went on to score two more goals before fizzing out. James registered 4 goals and 7 assists in 46 games which is not bad for a player coming in from the Championship. The left winger was mostly used on the right as Solskjaer was slowly trying to integrate Greenwood into the team. James played more games than we or even he would have expected and quickly burnt out. He received the most flak from the fans on social media which I personally feel was unwarranted. There are a few things that we need to take into consideration before slandering the 22 year old. Firstly, James lost his father just before his move to United which must’ve rattled him to the core but he still managed to put on brilliant performances early on into the season. Secondly, James wasn’t bought in to play as a first team player but more of a player who would come off the bench during the late stages of a game. He played more games then he should have had as I said before and also making a jump from the Championship isn’t really easy. My only problem with Dan James was that he was poor after the lockdown but that gave Mason Greenwood the opportunity and he seized it. The Welshman is still young and has a lot more to offer in the future. 6/10

Aaron Wan-Bissaka [22 y.o, Right-Back, £49.50m]
Spider-Wan is worth all the money we paid for him. United have kept the most clean sheets in all competitions this season and Wan-Bissaka and Maguire are to be credited for bolstering our defense. The Englishman’s tackling is unmatched and has prevented multiple counter-attacks. He has also been difficult to dribble past but still has a lot of work to do on his crossing and movements in the final third. Wan-Bissaka has 4 assists in 46 games and will only get better with time. Manchester United have finally seemed to have replaced Gary Neville and is already one of the fans favorites. 9/10

Harry Maguire [27 y.o, Center-Back, £78.30m]
This one is really tough. The price-tag is something that will always be mentioned every time he has a bad game but should United have walked away when Leicester asked for that fee? I think we should have. With the same money United should’ve had serious talks with de Ligt, he’s also much younger than Maguire and has similar leadership skills. Now that we have Maguire I won’t complain but something that we will have to just go with. Maguire is undoubtedly a good center-back and has stats almost similar to that of Van Dijk. The 27 year old has made 57 appearances and has played the most minutes than any other United player this season. He also has 3 goals and 3 assists. Maguire could’ve had way more goals but somehow just misses the target. United have to work on their set-pieces and it’s disappointing to see us score rarely from it. There have been games where Maguire has been made to look like fool, the games against Spurs after the lockdown and the Chelsea FA Cup semi-finals being the best examples. He clearly needs a better partner and someone who has the pace to add mobility to our defense. I know that the price-tag is something that Maguire hasn’t asked for but I’m not only judging the signings on their performances this season but also the money that we’ve spent. 6.5/10

Bruno Fernandes [25, Attacking Midfielder, £49.50m]
27 games, 17 goals, and 11 assists! What a return for a player who only joined in January. The Portuguese made a huge impact in the dressing room and is a leader. Bruno has taken off the pressure from the shoulders of Pogba and has been vital to us securing a Champions League spot. He has been excellent and has become an added threat to the likes of Rashford, Martial and Greenwood. 10/10

Odion Ighalo [31, Striker, On loan]
The Nigerian did exactly what he was brought in for and I’ve got zero complains about him. It remains unclear whether United will make his move permanent but he would make a great back-up. His two most memorable moments will be the hold up to our second goal vs City before the lockdown which McTominay smashed into the open net and his brilliant ball control before scoring against vs LASK in the Europa League. The striker managed to score 5 goals and bagged 1 assist in 19 appearances. 7/10