With Three Weeks Until Premier League Starts, This Is What Manchester United Must Do

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The Premier League season is getting closer with every day. We are at about three weeks from the start of the new season, which Manchester United will open on Friday 10 August. The time is running away really fast and Man United to get their work done as soon as possible. Here, we are looking at things Manchester United need to improve in the coming weeks if they are to have any success in the top end of the domestic campaign.

Solve The Centre-Back Problem

This has been an issue we have been talking about for the best part of the last season. And there is no solution just yet. Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo are not really the players that will lead you to glory from the centre of defence and Victor Lindelöf is still to reach the expected levels. That is why bringing an experienced, but high quality defender will be important for Jose Mourinho. He needs a cornerstone of this back four, someone that the club build around and improve instantly. Maybe that is Toby Alderweireld and maybe it is not. Whatever the case, United need a solution really fast.

Improve Defensive Numbers

Manchester United goalkeepers – well, mostly David De Gea – made 80.69 percent of saves on all shots going on target. This means only one in five shots on target conceded was actually a goal conceded. Which is great. However, the amount of shots on target United conceded is staggering – 117, which is around 3.1 shots on target per match. And that is not great. With Man United expected to concede 43.54 goals (per xG Against), it shows how valuable De Gea was to saving big chances. That is not sustainable and Man United conceded shots of average worth of 0.30 expected goals. That means, on average, all shots United conceded 1/3 of them was expected to be a goal conceded. In the end it was only 1 in 5 and that is mostly down to De Gea’s amazing season.

Bring In A Right Winger

Another thing we mention here quite often. But that is what it is when the situation is like this. Simply enough, United need a right winger. Martial cannot play there and Sanchez most certainly cannot play there. Bringing Ivan Perisic would only complicate things even more, as he is used to playing on the left and right now it is hard seeing Gareth Bale leave Madrid and return to the Premier League.

Maybe that even happens, but United right now need a great right winger, who will be able to improve on Juan Mata and others filling in. The imbalance of this squad is quite obvious and the Devils do not need new complications, but wise solutions.

Be Sharper In Final Third

Manchester United last season were slow and playing without a proper incisiveness. That means the team was easier to be stopped from creating great goalscoring chances. Romelu Lukaku was not used to his full strengths, as we have seen at the World Cup and United need a new spark. A mere 69 goals for a team in second place is not good and it was even five goals less than Arsenal had scored. That really tells something…

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