sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Why Teams Must Fear Manchester United This Season

Why Teams Must Fear Manchester United This Season

Jose Mourinho's side are bang in form...

Anonymous

Anonymous

Following the first three games of the Premier League season prior to the international break, Manchester United sit top of the table with nine points.

The Red Devils have scored 10 goals in this period, whilst conceding zero. Whilst everyone is fully aware that there are 36 games remaining, you cannot overlook the early signs of success which Manchester United are demonstrating.

Compelling Form

José Mourinho's side kicked off the 2017/18 season with a 4-0 win against West Ham United. Neutrals criticised the Hammers for their display but many undermined the performance of a spectacular Manchester United side.

The fluid passing and enlightened movements of Mourinho's front line, combined with the composure and stability of the balanced midfield, resulted in the team exposing a very experienced West Ham defence in Hart, Zabaleta, Reid and Ogbonna.

The following weekend Manchester United travelled four-and-a-half hours to play Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, where they emulated their last result with a 4-0 victory away from home.

The Reds dominated for the second week in a row with 17 shots in comparison to Swansea's five, whilst earning another clean sheet.

In the last game before the first international break of four during the 2017/18 season, Old Trafford was abundant in Manchester United fans as they welcomed Leicester City to their historic ground.

Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini scored as their team dominated again, with 22 shots and a third consecutive clean sheet.


Image: PA

Fortunate Competition Draws

Following UEFA's draw several weeks ago, we learnt that Manchester United were blessed with a straightforward Champions League group - S.L. Benfica, FC Basel and CSKA Movska.

Manchester United are favourites to breeze through the group stages, whilst the Carabao Cup draw granted them a home draw to Burton Albion - which will leave the club one game away from the quarter finals, should they beat the Championship side.


Image: PA

Outstanding Transfer Window

Whilst United are set up to succeed on the back of their fortunate draws and flawless form since August, they have also had superior financial backing in the transfer market.

In the January transfer window, José Mourinho shifted out Memphis Depay to Lyon and Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton for a combined £45 million.

A few months later, £300,000 per-week of wages were offloaded as Wayne Rooney returned to his former Merseyside club. These three transfers opened ample doors for fresh players to join the Red Devils this summer.

Later on in the transfer window, Manchester United dealt a second major blow to Chelsea as they signed their Serbian defensive midfielder Nemanja Matić for a fee of £40million - which is seemingly a very reasonable sum, as the former Benfica man has outshone every Blues midfielder so far this season.

In an obvious panic buy, Antonio Conté replaced Matić with Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater - for a fee rising to £35 million. This transfer was completed following the rejections of Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Manchester United's new midfielder Nemanja Matić and striker Romelu Lukaku will significantly revamp José Mourinho's team, whilst retrogressing their Premier League rivals Chelsea.


Image: PA

Manchester United fans will be anticipating the partnership of Romelu Lukaku and a certain Swedish forward, who goes by the name of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The former Paris-Saint-Germain striker spent last season at Old Trafford, scoring 17 goals for a struggling Manchester United side and becoming their top goalscorer of last season in the process - no other Reds player scored more than 6 goals last season. His future attacking partner Romelu Lukaku praised the arrival of Ibrahimovic and the effect that his animated personality will have on the dressing room.

Overall, José Mourinho will be content with the targets that Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward successfully pursued this summer.

The ex-Chelsea manager chose players for the board to pursue who he knew would gel easily and swiftly into his squad, as proven by how quickly they have kicked off the new season.

This is a fresh approach to transfers which preceding Manchester United managers have failed to do. Louis Van Gaal's signings included Ángel Di María, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Memphis Depay - all of which flopped and were sold briskly. Before the Van-Gaal era, David Moyes agreed a £27.5 million deal for Marouane Fellaini in his short time as United manager, who has since been dropped to the bottom of the pecking order in José Mourinho's midfield.

Manchester United fans will be very relieved to see their new signings hit the ground running in their first season.


Image: PA

The only flaw in Manchester United's transfer window was that they missed out on signing a new winger to add some much-needed depth to their natural options of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young.

The thirteen-time Premier League title winners remained in talks with Inter Milan winger Ivan Perišić throughout the summer, whilst Sky Sports News HQ reported that Manchester United were interested in bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford - however neither deal was concluded.

Deterioration of Premier League Rivals

The setback of not having a new winger is only minor in comparison to the problems that Manchester United's Premier League rivals faced in the transfer window.

As previously mentioned, Chelsea lost Nemanja Matić and missed out on Romelu Lukaku to another top-six club. Roman Abramovich also lost out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (to Liverpool), Fernando Llorente (to Tottenham Hotspur) and Ross Barkley.

Whereas Arsenal failed to secure the services of Monaco winger Thomas Lemar, as well as unsettling their best player Alexis Sanchez and also struggling to sign a centre-back.


Image: PA

To Summarise...

It is reasonable to suggest that Manchester United came out on top in the transfer window in comparison to the other English sides.

They have recruited promisingly, their manager is regaining his confidence and they have experienced a perfect start to the 2017/18 Premier League season. Keep an eye out for Manchester United in the Premier League, the Champions League and the League Cup.

Words by Matthew Jones - Twitter: @MatthewJ_Joness

Featured Image Credit: