Manchester United did a great job this summer, but they still have a long way to go
Jose Mourinho has a big job on his hands at Manchester United. He's working to overcome years of mismanagement at the hands of Ed Woodward, the Glazer family, and the hapless coaches they've tossed into that muck. Thankfully, he has a huge budget and the pulling power of one of the biggest clubs in the universe, but name and money don't win soccer games.
Mourinho has waited for this Manchester United job for a long time, and he knows the magnitude of the task ahead of him. United's team was filled with players that weren't up to Mourinho's standard, and he quickly ushered nine of them out the door, including Germany's record-breaking midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. Mourinho named his targets for the club at the start of the summer, and United duly brought them in -- Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly, and now Paul Pogba are all wearing red.
Mourinho correctly identified weakness straight through the core of Manchester United, and his four signings directly reinforce the spine of this team. Each of the new players addresses a serious need for United, something that the club have struggled to do in the transfer market lately. Bailly will partner Chris Smalling at the center of defense, Pogba shores up the heart of midfield, supporting the versatile Mkhitaryan who can play behind the King himself, Zlatan. From back to front, Manchester United got better right through the middle, and they did it with exclusively world class talent. It's a near perfect transfer window.
Now The Special One has declared the market closed, and there's no reason to think he's lying to us. Barring any surprises, the team that just beat Leicester City in the Community Shield is the one Jose's rolling with. This is what they've got till January.
Manchester United's team right now is good. It's already, on paper, much better than what they had last year, and the year before that, but it's still not looking like a title-challenging team. And Mourinho knows that. Luke Shaw is promising, but still an unknown after just one good month in Manchester United red. Matteo Darmian still hasn't completely settled in England, and Antonio Valencia is, well - he's Antonio Valencia. The fullbacks could be a problem.
In midfield, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, and Marouane Fellaini are all capable players, but Pogba didn't come from the Juventus School of Midfield Majesty to play one-twos with Sideshow Belgian. Wayne Rooney likely has one last year in him, but there's no need to continue to pummel the same deceased high horse.
The fact is, Manchester United's team is good. Very good, even. But they're not great yet. They're maybe top three, top four good. And that's good enough for this year. Mourinho doesn't want to bring in a raft of players at once and upset the delicate balance of this team even further. He's got his four guys, and the core of what he thinks he can work with, and that's OK.
There will, of course, be a subsection of fans who believe that because of the exorbitant fees splashed on transfers, United should challenge for the title. Realistically though, United have a talented, but underwhelming team, that's probably a year away from being a truly scary proposition. Mourinho and his chosen few may very well be able to inspire this group to greatness, as he has done so many times before, but that's probably not the case this year.
Mourinho took over the Red Devils knowing that this was a multi-year project. It took Manchester United three years to tear the club down -- you can even argue that it began in the last couple years of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign -- and that can't be rebuilt in just one.
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