The first part of the season was very difficult for United as the side needed a new system without Ronaldo, while the numerous injuries to the playing staff certainly didn’t help. The team did struggle to catch Chelsea at the top but they also didn’t allow the Blues to run away and as a result, we still have the chance to defend the Premiership title.

While the FA Cup defeat to Leeds still hurts, the Carling Cup campaign has been a big success especially after knocking out City from the semi-finals and with all due respect to Aston Villa, this trophy should be going to Old Trafford. We did fairly well in the Champions League so far and while Milan are not the easiest opponent there is, I really fancy our chances against the pensioners from Milano.

As far as the players are concerned, Luis Antonio Valencia has had a great first season so far and he is already looking like a key player in the side, but the likes of Berbatov, Nani, Anderson and Carrick are a whole different story. Both Berbatov and Carrick were instrumental to team’s success last term but they have utterly failed this season and no one knows why. I never held Anderson or Nani in high regard and now everyone can see they are not a United material.

The capture of promising defender Chris Smalling from Fulham is hopefully a sign of things to come since this team need fresh blood and need it soon. The financial situation is very poor now (thanks Glazers!) but Fergie have to find some way to raise funds for new players unless he wants to keep playing Scholes, Giggs and Neville as long as they can walk without a crutch.

Once again we have a talented bunch of youngsters coming through the ranks and even if the club fail to bring new players, we shouldn’t worry too much, with Welbeck, Macheda, Diouf, Cleverly, Gibson, Obertan and Da Silva twins all waiting for their chance to shine. It looks as though Fergie has come to terms with losing Vidic in the summer, especially having brought Smalling from Fulham and the prospect of Evans, Smalling and Da Silva forming the back line in the near future certainly looks appealing.

A lot will obviously depend on how well we do this season but I feel next summer is the right time for a major clear out. The boss can raise a lot of cash by selling Vidic, Berbatov, Nani and Anderson and if he uses it wisely, United will again top the soccer stats charts next season.

We are all aware the Glazers know nothing about football and couldn’t care less what will happen to United since their only worry is how much money they will make. The Americans have done everything they could to raise the profits, increasing the ticket prices, selling club’s best players, yet they have taken more than £20 million out of the club in consulting fees and personal loans.

As you probably know, the club now owe more than £700 million and it seems the only way to get out of this trouble is by generating bigger profits, which can only be done by the success on the pitch. This certainly looks unlikely, especially this season since it is evident the team need reinforcing after the sale of Ronaldo, but where is the money needed for new signings going to come from?

United’s case should serve as an example that not every investment is good one and Premier League chiefs have to find a way not to let just any fool with a wad of money in their pocket buy a Premiership club. Foreign ownership is becoming a fixture in football today, but just as a club in problems can be revived by the influx of money, in the same way, already healthy club can be ruined by incompetent owners.

Manchester United fans can only hope that the club can find a way to recover when the Glazers leave but that is certainly going to be an uphill struggle and I have a feeling that things will never be the same.

Darron Gibson is now 22 but he’s been in the first team set up for few years now and I cannot really say he has proven his potential. Two loan spells at Antwerp and Wolves did aid his development but probably not as much as Sir Alex Ferguson would have liked. Since making his debut in 2005, the Irishman has only played 20 odd matches for Manchester United, scoring 6 goals in the process.

During this time he did little to show his potential and only occasionally stood out by scoring goals from distance like he did against Tottenham and West Ham. Nevertheless, he didn’t show anything special which would make Ferguson give him more playing time and he rarely played above the average. Mediocrity players are not welcome at Manchester United and I am very surprised that Ferguson still sees Gibson as part of his plans.

Gibson offers little when he is on the pitch and his long distance shots are the only thing that stands out. He’s fluffed quite a few of those in the first half of the West Ham match before scoring that beautiful goal in the second period. It is more than clear he lacks vision and creativity needed to play at this level, while he is pretty slow on the ball as well.

Darron Gibson has been rewarded with a three-year extension to his contract last season but despite his memorable goals during the last few weeks, I expect him to leave Old Trafford much sooner than 2012, when his contract runs out.

The Irishman was a player with a big potential when he was brought to the club in 2004 but his development hasn’t really gone as planned and I think it’s high time he was let go. His three goals in the games against Tottenham and West Ham can fool some people, especially since Ferguson loves free-scoring midfielders but it’s fair to say Gibson had plenty of chances to prove his potential and utterly failed. He may prove to be a good squad player for one of the struggling Premiership sides but it’s perfectly clear he is not United material. If there you’ve heard of online bookmakers giving the odds on Gibson never to become a first team regular at United, do let me know.

Manuel Neuer (Schalke)

Manuel Neuer looks to be the number one target at the moment and he has a very good chance of making a switch to Old Trafford. United have been following this extremely talented keeper for quite a while and they have already had one bid rejected, with an improved offer due very soon. The good thing is that Schalke are in very difficult situation and even though coach Felix Magath stated that all his players were up for sale except Neuer, the German club are likely to let him leave if the right offer comes in. The asking price is thought to be around £15 million, which is a fair price for such a young and talented keeper. Manuel Neuer is just 23 years old and he already has three seasons of Bundesliga football behind him, which makes him the perfect candidate for the role.

Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)

Igor Akinfeev is already a household name in Russia even though he is just 23 years old. He became a first team regular at CSKA at 18 and he just needed one more year to become the first choice keeper for Russia national team. Akinfeev has since retained his place as one of the most talented keepers in Europe and he is widely tipped to leave CSKA in January. Sir Alex Ferguson praised his goalkeeping abilities after the two Champions League games between Manchester United and CSKA but he later stated he wasn’t interested in signing the Russian. I am, however, pretty sure Fergie just wanted to keep the story under the radar and that he is indeed very interested in signing Akinfeev.

Rene Adler (Leverkusen)

Rene Adler is another one of the new bunch of talented keepers from Germany that follow the footsteps of Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehman. He is currently vying for the place of Germany first choice keeper with Manuel Neuer, while he’s been a regular at Bayer Leverkusen for three years now. Adler is also tracked by Bayern Munchen and if Ferguson wants him, he will have to act quickly. Besides being a gifted goalie, Adler is also thought to possess a leadership abilities and his reliability has a very positive effect on the team.

These are all very talented keepers and it seems Fergie cannot go wrong with any of them but Igor Akinfeev is my pick. He is the only one of the three that is a first team regular in the national team and four years of regular first team action for both CSKA and Russia should be a guarantee that he will succeed in the Premier League. If I was an online betting enthusiast, I would put my money on Akinfeev.

Right-back

Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra are among the best there is at their respective positions but United don’t have a right-back to match. Gary Neville is well past his prime, Rafael is still too young, while John O’Shea and Wes Brown are good players but right-back is not their natural position. Ferguson need an attacking full-back like Glen Johnson or Dani Alves, who can be a big threat going forward, while being reliable at the back as well.

Someone to replace Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes has had a remarkable career and he gave everything he’s got to United but he is no longer a player he one was. His creativity and pin-point passes to his teammates drove United forward for so many years but now the boss has to find him a replacement. Anderson is showing occasional glimpses of quality but he is by no means consistent enough or good enough to occupy Scholes’ role for the years to come. Both Carrick and Fletcher are really good players but they lack the vision and that subtle touch needed to be the creative force of such a big team.

Left winger

Antonio Valencia have proved his potential this season and is getting better by the day, thus it seems the right wing position will not be a problem. However, there is one place vacant on the left hand side. Nani had his chance and failed to take it, while Giggs still has something to offer but he will be 36 in few weeks’ time. Ji-Sung Park seems like the best choice at the moment but he is much more a player who works for the team (definitely good to have him around) than a creative force up front.

Centre forward

Dimitar Berbatov is occupying the place at the moment but the Bulgarian is simply too inconsistent to be considered United material. Wayne Rooney needs a centre forward to play off him, someone like Ruud van Nistelrooy, who can lead the soccer stats charts and take some pressure off Rooney, which is something Berbatov simply cannot do. Michael Owen can help the team by coming from the bench or playing some less important games but he can no longer command a starting berth.

This season was always going to be difficult from the moment Ronaldo left the club and I believe the boss should have added few more players to the squad. He obviously didn’t want to make big changes to the team that had a lot of success in the past few years, but only because he expected more from Nani, Anderson, Berbatov and co. Antonio Valencia is slowly growing accustomed to the life at Old Trafford and his performances are getting better by the day but players like Nani and Anderson, who were expected to step up the plate are desperately underperforming.

Things should improve now that Giggs and Park are back in action and I am confident the boss will have no problems getting rid of Nani after his latest comments. However, with Van der Sar, Giggs, Scholes and Neville in the closing stages of their careers, it’s high time they were found some replacements. Foster and Kuszczak have already proven they didn’t have the required quality to replace the Dutch keeper so Ferguson will have to look elsewhere. Igor Akinfeev and Manuel Neuer are being mentioned as possible replacements and one of them could be on the way to Manchester very soon.

This season doesn’t look too optimistic for United as they don’t seem to have the quality to match thoroughly impressive Chelsea in the Premier League, while Champions League title looks like mission impossible at the moment. That is the reason why the rebuilding process should have already started as these things take time and could cost United at least a couple of trophies. In all fairness, Ferguson brought players like Nani, Anderson, Obertan, Da Silva twins with the aim of building for the future but this process clearly didn’t go as expected.

I still hope Manchester United can fight for trophies this season but apart from maybe reaching the final stages of one of domestic Cups, that don’t look like a realistic possibility. This team are not well balanced and have some missing links, and this is something that cannot be sorted out by buying a couple of players in January. This is one bet I would like to lose but backing Manchester United not to win any trophies this season at 2.00 offered by Paddy Power looks like one of the best sport picks at the moment.

We did not see Welbeck today, but I guess there will a chance for that. Hopefully, Arsenal will slip tomorrow as I would not like to see them 5 points above.