10 Concerns Man Utd Should Have Ahead Of The New Season

2. The Failure To Replace Vidic & Ferdinand

One of the scariest issues currently blighting Manchester United is Louis van Gaal's apparent insistence on playing a back three containing Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. The trio scarcely inspire confidence and are the furthest thing from solid. The departures of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have left a gaping hole at the back at Old Trafford and United's defence looks incredibly fragile. United have attempted to replace both and have been linked with moves for Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels, Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen and Feyenoord's Stefan de Vrij. However, with the transfer window ticking down into its final three weeks, the club are yet to find successors for either Ferdinand or Vidic, and this is worrying. Van Gaal surprised many by taking the Netherlands to a third place finish at this summer's World Cup despite having an apparently brittle defence but it would be difficult to make the case for Evans, Jones and Smalling to be United's first choice central defensive pairings. Van Gaal has to bring in a centre-back who is of like-for-like quality to a Ferdinand or Vidic in their prime - someone like Hummels - or else run the risk of being highly susceptible at the back in 2014-15.