3rd. Manchester United
A lot of pundits are writing post-Ferguson Manchester United off this season and you could say Im doing the exact same. Manchester United are going through a change for the first time in 26 years in that takes some time to get used to. Also, in my opinion, on paper Chelsea and Manchester City also have better squads. I feel the Fergie affect has been helping Manchester United along for a while. United have a really good squad but its not a great squad and it definitely needs freshening up. No more so than in central midfield. In Fergusons last few years he seemed to ignore that but at least Moyes seems to identify it as a problem. Fabregas would be absolutely but they wont get him. Alternatively, Luka Modric would also fit in perfectly but at the moment, a deal for anyone doesnt look close. Keeping Rooney is also imperative for Moyes. People forget how good Rooney has been for United and theyll need him playing just off Robin Van Persie.
Selling Rooney to Chelsea would be catastrophic. Manchester United are quite notorious for slow starts and that might happen again this season looking at their early fixtures which include Swansea and Liverpool away and Chelsea at home. When they made a slow start under Ferguson and he told them not to panic because they will get better the players believed in it and believed in him because he had seen it and done it before. If they have a slow start under Moyes, which is likely, Im not sure his reassurance will be so convincing. Key player: Robin Van Persie. Transfers in so far:
Guillermo Varela from CA Penarol Montevideo for an undisclosed fee. Possible team to face Swansea in their first fixture: GK: De Gea RB: Jones CB: Ferdinand CB: Vidic LB: Evra CM: Carrick CM: Cleverley RM: Zaha LM: Welbeck AM: Kagawa ST: Van Persie