Untied (This one's for Gareth)

I often speak about Chelsea, and there is much to think about with the Anchovy declaring that next season there will be at least five youth academy players in the squad replacing current first team players (those being Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt, Nemanja Matic, Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini) but today I'd like to explore Manchester Untied's transfer options.

The first problem which comes to mind is Owen Hargreaves. That man has been dead to the world for almost two years now. He's a wonderful football player but you have to wonder if he'll ever come back at this rate. Everyone has been hearing about how he's been recovering from his knee surgeries but this week he broke down in training with a calf strain which will delay his recovery again. Needless to say he won't be playing this season, and will hopefully be ready for pre season in July. His injury does however cause a headache for transfers. The team can't really go on without him, but there's no point in buying another player if he's going to come back into the team leaving one of the other on the sidelines.

Ideally the midfield would consist of two positions, with two players per position, those being Carrick, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Scholes and Gibson. I'm counting Scholes and Gibson as one person because the team want to 'ease' Scholes out and 'ease' Gibson in. There has been much talk of United buying James Milner, and personally I think that would be a fantastic buy. He fits their style of play well, he could work on the wing or in central midfield and I think he'd be perfect cover for Darren Fletcher. But if Hargreaves comes back in, there would be too many in there for it to work.

Unless, they actually changed their formation to one which had three central midfielders. One of their big problems this season, in my opinion, has been their formational changing. They have sometimes played with two up front and sometimes they've dropped someone into midfield. I don't know why they've been doing it because it is only half working in both instances. Rooney seems to play better with someone else to help him (a traditional 4-4-2), but their midfield has been weak for all kinds of reasons, so they've tried three in there (sometimes a 4-3-2-1 and sometimes a 4-2-3-1). But it just isn't working. They still aren't retaining possession: that's been their biggest problem this season.

I think they need to choose a formation, and stick to it. Make it work for them in exactly the same way they always have in the past (and indeed all top performing teams tend to) and create some more stability. But their midfield hasn't been the only reason for the formational changes, Berbatov has been a massive problem too.

I read an article a few weeks ago written by Gary Lineker in which he argued that United need many more strikers. He stated that someone who worked for Spurs expressed concern about Berbatov's ability to survive the mental pressure of being a United striker, and being expected to score goals every week. It seems as if that man was spot on, because Berbatov has not performed since moving and it isn't because he's become a horrid football player. I think he just can't cope with the pressure.

And Ferguson not trusting him isn't helping. But you can't blame the manager, the Count just isn't scoring goals. So is replacing him the answer? No. Not in my opinion. I think he just needs the pressure relieved a bit and that can be accomplished by the club buying a top striker, David Villa for example, who can play alongside Rooney and Berbatov and take some pressure of both of them. That way he will be able to play most weeks, but without as much pressure to score because there is someone else to take some of that pressure too.

The other thing to consider is that with three strikers to choose from, it would also leave space for young strikers like Wellbeck and Hernandez to come through. You may be saying "three, but you've forgotten about Michael Owen." Well, I haven't. I think that man should be released to race his horses. He's been mostly useless to the club and everyone else this season. He has scored goals, but he's injured for literally more time than he plays. And that just won't do for a club like Manchester United.

So, Rooney, Villa and Berbatov up front with Wellbeck and Hernandez coming through sounds good. And provided he gets fit, Hargreaves, Carrick, Fletcher, Gibson and Scholes in the center. But what of the wings? Well, Nani is about as consistent as a badly raked patch of gravel while Valencia is the epitomy of what United are looking for and Giggs is on his way out. It seems as if there may be a few problems there. So, before we look at who might be brought in we need to look at anyone coming through. There are three names that come to mind: Tosic, Macheda and Obertan.

Of these three, two look exceptionally promising while Tosic has gone out on loan and has done rather well. The problem here is that these guys need to come through next season. There is no more time to waste. Nani needs to find a way to perform at a good level every week, while Valencia just needs to keep on tearing the right wing up. Obertan needs to pull through on the left, Macheda on the right and Tosic needs to make an impact somewhere.

With that in mind, is there any space for anyone else to be bought? To be honest, I don't know. I don't really think so but I do think that the guys that are there need to make an impact, fast. There is one other problem and his name is Park. The Sweatshop has been played as an attacking midfielder as well as a wing, and I don't really know where he works best. For now I think he should be kept as a utility player, and moved around as injuries dictate.

With the wings, central midfield and the strikers looking good and only one buy so far, we move onto the defence. The team have a good few defenders: Ferdinand (who is perma injured and exceptionally over rated in my opinion), Vidic, Evans, Smalling (new buy for the center), De Laet, Brown, Rafael, Fabio, O'Shea and of course the best left back in the world, Evra. In that collection I think the team have enough good players that if some of them can keep fit (Ferdinand and Brown) there should be no problems.

So, the last position to consider is the other one which I think is a big problem. Goalkeeper. Van der Sar is fantastic but Foster and Kuszczak are woeful. I think that this position will take some planning and investment because I don't think releasing Kuszczak is the answer but perhaps getting rid of Foster is. And there is a need for Van der Sar to be replaced, by someone world class. Lloris has been spoken about, and after his performance for Lyon against Bayern Munich his stock can only have risen. He's a good age, mid 20's as far as I'm aware, and I think with him slotting into goal and Van der Sar dropping to second choice, it would allow a smooth transition. Next season perhaps another can be bought or brought through, but this one could go lots of different ways.

At the end of the day, I think this has been United weakest seasons for a while, and at times they've looked quite poor but the truth is that they've been building for the future for two seasons now and I think it is time for some of those younger players to come through, and relieve the older legs. If things go according to plan, and the team get just a little lucky when it comes to injuries I think they'll have a fantastic squad for next season.