Manchester United's Key to Continuity Lies in South America

The South American contingent at Old Trafford next season will surely play a huge role in Manchester United's bid for success on four fronts. The most notable members in the squad are, of course, the Argentine international forward Carlos Tevez and Brazilian midfielder Anderson.

Carlos Tevez was eventually signed after last summer's longest running saga. An agreement was eventually reached with West Ham United, Kia Joorabchian, and the FA.

After such a disrupted preseason it wasn't ideal that Tevez had to be rushed into the first team because of injury and suspension to Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively.

Tevez eventually did well to score 19 goals in his first season with the club, many of which were crucial to the club's defence of their Premier League crown. Last minute equalisers away to Blackburn and Tottenham, as well as the winner in front of the Kop at Anfield, meant that Manchester United were just able to hold off Chelsea's late charge.

His tireless running and obvious passion for the game have already made him a favourite amongst fans.

Anderson has been a similar success story, although perhaps in a slightly different role than the fans had initially anticipated.

I, for one, was under the impression we had signed an attacking midfield play-maker who would operate off the strikers. However, it appears Sir Alex Ferguson has been successful in his attempt to play him as a "box-to-box" midfielder.

The Brazilian has proved he is adept in defensive positions as well as going forward and that he has the strength to mix it with more household names. Indeed, he enjoyed a well-matched battle with Cesc Fabregas and had Steven Gerrard comfortably in his back pocket at Anfield.

However, despite both players enjoying good début seasons I believe it is vital that they both push on and continue to improve. Manchester United will face another stern test to retain both their Premier League title and the European Cup and these two players will form an integral part of the squad when the season gets underway.

With Cristiano Ronaldo out injured until the beginning of October, and the aging bones of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs perhaps just starting to creak, it seems to me that both Tevez and Anderson may have to up their games.

Anderson, especially, must start to find a little more composure in attacking positions and hit the back of the net with more regularity. In fact, despite his impressive performances in midfield he failed to open his goalscoring account.

Paul Scholes' dynamic late surges into the penalty area, which brought him and the club so many goals in previous years, seemed to be a thing of the past last season as he could only manage two goals in all competitions.

If Anderson really is to be Scholes' heir then he will have to not only replace him in person, but also replace his goals.

It must also be assumed that Ronaldo will probably not score 42 goals again next season, so if Anderson and Tevez (you can add Rooney to this list as well) can find a few more goals in themselves Manchester United should be fine.

The reserve team also contains a talented group of Brazilian youngsters such as the recently arrived Da Silva twins, Fabio and Rafael, and Rodrigo Possebon. They could all potentially make an impact in the coming seasons.  

After the euphoria of last season it is definitely going to be harder to achieve the same level of success for next season. However, if the talented posse of South Americans continue to impress then a repeat is certainly not out of the question.