3 Manchester United Players with Points to Prove in Pre-Season

It looks like Jose Mourinho's first pre-season in charge of Manchester United will begin its first phase on 1 July.

Samuel Luckhurst of Manchester Evening News wrote on Thursday: "Senior United sources told M.E.N. Sport players will return to the training ground on different days from July 1 for testing, with formal training beginning either on July 6 or 7."

But when the new boss gathers his players to put them through their paces and begin the task of building a successful United side, who are the three players who will have to prove themselves to their new manager in order to earn a place in his plans?

In truth, there are plenty more than just three. There could be an argument to place any of Marcos Rojo, Andreas Pereira, Juan Mata, Phil Jones, Ashley Young, James Wilson, Guillermo Varela, Paddy McNair or Matteo Darmian on the list. Bastian Schweinsteiger also fits into this category—for more on that, see here. 

So while acknowledging that question marks exist over much of the United squad, let's take a look at the three for whom things are perhaps most critical.

Adnan Januzaj

Almost every United fan knows the backstory. Adnan Januzaj dazzled during David Moyes' season in charge, 2013/14. The new regime—headed by Louis van Gaal—handed him the No. 11 shirt vacated by the recently retired Ryan Giggs in 2014.

However, he failed to convince Van Gaal and was used sparingly during the Dutchman's two seasons in charge.

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The key to Januzaj proving himself to Mourinho lies in understanding the reasons why he did not succeed under Van Gaal. The truth is always more nuanced than this, but essentially, the question to be answered is whether the bulk of blame lies with the player or his former manager.

There is some evidence for each side of the argument. Januzaj's attitude when on loan at Borussia Dortmund was called into question by their boss, Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel told FourFourTwo: "A part of him was always still in Manchester and we just couldn’t help him cut this umbilical cord. He didn’t wholly embrace Borussia. He always compared everything with how it had been at United."

Steve Bates of the Sunday People (h/t the Mirror) reported in March 2016 that Van Gaal dropped Januzaj for "a bad attitude."

Yet it is surely too simplistic to write the 21-year-old off as a bad egg and move on. After all, Van Gaal's idea of a player with a good and bad attitude might be pretty specific. He liked players to follow orders very specifically.

CAMAY SUNGU/Associated Press

As Daniel Taylor wrote in the Guardian in May: "Van Gaal gave Schweinsteiger preferential treatment because he saw him as someone who will carry out his instructions to a tee. For similar reasons, he trusted Marouane Fellaini with a key role."

That should not be a surprise. When Van Gaal joined United in 2014, Jonathan Liew of the Telegraph compiled an excellent dossier on the Dutchman's history.

As well as revealing that Brazilian trio Sonny Anderson, Giovanni and Rivaldo nicknamed Van Gaal "Hitler" during his time at Barcelona, Liew wrote: "The training ground and the Nou Camp alike would reverberate to the sound of van Gaal screaming: 'Rivaldo! Listen! Do as I tell you!'"

Improvisational talent has never sat well with Van Gaal. Januzaj is a young man with a lot to learn and—having fallen so far out of favour—with a lot to prove. However, if social media videos of his physical work in pre-season are anything to go by, he is keen to prove his worth to Mourinho.

Marouane Fellaini

The much-maligned Marouane Fellaini found a perhaps unlikely ally in United midfield legend Roy Keane. Speaking ahead of the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2016 group game against Belgium, Keane said, per Joe.ie:

"

We saw him recently scoring some important goals. I like him. I liked him at Everton and I think he’s a good player for Man United.

The criticism he’s had—I think he’s more of a scapegoat than anything else. Which can happen when a new manager brings in certain players and the new signings get criticism [when results are poor].

"

However, the other half of Sir Alex Ferguson's best midfield partnership had a very different take on Fellaini's role at United.

In post-match punditry on BT Sport following the Red Devils 2-0 Europa League loss to Liverpool at Anfield in March, Paul Scholes said (h/t the Daily Mail): "Marouane Fellaini isn't someone you can play through. He played for one reason: so they could smash the ball up to him and they didn't have to play through midfield. This is United you are talking about! Every time Fellaini plays, that happens."

So will Mourinho side with Keane or Scholes? Perhaps the former Chelsea boss will value Fellaini's battering ram-like qualities—which United were often on the receiving end of when Fellaini played under Moyes at Everton.

He surely will not want to use the Belgian as part of a midfield two in a 4-2-3-1, though. However hard he works in pre-season after the Euros, there is more than ample evidence for Mourinho to draw that conclusion. But Fellaini could prove a point by showing he is willing to be part of the new manager's squad.

There is also plenty of evidence that he can make a telling difference in key moments. If he is prepared to take what should be a squad role, perhaps Mourinho will keep him around.

Memphis Depay

Memphis Depay's United future must surely depend on what happens this season. His debut campaign was—taken as a whole—a disaster. There were moments of promise, certainly, and there were even moments when he was at his brilliant best, but they were few, far between and generally against lesser opponents.

Memphis is one of those players likely to benefit enormously from the arrival of a new manager. As with Januzaj, it is hard not to think Van Gaal had already made up his mind about whether the player was one with whom he could work successfully.

Van Gaal was pragmatic enough to include his compatriot in his side when he needed him in the second half of the season, but as soon as the squad's injury problems died down, Memphis was sidelined again.

So now the opportunity of a fresh start presents itself. Intuitively, Memphis' combination of physicality and technique would seem a match made for Mourinho.

However, United's No. 7 will also have to show the right kind of mental characteristics—toughness and a willingness to work within the manager's methods and buy into the new project—in order to prove himself.

This pre-season is full of intriguing questions. Each of the long list of candidates needs to answer some big questions, but the biggest of all need to be answered by these three. Memphis and Januzaj are not involved in international competition this summer, so they can concentrate fully on their new challenge. Fellaini's time will come a little later.

Most of the questions are as yet unanswerable, but we can be sure each player's position in the United squad has fundamentally shifted given the departure of Van Gaal and the arrival of Mourinho. Watching it play out is going to be fascinating.