Manchester United: 6 Things Sir Alex Needs to Change Tactically for Next Season

Last season, Sir Alex Ferguson led a spirited Manchester United side to a record-breaking 19th league title and fulfilled his lifelong ambition of "knocking Liverpool off their perch."

Apparently, the "weakest Manchester United side in the history of the club" had made...err...history or something.

Manchester United won the Premier League by a whopping margin of nine points. But even the most fanatic of the Stretford Enders, when sober, will tell you that United were simply better than the rest of the pack who were poor and made things a tad easy for Sir Alex's red army.

United finished on top with a total of 80 points, which is the lowest league-winning points total in a decade. Winning just five of your 19 away games doesn't always win you a title and Sir Alex would have been the first one to realize that.

United's frailties were exposed and paraded all around Wembley by Barcelona in the Champions League final. Towards the end of the match, Sir Alex was pictured clenching his fists in anger watching the massacre of his team in front of him. 

In the build-up to the match, Sir Alex had said that he had found the right formula to beat Barcelona after being ridiculed by the Catalan giants just two years ago.

Apparently not.

You could say that the 69-year-old Scotsman has got another team to knock off the perch before he punches out his time card one last time of what has been a glorious, messiah-like managerial career.

Apart from that, he's got the task of carrying forward the legacy he's built for the club he loves so much and make sure that it's on the right path.

As Ferguson rebuilds Manchester United one last time, the fan forums are overflowing with everyone's two cents' worth of tactical changes the team should employ in order to win a 20th title next season.

Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to pitch in.

I wish I could have peeked inside Sir Alex's pensieve* before devising this list of six tactical changes for Manchester United next season. But for what it's worth, here goes:

*My apologies for the Harry Potter reference! But like all Potter fans, the anticipation for the movie is killing me!

The Left Back Conundrum

OK, let's start off at the back.

Anyone who analyzed that horrible night in Wembley would have noticed that Patrice Evra was guilty of a lot of ball-watching.

The amount of times David Villa, Pedro and Lionel Messi whizzed past the Frenchman, you'd think he was a drunk traffic policeman with no clue of what's going on. He just could not handle the pace of the Barca trio.

Evra's man-marking has also suffered lately. This was very evident in the Champions League quarterfinal against Chelsea when he failed to mark Didier Drogba, which eventually led to a goal.

Evra is still one of the best full backs going forward and provides an extra set of wheels to the Manchester United left flank on the attack. He has provided numerous assists to the left winger and striker, and has set up a lot of goals for the Red Devils. But his defensive abilities have taken a hit in the last twelve months or so.

Evra has been sloppy at the back, which is something you wouldn't dream of happening, say, a couple of years ago.

It's something you can, perhaps, afford against a Crawley Town when you've got Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic backing you. But in the big games, the Frenchman has proven to be sort of a liability in the back four.

United is a team which takes pride in its back four and is known to have one of the most impregnable defenses in the world. Patrice Evra, at least of last season, has been a hole in the dam.

I'm not going so far as to say that United need to sell him off. He still is one of the best left backs in the world. But he has lost some of his focus and Sir Alex needs to find a way to get that back.

The da Silva twins have impressed a lot last season. I wouldn't mind seeing them start more often next season and give Evra some competition for his spot.

The moment Evra realizes that he no longer walks into the starting XI, he might get some perspective.

Sort out the Center Midfield

One of the most imperative areas in the jigsaw Sir Alex is pondering over right now is about finding a replacement for the giant piece that was Paul Scholes.

Scholesy was the one who played the orchestrator of the United midfield and attack—providing long-balls that would impress even Joe Montana, along with providing a defensive cover to the midfield.

Towards the end of Scholes' career, Michael Carrick deputized for the ginger-haired veteran. But even the most optimistic of United fans would say that he's not good enough.

Sir Alex needs to make the central midfield more dynamic and pass efficient. I'm not saying we have to emulate Barcelona, that's not even possible because you're not going to find another Andrés Iniesta and Xavi in the world.

But the Red Devils need someone who can dictate terms from the center.

United's game has always been to attack from the wings with the central midfield providing cover. But if Sir Alex were to get one man, like Wesley Sneijder, who can provide those long-balls to the wingers and burst through the opposition defense on his own, the team would be set.

That being said, United also need someone reliable to step up as a defensive holding midfielder and cover the center backs. Phil Jones looks to fit that bill well.

Worst case scenario: United fail to make any more signings in the transfer window. Honestly, I wouldn't be that worried.

I believe that if Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Anderson are utilized in the right combination and remain injury-free, they could prove their doubters wrong.

Remember, after Fletcher lost half his body weight due to illness in the latter half of last season, it was Carrick and Giggs who carried the team forward and won United the title.

Plus, there's always Park Ji Sung left in the artillery for the big games, which brings me to my next point...

Keep Ji Sung Park and John O'Shea...and Utilize Them

The last couple of weeks were buzzing with rumours that Ji Sung Park is on his way out of Old Trafford this summer.

If that were to happen, it would be a huge loss to Manchester United.

The South Korean is one of the most industrious players in the Premier League and covers almost every yard of the pitch when he plays.

He also chips in with a nothing-of-a-goal in the most trying of circumstances. Who can forget his goal in the Champions League quarterfinals just seconds after Didier Drogba had equalized at Old Trafford? And his last-gasp winner against Wolves early in the season?

Park may not be able to play all the games because of the distance he covers whenever he plays, and sometimes because he's just not part of the right combination against a particular opponent.

But the South Korean is one of the most loyal soldiers in Sir Alex's army and will give his 110 percent whenever you play him and wherever you place him on the pitch.

He remains the quintessential unsung hero for Manchester United. (Un Sung Park?)

Another player who, in my opinion, is highly underrated is John O'Shea.

The Irishman is one of the most versatile players in the Premier League. He can play in every position in the book, and I mean every!

Dimitar Berbatov can back me up if you ask the Bulgarian about his inability to score against O'Shea—the goalkeeper—in 2007.

John O'Shea is Manchester United's utility player. Whenever Sir Alex is in a fix as to who to play in a particular position when no one seems to fit the bill, O'Shea's the man. Jack of all trades, master of none.

He may lack the pace and the overall quality to be a regular starter, but when he plays, he delivers. He is an intelligent, honest and dedicated player.

It's a real pity that whenever the back four fail and O'Shea's on the team-sheet, everyone's fingers directly point towards him. But I guess that's the role John O'Shea has in the Manchester United squad—the guy who takes the blame.

I believe O'Shea is the right deputy for the da Silva twins and could also be utilized more as a defensive midfielder in high-intensity games.

The Winger Conundrum

Sir Alex's recent acquisition of Ashley Young seems to have sparked off a debate as to whether he is surplus to Manchester United's needs.

Ashley Young is a right winger who can also play on the left wing. He can also slot in as an attacking midfielder and second striker if required. He has a lot of pace in his legs and is at his threatening best on the counter-attack. 

But the last time I checked, United already have a player in the squad who does exactly that. He even scores bonus points over Young because he's a Michael Jackson lookalike who can do the back-flip!

Nani's future was uncertain for a few days after Young's signing, but the eccentric Portuguese winger seems to have taken up the challenge of fighting for his place and has reaffirmed his desire to continue playing for the Red Devils.

Nani is coming off a breakthrough season at Manchester United where he scored nine goals and provided double the number of assists. After Antonio Valencia broke his leg early in the season, it was Nani who stepped up to the porch and made sure that United did not miss the Ecuadorian.

Later, during the whole Wayne Rooney saga, it was Nani who provided those vital assists to Berbatov and Chicharito, making them look good.

Nani has been guilty of showboating and selfishness, but he's improved a lot since last October. More importantly, he has four years of experience at Old Trafford and I strongly believe that if worked upon further by Sir Alex and his staff, he can be moulded into a world-class player, the kind opponents would fear to play against.

So how does Ashley Young fit into all this?

In my opinion, Nani should share responsibilities with Young until the 25-year-old Englishman gets acclimatized to the Manchester United style of football. Young also has no prior Champions League experience, so it's really Nani's spot to lose early on in the season.

I don't see the pair taking Antonio Valencia's place on the right wing, so it's the left wing that's up for grabs. In my opinion, there's a clear winner in a contest between Nani and Young for the spot—Manchester United.

That being said, Young could also be played in the position Giggs finds himself nowadays—left midfield. 

Transition from Defense to Attack

Manchester United pride themselves on their counter-attacking skills and often base their whole game on their innate ability to convert defense into attack. 

However, one of the things I noticed last season was that United did not, or were not able to, utilize their counter-attacking style as well as they used to in the past.

One of the best games United won using this style of play was the 3-1 demolition of Arsenal at the Emirates a couple of years ago. Honestly, I did not see anything close to that performance last season.

United are always better off on the front foot. One of the reasons for that is that there is so much pace in the midfield, especially on the wings.

Hopefully, the addition of Ashley Young, who is a natural pacemaker, can pay dividends.

I guess another important factor that comes into play is possession. A team needs to strike the right balance between maintaining possession and breaking. Last season, that balance was just not right.

This is the reason United need a prolific playmaker in their ranks—someone who can make good use of the possession, someone who is explosive on the counter-attack and can take advantage of the slightest dip in concentration of the opposition defense.

Dead-Ball Play

This is the prime area Manchester United have suffered in following Cristiano Ronaldo's departure. Let's face it—free kicks can win or lose games.

The Red Devils sorely miss the wide-legged stance of Ronaldo before taking a free kick and what followed after it.

Nani was the obvious replacement as the dead-ball specialist and tried to emulate Ronaldo's thump that causes the ball to swerve unpredictably to the best of his efforts. 

But if there's one thing I've learned watching Nani's free kicks over the past two years, it's that his favorite album is Pink Floyd's The Wall! (Alright, I know that was a poor one!)

Ryan Giggs takes a few of them if the angle suits his left boot. But the Welsh wizard has clearly lost his magic touch over the years—professionally, if not domestically!

All the more reason for Sir Alex to sign someone like Wesley Sneijder, who is known to do wonders with dead balls.

A special mention also goes to Wayne Rooney. After watching that curler spring from the inside of his boot and crash into the net in the 4-2 comeback win over West Ham last season, I seriously recommend Rooney take some more responsibility in this area.

Your Thoughts?

So, there you have it. My two cents' worth with regards to the tactical changes for the Red Devils.

If you guys have any more inputs as to how Manchester United can win a 20th next season and, maybe, knock that striped team of their perch, feel free to shoot away in the comments section below.