Manchester United: 6 Question Marks over Red Devils on Eve of 2011-12 Season

We stand on the edge of the abyss. The shrieks of early season fervour, creating the crescendo that will form the back-drop to tomorrows curtain-raiser. It is of course the eve of the 2011-12 Premiership season of which I speak.

Heading into the new campaign there are question marks hanging over all 20 teams in England’s top flight. How will Villas-Boas control his aging temperamental charges? Can King Kenny turn England mark two into a potent top four force? What of the promoted clubs; do they have enough to endure in the top flight beyond their debut term? And most pertinently; what on earth is Mario Balotelli going to do next?

At the present, questions subsist simply in the rhetoric. It will not be until the first balls are kicked that answers can begin to be derived. Yet the human race is nothing if not impatient so…

David De Are You Gunna Gea Any Good?

The gloves of Edwin van der Sar were always going to be large ones to fill, both in the literal and figurative sense. The decision to hand the mantle to a 20-year-old with only two seasons top class experience, only served to compound a wary fanbase.

Iker Casillas, goalkeeper supreme and current custodian of the Spanish national team’s goal assures that young David de Gea is the rightful heir to the Spanish throne. However, following a debut beset by a plethora of errors, many others are not quite as enamoured.

It would be hard for anyone to attempt to live up to the legend that Edwin van der Sar wove for himself, but at 20 the task is even more onerous.

De Gea is a young man for whom I can envisage nothing but a bright future in the game, yet in the short-term my optimistic clarity is somewhat impeded.

A few good performances and the young Spaniard will really get the opportunity to mature into his shirt, but start badly and De Gea will inevitably be branded as the scape-goat for the teams failings.

I think the last chapter of the book of David de Gea the goalkeeping supremo has already been written. Now we just have to wait to see how the first few chapters play themselves out.

Hi Wesley, Bye Wesley, Hi Wesley, Bye Wesley; Wesley What Are You Doing?

If Wesley Sneijder was your girlfriend, she would have to be damn hot not to have been dumped by now.

The tantalizing frequency with which Sneijder has fluttered his eyelashes at England’s biggest club, only to withdraw once more behind his blue-black shroud, is enough to turn a sane man mad.

Even more infuriatingly, the transfer saga that along with the Arsenal shambles (Fab-Nas) has defined our summer, shows no sign of concluding. Just as we think we are getting somewhere—yesterday, when it was widely reported a move was imminent—Sneijder’s apparent demands put a kibosh on proceedings (reported in today’s media).

The Nerazurri talisman is widely regarded as one of the most talented protagonists of spherical ball wizardry in the world, and as such Manchester United would be blessed to have a player of his calibre on the roster.

Yet the adage “no player is bigger than the club” appears incredibly pertinent in this sense, and one Wesley Sneijder may well have to heed if he is to pull on the Red Devils any time soon.

STOP IT WESLEY YOU TEASE.

The Future's Bright, the Future's Red?

The ruthless efficiency in which Manchester United’s young guns tore their city rivals asunder in the Community Shield last weekend showed the club’s youth structure to be in good health.

A side that, with twenty minutes to go averaged out at 22 years—with an oldest player, ironically called Young, who was 25—schooled a side spawned from the oil-rich Arab state in the art of nurture, rather than plunder.

It was the ruthless efficiency that has come to define the Ferguson era at United. Just as one side ends, just as players retire, the new breed fills the breach so seamlessly as to defy rationality.

Every team has era’s of dominance. Arsenal had theirs, Chelsea under Mourinho had theirs, Liverpool’s was long and laden with silverware, Man City are still waiting for theirs… Yet Manchester United always seem to be there or there about: An era of some 18 years in which 12 Premiership titles have accrued.

The current incumbents to the club’s proud heritage have rightly been lauded in a similar vein to that of Sir Alex’s first great young side; “Fergie’s fledglings” Messer’s Neville, Butt, Giggs, Scholes and Beckham.

Only time will tell whether Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, the Da Silva twins, Tom Cleverly, David de Gea, Danny Wellbeck and Javier Hernadez will replicate the success of their luminary predecessors. Yet with only subjective to go on at this point I’m looking forward to watching them try.

There's a Hole in That Midfield Dear Anderson, Dear Anderson

Last May, as a Manchester United fan, was a wake up call. It was a reminder that, to reign over Europe patently obvious deficiencies in the team cannot be allowed to fester.

As Barcelona ruthlessly tore the incapable central-midfield asunder, it exploited said deficiencies to all those that had been living under a stone for the previous ten months.

If asked three months ago whether, after a £50 million outlay Sir Alex Ferguson would have failed to address this flaw, few fans would have scripted reality. Yet the situation is just so, after the purchase of a centre-back, goalkeeper and winger appear to have simply compounded the imbalances of what is otherwise a squad loaded with talent.

However with nearly three weeks of the summer window still to run, coupled with the highly impressive performances of central duo Tom Cleverley and Anderson in last week’s community shield victory, the malaise is seemingly somewhat mediated.

Barcelona are, and should remain the benchmark though, as any weakness will be ruthlessly exploited by Pep’s marauding midgets. Only time will tell.

Super, Super Ryan Giggs; Super, Super, Superinjunction...

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t see it coming. Mr family Ryan Giggs outed as a serial philander who enjoyed liaisons with a bevy of beauty’s behind his wife’s back, including his brother’s partner of some eight years.

No. sorry for the oversight, but that one was somehow missing from my 2010/11 predictions.

Such is the bolt from the blue the infamous case of the super-injunction became, however, that coming at the tale end of last season as it did, we have had little chance to observe the ramifications it will have on Giggs himself.

A consummate and faithful professional in most aspects of his life, and with a career stretching back some 20 years, the injunction is born upon a strong chin. Yet with Giggs turning 38 next birthday, should the years—god help us—catch up with the evergreen Welshman and the terraces turn against him, will it really prove worth the hassle?

I personally think that the super injunction that tainted his exemplary name, may be looked back on as the beginning of the very end of Ryan Giggs' fantastic career.

Then again that’s probably been said before, maybe without the “super injunction.”

Fergie's Fledgling's: My God Your Old!

Last season was the end of an era for Manchester United as three of its stalwarts hung up their boots/gloves for the last time.

Although Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar, were not all 100 percent first choice starters, the exit from what is, in factions, a vastly experienced squad has now placed more of a premium on the vestiges of this remaining experience.

Ryan Giggs is now the last remaining veteran of Manchester United. The last of the Mohicans.

Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, even Michael Owen, all are vastly experienced players who will shape much of United this season. Yet Giggs is the last remaining veteran of the once fledgling side that Ferguson built way back when.

The 2011/12 season will be the inaugural campaign in which neither Scholes or Neville are available for selection. An omnipotence that transcended their capabilities on the pitch, they provided a strong link to the club’s rich history.

This season will be a new challenge as the next generation steps up to the plate. The dressing room onus placed on the last fledgling will never have been higher.