THE NEWLY REFORMED RED DEVILS

                This Euro 2016 Competition is turning out to show what next season could bring for Manchester United fans. As the competition moves on, I have observed that most countries with United players have been eliminated from the Euro 2016 competition and this might trigger a red light in the minds of most United fans.

  

Spain was eliminated during the Round of 16 of this year’s Euro 2016 leaving David De Gea disappointed and dejected about his country’s  inability to drive his team much further in the competition, even though De Gea manage to concede less than 10 goals the whole competition.

       David de Gea

·         COUNTRY: Spain

·         POSITION: Goalkeeper

·         DATE OF BIRTH (AGE): 07/11/1990 (25)

·         CAPS: 13

·         GOALS CONCEDED: 10

·         SENIOR DEBUT: 07/06/2014: El Salvador 0-2 Spain

·         LAST APPEARANCE: 27/06/2016: Italy 2-0 Spain (Saint-Denis)

·         CLUB: Man. United (ENG)

·         HEIGHT: 192cm

·         WEIGHT: 76kg

Captain Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Micheal Carrick, Cameron Borthwick- Jackson, Tyler Blackett all got eliminated with the England National Team, leaving Captain Wayne Rooney under more scrutiny as to how influential he is to the England National team and Manchester United as well. Rooney struggled to influence the game from the middle of the field for England leaving United fans wondering if Rooney had reached his limit of productivity for club and country. Personally, I think Rooney can still influence the game for United and should remain in the club for a while longer. Chris Smalling,  Phil Jones and Luke Shaw barely featured in any of England’s Euro 2016 games leaving little room for United fans to see what the old players can bring to club next season.

    Marouane Fellaini and Belgium got eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Welsh team with Fellaini playing little part in the team’s participation in the competition as a whole.  Fellaini has always been criticized about his quality and what he brings to the Manchester United football club, and I have always defended Fellaini saying that he has what it takes to succeed in Manchester United. However,  after seeing how little he played for Belgium in the Euros, I’m not so sure anymore.  I guess Manchester United fans will have to wait for the new season to start to see if Fellaini can really Influence the midfield.

    With the Netherland team not making it to this years Euro’s, it was hard to speculate what kind of form Memphis Depay,  and Daley Blind would have in action against other teams next season.  However, with the workout video posted  on twitter by Memphis Depay, it seems Depay is up for the challenge next season.  

                                               

                                    

                Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial will both be in action for France in tomorrow's game against Iceland. Iceland has shown they are more than capable of going all the way in the competition, so it’s up to Schneiderlin and Martial to bring their A game to help the French National team through to the next stage of competition. This  will suit Manchester United fans because it will give the fans a chance to see both players show their talents for the upcoming season.

                                                                  

                Finally, Jose Mourinho has opened his account as United's new manager by making two massive signings as his first act. He signed Ivory Coast quality defender Eric Bailly; quick, slick, skillful midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, whose hunger to make goals for himself and his team mates cannot be contained  and one of Europe's biggest strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The signing of Bailly, Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimovic has shown Mourinho’s intentions of helping United gain more trophies in the near future and we couldn't be more thrilled.

                                                 

On the other hand, with all the glamourous signings made by Jose Mourinho it seems that United will face the difficult task of deciding how to make room for all the A-list footballers the club has accumulated for the upcoming the season. As a fan, I must admit that I was deeply thrilled when the news arrived that Manchester United’s new number 9 would be none other than the Swedish football icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

 Ibrahimovic is a big, strong, powerful center forward who also has the grace, flare and ability to score from anywhere in the pitch. With his intelligence, ability to create goals for himself and his team mates, any fan of football can understand the management, staff and fans of United have been ecstatic over the news of our newly acquired players.  I think next season will bring a lot more joy than sadness for United fans but for players like Mata and Rojo whose names have popped up in the radar as players that might vacate the club during Mourinho’s reign, it might be a different story.

 Personally, I like Mata, i think he has the skill to control the movement of the ball from the team's midfielders to the team's attacking front men and also the skills to deliver quality passes to any of his team mates all over the field. However, the bad blood that exists between Mata and Mourinho  might see the Spanish maestro seek yet another move away from Old Trafford. I hope that’s not the case because with Ibrahimovic and Rooney destined to lead the teams offence next season, and wingers like Young, Depay, Martial and Valencia doing what they do best in the flanks, it seems Mata will be the perfect fit to slot into his favourite central attacking midfield position and pull the strings for the club to win games. Here’s hoping  Juan Mata sticks around in the club in the future.