It’s been quite the turbulent month for David Moyes and Manchester United. They crashed out of the Capital One Cup against Sunderland in one of the most embarrassing penalty shoot outs in recent memory and they also suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Swansea in the FA Cup. The Premier League title race, as much as Sir Alex Ferguson protests, is beyond them and they certainly do not look like Champions League winners in the making.

I would also have to question their transfer business in the January window. Whilst signing Juan Mata could potentially be the “Ozil-effect” type lift the club is searching for, one would have to question the necessity of signing him from Chelsea.

United’s new number 8 is in fact a “number 10”, the same position that is currently occupied by Wayne Rooney— the one player United cannot afford to move about, or hack off, too much. It’s Rooney’s ideal position and therefore I could see Mata being put out on the wings and being less productive. The only way Mata is going to play in his best position is if Rooney moves back to his original position up front. That might be easier said than done considering Robin van Persie is returning from injury. Basically, Mata’s signing is not the best they could have made.

Yet one still has to defend David Moyes on this matter. The United manager said that he want to overhaul the current squad. And quite rightly. United’s title success last year was arguably down to the fantastic managerial ability of his predecessor and the fact that both Manchester City and Chelsea crumbled to the weight of expectation. Not the average squad which Moyes has inherited.

It is too late for Moyes to overhaul the current squad since the January transfer window has been and gone but this summer is key to Moyes transforming an ageing and uninspiring unit.

For now, Moyes needs to focus his men on gunning for fourth place as that will be key to getting major signings this summer. If United were to go without Champions League football next season, and that is a huge possibility considering the performance of the teams in the top four, then it could cause lasting damages to their chances.

Firstly he must trim the fat. He has to translate his ruthlessness from his press conferences to getting rid of the unnecessary players. Ryan Giggs should retire at the end of the season and Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand’s contracts are both expiring. That should open up spaces for newer, younger and better players in defence and midfield. They used to be the key talents of United’s title-winning teams but now they are expensive and a weight on United’s shoulders.

Moyes should also be unafraid of getting rid of other players who are not of United’s standard. Neither Evra nor Buttner possess the quality of a top left-back. Fellaini was the safe signing that nobody wanted. Nani, Valencia and Young also provide very little talent at the wings. Kagawa is also on the way out which is unfortunate considering he was never given the time to prove his worth. Hernandez, despite being a consistent goalscorer, is a less preferable choice than Welbeck and van Persie is showing signs of times at Arsenal where he was largely injured.

There are plenty of players that need replacing but an absolute overhaul is what United need. It will be expensive and will require a lot of time to work which is something too demanding for the majority of football club owners. Essentially United need to act like Liverpool; their owner John W. Henry has learnt some very painful lessons since his takeover of the club but it’s starting to pay off at Merseyside with heavy and plentiful investment as well as a successful young gun in charge in the form of Brendan Rodgers. What Moyes is for Malcolm Glazer to open up the chequebook and for United’s relatively new CEO Ed Woodward to learn how the transfer market operates.

There are a vast array of talents available that United can sign. For the defence they could sign a new right back like Seamus Coleman from Everton and allow Chris Smalling to become the CB he so desires to be. They will need a fourth CB and Davide Astori from Caligari might be available at a cheap price this summer. They will need a left back too: considering Leighton Baines signed a new contract with Everton and Luke Shaw is likely to go to Chelsea next summer, Wolfsburg’s Ricardo Rodriguez is starting to look like an easy option.

The midfield which will have a massive overhaul this summer will need to buy some exceptional talents. Freddy Guarin and Ricardo Alvarez from Inter Milan could be good options for the centre of midfield and Inter will be looking to invest in new talent—a win/win situation. Ilkey Gundogan from Borussia Dourtmund has been targeted by United for a long time too. Any of these players could make a good partnership with Carrick at the centre of midfield.

It is highly unlikely that United will be getting rid of many of their wingers. They will still have Januzaj, Juan Mata (who is not going to replace Rooney in the number 10 position), and Danny Welbeck (who does well out wide in my opinion). If they sign Marco Reus from Dortmund this summer then a midfield comprising of Reus, Gundogan, Guarin and Alvarez will already have some decent chemistry. Add the Bundesliga experience of Mario Mandzukic up front then this new look United side starts to look incredibly talented once again.

Here’s the problem with all that though: It’s too expensive and it won’t beat the financial fair play rules and maybe, just maybe, it’s too unrealistic to obtain all those players. I would focus on getting the wingers sorted and the centre of midfield first- that is United’s priority. Furthermore, this could have a Tottenham-like effect where so many incoming players cannot make the squad that it negatively affects the squad’s mentality and psychology. For Moyes an overhaul is a necessary evil but he better be careful as he could end up playing with a double-edged sword.

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