Manchester United, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (MANU), the professional sports team in the world that is publicly traded, spent around $250 million on players since finishing seventh last season, with Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria joining last week for a British-record fee of 59.7 million pounds (then $99 million).
Versatile Netherlands international Daley Blind completed his move from Ajax for 14 million pounds ($23 million) on Monday as Radamel Falaco’s deal was being closed. They spent over 156 million pounds, nearly as much as Old Trafford has spent over the past five years combined.
Now the question is, what does Louis van Gaal do with Daley Blind and all of his new signings? Where does everyone play in the 3-5-2 system?
Here’s a link to one graphical representation of what LVG could do with his side.
Good transfer window. pic.twitter.com/wfH99NMWVL
— SirAlexStand.com (@SirAlexStand) September 2, 2014
LVG will probably have to go with a totally new formation. Granted it will be a little while before everyone is fit, but when they are….Here’s what Stevie Nichol of ESPN FC came up with:
RVP FALCAO
ROONEY
DI MARIA BLIND HERRERA
SHAW ROJO JONES RAFAEL
DE GEA
You’ll notice a huge name missing from the starting XI; that of Juan Mata.
Even if you stayed in Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 system, Falcao could partner Robin van Persie up front, with captain Wayne Rooney dropping into midfield and assuming the No. 10 role. Those tactics could put Juan Mata’s starting place at risk after he arrived in January for 37.1 million pounds (then $61 million). It will be very interesting to see how Manchester United figures it all out.
Paul M. Banks owns and operates The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports, Yahoo! and the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world and been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL Network, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN2. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)