Will We Finally See The Real Manchester United Finally Stand Up?

The post Sir Alex Ferguson era Manchester United have looked nothing like the Red Devils of old. The Old Trafford side has only managed to finish in the top four only once over the last four seasons; even after managerial chances and substantial financial investment look far from becoming the powerhouse that it once was.

 

Last season United scored a meagre 54 goals in 38 games despite having a wealth of attacking talent which included Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and currently the world's most expensive player Paul Pogba.

 

However, looking past that United managed to find their way back to playing in the Champion's League after winning the Europa League and the EFL Cup. As lightly regarded as those two trophies may be ( FA Community Shield can't really count as an official trophy) winning them would serve to bring back that winning feeling that has been absent over recent seasons, after all winning is a habit.

Under Jose Mourinho the Red Devils may not have been a goal scoring machine, but the side shows lots of promise as they proved to be hard to beat last season only losing five games.

 

 Putting that into context Chelsea also lost the same number of games, Liverpool and Manchester City lost six while Arsenal lost nine. The main difference were the points that the Red Devils dropped. United also hit the woodwork 19 times during the course of the season and Ibrahimović missed a host of chances. Taking into account all this you'd see that if things had gone in the other direction United would have been further ahead and lights at the Theatre of Dreams are set to shine brighter this season.

 

The signings of Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic, with the possible  arrival of Ivan Perisić, are a statement of intent from The Special One to reinstate United to their dominance of English football. Add that on top of Mourinho's ability to succeed across Europe as well as his previous experience in the Premier League with Chelsea you can definitely see Manchester United posing a credible threat to Chelsea's title reign.

What Can We Expect?

When it comes to the Premier League it's almost impossible to accurately predict how exactly the season will go.

Many disregard this folly and attempt to predict the final outcome anyway. As ever the expectations will be the same. Chelsea will start as favourites to retain the title with Manchester City their closest threat (at least in my opinion).

Spurs finished second last season and third before that which represents a steady improvement for the Londoners. This could finally be their year after decades of living in the shadows of Arsenal and Chelsea.

Liverpool will likely cause a few surprises for the title challengers and may even be in the mix themselves if all goes well.

Arsenal and Manchester United most likely would look to be the outsiders to topple Chelsea, even there we could expect a few surprises as Jose Mourinho might yet still have a few new tricks up his sleeve. As for Arsenal there still remains a few wrinkles to iron out.

Taking into consideration the previous two seasons forecasting who will do what and when will be almost for naught, but the only money guarantee football fans can have in predicting with certainty is that there will be twists and turns, and more than a few surprises during the course of the season.

The Premier League Transfer Window So Far

From now up until the end of August expect some big moves in the lead up to the 2017/18 the Premier League season.

The transfer window mill has already been sent spinning into overdrive as we've already seen Arsenal secure the services of French forward Alexander Lacazette from Lyon for £52 million and it doesn't end there as the Gunners are also interested in signing Monaco winger Thomas Lemar. However, the situation with Alexis Sanchez remains uncertain with the Chilean pursuing a move to Manchester City. Another departure that could affect Arsenal this season would be the possible move of right back Hector Bellerin to Barcelona.

Romelu Lukaku's pending transfer to Manchester United has come is the biggest news so as United tabled £75 million offer for the forward. The transfer was made all the more interesting as Chelsea were also in the running to sign Lukaku even going as far matching United for his transfer and personal terms. In the end it seems United won out in the end.

Liverpool have also been quite busy in the window signing Mohamed Salah from AS Roma for £35 million and have also been linked with Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, even reportedly offering £25 million for the Englishman. What may concern Reds though, would be the news linking Phillipe Coutunho with a move away from Anfield as Barcelona have shown interest this year and PSG said to be targeting the Brazilian.

Chelsea are looking to close in on the signatures of AS Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, Monaco's Tiemoue Bakayoko and Juventus' Alex Sandro after losing out on their prime target, Lukaku. Chelsea will now have to look elsewhere for a replacement for Diego Costa as the Spain forward seeks a return to Atletico Madrid.

Manchester City are reportedly closing in on their man according to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo. According to O Jogo Alexis Sanchez has agreed personal terms with City and his move would cost the Citizens £ 50 million. City have made the additions of Portuguese duo Bernardo Silva and Ederson during the window so far and have been rumoured to being on course to sign Dani Alves.

Germany Keep The Ball Rolling

Before the FIFA Confederations Cup kicked off it wouldn't have come as much of a surprise to see Germany on the podium holding the Confederations Cup aloft and that is indeed what happened. Lars Stindl was on hand to score an easy tap in to conclude an impressive Confederations Cup outing for the world champions.

The win was made all the more impressive as Joachim Löw named a raw and youthful side consisting mostly of less known players. Löw preferred to leave out star names Thomas Mueller, Mesut Özil, Tony Kroos, Manuel Neuer and Matts Hummels.

The selections proved to be on the money as the young side played with a poise and calmness which couldn't be upset by their lack of experience. In Sunday's final the Germans remained resolute as Chile made a fast start dominating much of the possession in the first 20 minutes of the game before pouncing on a defensive mistake by the South American champions to take the lead and threatened to extend the lead on a number of occasions as they caught Chile on the break throughout the game.

The win for the Germans makes them the first European winners of the Confederations Cup since France last won it in 2001 and 2003.

This also extends Germany's record at major tournaments as they have reached the semi finals or final in seven out of the last eight major international tournaments making them the most consistent team in international football.

Much of their consistency at tournaments can be put down to two factors: player development and cohesion of their sides from 2006 up until present. The system in the German national side works like a conveyor belt setting up a platform for future of German football stars. This is already evident as the junior side recently won the under 21 European champions.