Mixed feelings for me after the window closed. None of this hysterical crap, but trying to be fair and balanced.
Rating our signings:
10/10 Wan-Bissaka - Looks a real bargain in an inflated market, and he's an excellent addition. Very well could be the best RB in the league, and potentially a world class signing.
9/10 Maguire - Docked a point because we could (should) have brought him in sooner, and he's still going to have the "world's most expensive defender" tagline hanging over his head. The reality is we bought the best CB that was available and wanted to come to United, and is a significant upgrade on the side. Future leader potential as well.
9/10 - Dan James - As far as potential goes, he has something about him, and if he progresses he could really be nightmare for opposing defenses with his pace. His finishing needs work, but he's young and there's plenty of time to improve.
Rating our departures (as of the time of this writing):
10/10 Fellaini (January) - Bye
10/10 Lukaku - He can seriously f**k off
9/10 Valencia - Docked 1 point because he was a long serving servant to the club
6/10 Herrera - If things go pear shaped, we'll hear about this incessantly, but he simply wasn't a player we needed to put on first team wages in with our f****d-up wage structure. Docked 4 points because we didn't replace him.
Overall Squad:
Starting Defense 8/10 - We've clearly upgraded. An AWB - Lindelhof - Maguire - Shaw settled back 4, supported by Smalling, Axel, Dalot and Jones is exciting and solid. Shaw concerns me, and $25 mil for Tierney to challenge him would've been gold.
Midfield 2/10 - I'm guessing it will be McT, Andreas, and Pogba? We kept Pogba, but if Pogba goes in this window it's a 0/10 dumpster fire. I think he'll be a pro and get on with it, but if he doesn't and downs tools it will plague us all season. Ole is putting an incredible amount of faith in McTominay, Gomes, Andreas and possibly Garner to get us over the line. Relying on Matic is also a major concern. Ole and the club have taken a major gamble here on the youth. Matic, Pogba, McT simply is not good enough.
Starting Forwards 7/10 - Martial, Rashford and ... Lingard? Adding a point because I'm assuming, like many are, that we are saving our money for Sancho. At some point we have to know what we actually have with Rashford and Martial, and if keep bringing in forwards to play in front of them, we'll never know what they offer. Greenwood could certainly surprise as well, perhaps Chong. Mandzukics would've been a nice security blanket, but for 16 mil + 150,000 a week, well, no thanks. And then there's Sanchez...
Squad (7/10): I'm not too fussed with Young, Jones, Smalling, Matic and Mata, like most. Dalot, Lingard, Andreas, Axel, Chong are good shouts. It's clear that Ole wants continuity with SAF and players who have a winning mentality and have won the league. Bar Smalling, though, I really hope we don't see significant playing time and these guys to be starting every match. Also, didn't Mata take a massive pay cut to stay with us? Criminal that doesn't get any respect on here. Added + 1 because I like idea of Dan James coming on to terrorize defenses.
Total Team Evaluation: 6/10
The real deadwood:
0/10 (so far) - Darmian and Rojo need to leave. There's still time. "Jesus, hear my prayer".
0/10 - Bailly should've been sold, and I hope would've been sold. A core of Maguire, Lindelhof, Smalling, Axel and Jones should be our CB pool. Ole should've never risked him in pre-season, but it happens (City just lost a f****g fortune on a Sane transfer, most likely)
The Problem Children:
?/10 - Pogba. Who knows. We kept him and he could put his head down and lead us to glory or totally down tools. If Perez finds 160 million under his settee in the next 30 days, we're in big trouble.
?/10 - Sanchez - Nobody was ever going to take him off us, i suspect. Maybe he'll find form or continue to be anchor on the side. It's no surprise the club was conservative with spending, he's potentially the world's most expensive anchor. If we manage to move him in any capacity (loan, China in January, etc.) the score would rise to 10/10.
10/10 - Lukaku - So happy he's gone. The race to the bottom between him and Koscielny was a sight to behold. Cnuts.
Overall: 6/10
Ole is gambling on the kids to make a class of '92 type impact, or we fall back on Matic and Mata as regular starters. We ignored RW (I hope because we're going in so hard for Sancho when he's available that we will blow everyone out of the water). There's just so much faith being placed in McT, Martial, Rashford, Lingard and Greenwood that it's concerning and worrying. The signings are superb, but there really, really should have been more investment. CDM and RW are gaping holes in the side and this is a massive gamble on the youth. We've saved a ton of money that simply has to be invested in January and next Summer. I'm just not sure Ole will be around to invest it. It's a bold project, the boldest we've seen from any manager since SAF left, but it's also exciting and deeply worrying. This is a team that could easily start dipping into mid-table if things don't go right.
