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One year on for our 2011/2012 signings.

[ July 17, 2012 by RED ARMY - Admin ]

This time last year Manchester United had completed the three signings they would make in the summer transfer window. They consisted of Phil Jones a defender, Ashley Young a midfielder and David De Gea a goalkeeper. Two relatively young signings with a slightly more mature and experienced player in Ashley Young. Only two of whom had experience in the Premier league. We look back at their first season at United and what the future holds for them.

David De Gea

came to United from Atletico Madrid, at a mere 21 years old he was both young and full of ambition for his new adventure at United, a club that had just said goodbye to a long standing goalkeeper in Edwin Van Der Sar and, with big “hands” to fill, people were surprised at Sir Alex’s bold move in opting for such an inexperienced goalkeeper. Unfortunately De Gea was unable to participate with full pre-season training due to commitments with the Spanish under 21s championship.

The first full look the fans got of this player was during the Charity Shield at Wembley in August 2011 against bitter rivals Manchester City. The match wasn’t the best for the young goalkeeper although he did show some signs of brilliance. Overall the start of the new season was not a great start to his Manchester United career but the majority of fans got behind him and believed in his ability. During the season the boss did drop him for Anders Lindegaard whom claimed the number 1 spot for a number of games and made a difference and enabled the club to gain some much needed points. However he unfortunately sustained an injury which lead to him being ruled out for the remainder of the season ,which lead to De Gea being called on and in this second part of the season he made some excellent saves and yes he still made some mistakes but it came down to his inexperience of the premier league, but he showed why Sir Alex had wanted him at Manchester United. I believe that De Gea can become the constant number 1 at Manchester United given time to get used to the physicality of the English game and with more game time this will come. He is young and he can be the future of Manchester United given time and patience from the fans.

Phil Jones

joined Manchester United from Blackburn Rovers. He’s a young and versatile player who can play as both a defender and in a midfield position, which as the season went on become a great asset with Manchester United clocking up a number of injuries. However with the return of Paul Scholes and the injury of Vidic and Smalling we saw him mainly in a defence position. In his first season with Manchester United we saw him score 2 goals and only at the age of 20! At the start of the 2011/2012 season I felt that he looked strong and ready for the season, he looked very determined but I felt that as the season went on and with him having to play more games than many thought he would in his first season at United it started to show physically and he started to become tired and make some mistakes. I am hopeful that next season he will come back as bright as he started the previous season.

Ashley Young

joined Manchester United from Aston Villa in June for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be somewhere between 15 and 20 million pounds. The most experienced player of the three signings made last year. He fitted straight in with the players on their pre-season tour, which I believe was due to him knowing some of his new team mates from England duty in past tournaments and friendlies. I felt that Young’s first season at United was over all a success, he gained 8 goals to his name from 32 appearances as well as a number of assists. He however did have a dip in form towards the middle part of the season. He was then involved in some controversial penalty decisions which lead to the boss talking to him about going down too easily at times, although Young himself denied this was the case. He maintained an average performance for the rest of the season which lead him into Euro 2012 where he didn’t show the potential he had done at the start of the 2011/2012 campaign. I’ll be interested to see if he can continue his flying start at United in his second season.

Overall I felt that the signings made at the start of last season were good for Manchester United both now and for future campaigns. I hope this seasons’ 2012-2013 campaign will see De Gea really show what he’s about – making more world class saves. Phil Jones I hope receives more games but not as many this new season as last as I feel he needs time to develop into the position that really suits him. Ashley Young I feel should have another good season at United if he can break into the starting 11 with tough competition on the wings this season.

Good luck to our current new signings Nick Powell and Shinji Kagawa who have so far been our only signings of 2012-2013 campaign. We also welcome back Bebe and Macheda who have been on loan for the previous season.

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