Much has been written about the current state of Manchester United’s defense. Louis Van Gaal has shown a willingness to shake-up his attack by bringing in players like Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, but he’s also managed to leave his back-four seriously under-equipped.
With experienced performers like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra all moving on, Van Gaal needed to bring in top quality options. Instead he opted for Marcos Rojo (who looks like he could be a good fit, once the adaptation process is over), Luke Shaw (who’s only 19-years-old) and Daley Blind (the jury’s still out). It’s fair to say that these three men haven’t been able to provide The Red Devils with the defensive platform that their club needs.
Injuries certainly haven’t helped, but even if everyone had maintained their fitness, Manchester United still probably would have struggled.
This leads me to The Express‘s claim that Manchester United have their eyes on two left-backs: ex-Chelsea star Ashley Cole and Real Madrid’s forgotten man, Fabio Coentrao. I wonder how this makes Luke Shaw feel?
Ashley Cole has been struggling to fit in at Roma (according to reports at least, but the British Press seem to enjoy casting him as an outcast) and could fancy a move back to a top Premier League club. But it seems that Manchester United are more interested in Coentrao. The aforementioned source claims that The Red Devils are ‘prepared’ to offer Real Madrid a ‘lucrative deal’ for Coentrao.
Largely down to injury (and the form of Marcelo), the former Benfica man has made only 3 appearances thus far this season. Last year he made only 20 appearances. It seems that he’s very much on the fringe of this Real Madrid team. If Manchester United came knocking, I’m sure that Carlo Ancelotti would consider doing business.
Coentrao would need some time to adapt and regain his fitness, but I have little doubt that he’d be a better option than Luke Shaw. Let’s just hope that there’s some truth to these rumours.
What’s your take? Should Manchester United consider swooping in for this Real Madrid ace? Is Ashley Cole also a good option?
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i think coentrao is a better option