One year on for our 2011/2012 signings

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 mid-fielder, and David De Gea a goal-keeper. 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

He came to United from Atletico Madrid. At a mere 21-years of age, 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 ‘keeper Edwin Van Der Sar. With big “gloves” 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 fully in the pre-season training due to commitments with the Spanish under-21 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 beginning of the new season was not a great start to his Manchester United career but a majority of fans got behind him, and believed in his ability. During the season, the boss did drop him for Anders Lindegaard who claimed the number 1 spot for a number of games, made a difference, and enabled the club to gain some much needed points. However, he sustained an unfortunate injury which lead to him being ruled out for the remainder of the season, which lead to De Gea being called on again. In the second part of the season, he made some excellent saves, and yes, he still made some mistakes, but it came down to his inexperience in 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

He 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 injuries to Vidic and Smalling, we saw him mainly in a defensive 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, as 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

He 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 fit 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 overall a success, with 8 goals to his name from 32 appearances, as well as a number of assists. However, he 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 quite show the potential he had done at the start of the 2011/2012 campaign. It’ll be interesting 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 for now, and for future campaigns. I hope this seasons’ 2012-2013 campaign will see De Gea really show what he’s about – making world class saves. I hope Phil Jones receives more games, but not as many as the previous season, 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 new signings for the 2012-2013 campaign. We also welcome back Bebe and Macheda who have been on loan for the previous season.