20th July - Part Two

So following a somewhat mixed season for Man United under Louis Van Gaal, Sam gives his views on who was amazing, and who was outright terrible...

David de Gea 9/10: Can be criticised for a number of mistakes he's made, especially towards the back end of the season, but in general he looks more and more confident every match, which he defends with a dizzying array of body parts. I'd struggle to name a goalkeeper in the world who compares let alone any goalkeeper from the EPL, but that's just me. Easily our best player.

Sergio Romero 4/10: I never feel confident with Romero in goal, but he did improve slightly throughout the season after making a number of early howlers. Will play the Kuszczak role if he remains and will do fine, but if de Gea gets injured and Romero gets an extended run-out we're royally screwed. God I miss Tomasz Kuszczak.

Matteo Darmian 5/10: After a decent start to the season his form petered out and never recovered. Found himself dropped and replaced by the youth players who were eager to impress. May be given another shot under Mourinho.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson 7/10: Our brightest youth player besides Rashford. Made only ten appearances either side of an injury, but was one of our most attacking players in that time, putting in some quality crosses and creating a number of chances. Was also solid defensively. A great understudy to Luke Shaw, and especially promising.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah 6/10: The pacey Blind, Fosu-Mensah offers plenty to the squad. Can move across CB, full-back and CDM but equally doesn't have any one preferred position. However, unlike Blind, Fosu-Mensah has age and time on his side to improve and settle. He needs to get some game time next season.

Guillermo Varela 4/10: What Varela is still doing here I don't know. I don't even know where he appeared from, but if he's 23 and still not able to break into the squad he should move on for the sake of his career. He's not total crud, but he's never going to oust any of our current full-backs and is not a reliable back-up to Darmian.

Luke Shaw 6/10: Was one of our most exciting players going forward and solid defensively until a horrific injury in mid-September saw him sit out the rest of the season. But at only 21, Shaw is going to become a frighteningly good left-back in the coming years if he can pick up where he left off.

Marcos Rojo 2/10: Nice tats, useless player. Somehow made twenty-eight appearances last season. I'm gobsmacked.

Chris Smalling 8/10: On top of the fact he was probably our only defender not to get injured, he was also our best and most reliable defender. Like de Gea, he made a few high profile mistakes towards the back end of the season, but by-the-by Smalling was our defensive rock. Scored a couple of goals as well.

Phil Jones 1/10: Injured and useless when he wasn't. I'd give him a 2, but the fact that he made less than half the appearances Rojo did says it all. And this guy was touted as the future of England when we signed him. Dear Lord.

Paddy McNair 5/10: I want to be fair to Paddy, he looks like a decent upcoming CB. But with other defenders required he made only 8 appearances, half that of the previous season. He didn't do much wrong, but didn't really shine either. Still a stable prospect.

Daley Blind 6.5/10: Criticism of Blind's all-round game is largely fair, but he has a lot more redeeming qualities than people think. Of course, while he often looks as if a grandma with a Zimmer frame could outrun him, Blind passes strongly and is at the very least versatile. He can shift positions from LB, CB or CDM, although he's failed to nail down any of them on merit rather than an alarming number of injuries to our defence early on in the season. Regardless, after a shaky start he finished the season strongly, and even chipped in two goals.

Marouane Fellaini 4/10: Needs no introduction. Scored some good goals and his stature among a rather height-lacking squad was an asset, but was too slow, didn't create, couldn't defend and by the end of the season was resorting to elbows to spice up a game. A good player, but not for Man United. Should have stayed at Everton where, comparatively, he would have excelled. Need to be rid of him.

Michael Carrick 5/10: Made 42 appearances despite the signings of Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin. Was a decent defensive cover as ever, but didn't do much. I have no strong opinion either way, but I'd like him to stay. He has a lot to offer as a reliable bit-part, if that's how Mou chooses to use him.

Bastian Schweinsteiger 4/10: Came with a big reputation and hasn't really proven it, although injuries did curtail his chances to do so. Though the Schweini experiment thankfully cost us only £6.5m, it may not yet be over.

Juan Mata 8/10: Has a susceptibility to being outmuscled and could improve his passing accuracy, but besides that Mata was among our best players. Equalled his tally of 10 goals from the previous season but from 19 more appearances (54 in total), since he was over-relied upon by van Gaal, which made him a decent constant in a diluted attack. Doesn't do his defensive duties too often but it's not like we need him to since even with our injuries we had one of the best defensive records in the league, and on that idiotic logic he won't get the chance to properly shine since Mourinho will inevitably offload him.

Morgan Schneiderlin 6/10: Like how the Invisible Man can impact things that can be seen, when Schneiderlin played we rarely lost, although it feels like that's the only thing that Schneiderlin has going for him since he contributed next to nothing in any other area of the field. Time will tell - that's if he stays. Mou isn't a fan.

Ander Herrera 4/10: One of our most exciting attacking midfielders, Herrera inexplicably became a bit-part this season, losing out to Fellaini of all people. Van Gaal couldn't find a way to regularly slot him in and it showed after a while: a dip in form meant that with every bad performance it became less likely we'd see him again. Deserves a second shot after his maltreatment, as he can easily rediscover that form he had the year before, and I think Mou will give him it.

Jesse Lingard 8/10: Another shining light of the midfield. Finally given his shot at 22, Lingard made 40 appearances, regularly contributed to our attack and scored 6 goals, including the stunning FA Cup winning volley. A solid contender for a place in the starting line-up next season, but will probably lose out to Mkhitaryan.

Andreas Pereira 5/10: At only 20 and making just 9 appearances, Pereira looks like an intelligent, forward-thinking player. Unfortunately, players like Lingard and Martial filled the wing positions Pereira likes to occupy, and when they didn't Mata and Depay did. It looks likely that the large number of midfielders we have will stifle Pereira next season, and although he might get a chance he also might need to move on to get regular game time.

Ashley Young 5/10: Looked good when he played, but rarely looked better than good. Has a deplorable scoring record for a player of his quality across his entire 5 seasons at United and didn't make a case for himself this season. Might also find his game time limited by Mkhitaryan's arrival and at 31 he might need to move to finish his career on a high.

Antonio Valencia 5/10: Misused as a right-back when a natural winger, Valencia's performance was stunted and then he got a four-month injury. Never really looked like shining at any point, but more due to van Gaal's failings than a lack of quality.

Memphis Depay 3/10: For the fact that he's only 22, I'll give Depay a 3. He has time to remind us why we paid £27m for him and come up with the kind of end product that his rival Firmino brought to Liverpool. However, nearly everything he did last season turned to crud. Doesn't have the Midas touch he showed at PSV and was punished for his bad performances. If he doesn't improve under Mourinho, he won't make it past next season.

Adnan Januzaj 0/10: 0 isn't cutting enough. Came out of the gates bursting two years before, but hasn't shown a jot of quality since and made just 7 appearances after a shocking loan spell at Dortmund.. Awful, awful player and a waste of £40,000 a week.

Anthony Martial 8/10: Made a controversial and lauded £36m move to United (go away if you dare tell me £58m), but proved his critics wrong instantly. Hitting 17 goals in his first season (including a stunning mazy dribble against Liverpool - sorry Tom, had to mention it in exchange for praising Firmino), Martial showed he was as good a forward as he was cutting in off the wing, although it was the latter position he ended up in for most of the season. Wasn't as predictable with his wing play as Depay, but was something close and that's something he'll need to work on.

Wayne Rooney 7/10: I think Wazza's spent most of the past three seasons since Fergie's retirement as the face of United's slow spiral, but his end product has only marginally decreased. Just look at his stats: only 4 times in 12 seasons at United has he ever hit 20+ goals. He's used to hovering around the mid- to high-teens, which is what he's struck in each of the last 3 seasons, so I think the criticism is slightly harsh. Plus, he's an absolute workhorse in the midfield and even at tracking back, although he does need to be a stronger captain.

   Overall, I think Rooney's at a point where he's transitioning into a more central position, but everyone just keeps expecting him to hitting the 20 goal target he only ever showed a 1-in-3 chance of reaching. Perhaps we'll see a resurgence under Mourinho.

Marcus Rashford 9/10: On the basis that Rashford got promoted to the first team by luck and went on to unabashedly take the mantle of main striker, make 18 appearances and score 8 goals, he rightly gets a 9. Rarely put a foot wrong besides the usual stuff that amounts to youth and inexperience, but was never fazed by anything. Earned a (maybe premature) call-up to the England squad, which will do wonders for his confidence, but millions of eyes will be on him to replicate his fine form next season. Based on the fact that he has already proved pressure doesn't unnerve him, I think he will. And I really hope he does.