Jose Mourinho will arrive at Mancester United this summer with the aim to win trophies, take back the top four and haul the club back up onto the perch they swiped from Liverpool in English football.
However, the Portuguese has plenty to do before he can take his new squad back to the top of the game, regardless of the renovations that were put in place by his direct predecessor, Louis van Gaal, to clean up the mess left behind by the David Moyes reign and years of under-investment under the Glazers.
1. Keep David De Gea:The Spaniard has become one of the very best goalkeepers in world football at United, and is so often the saviour for a defence that has been ravaged by injury, disrupted at times by rotation and left short of quality.
Last summer, Real Madrid came to take him back to his home city and could attempt to make a move for him again this year for a world record fee.
Losing De Gea would be a major blow for United. He is effectively irreplaceable, hence why he is coveted by the most successful team in European football history, and Mourinho would be hard-pressed to find a worthy successor without exhausting a huge portion of his own transfer budget.
Will Jose Mourinho be able to hold on to David De Gea this summer?
2. Add steel to centre of defence:Manchester United conceded the joint fewest goals in the Premier League this season but their lack of quality at the back resulted less risks being taken in attack.
Even though De Gea has so often been on-hand to bail out his defenders, United’s back-line still looks more vulnerable than it should. Daley Blind has done exceptionally well to adapt to a new role as Van Gaal’s ball-playing centre-back but it seems unlikely that he will be sturdy enough to shoulder the defensive load of a Mourinho team.
For all his progress over the past two years, Chris Smalling will also have some way to go to reach the level his new manager will demand from his defenders, especially through the middle. The fitness record of United’s defenders also suggests more recruits will be needed.
Whether it’s through drilling the existing players so that they can reach the level required, or signing one or more new starting centre-backs, United’s manager must act quickly and decisively to sort out the state of the team’s defence.
3. Find the right right-back:Another key feature of Mourinho’s teams are his full-backs. While Luke Shaw remains the obvious long-term option on the left, the opposite side lacks a candidate of similar certainty.
Like Blind, Matteo Darmian’s place in the starting XI under the Portuguese cannot be assured. Both may become utility men rather than first-team regulars during his reign, if not sold to be replaced by more robust options.
If he(Darmain) can knuckle-down as a more cagey, conservative presence down the right, Darmian could be the ideal player to give balance to the defence as Shaw rampages down the left, as Cesar Azpilicueta did for Branislav Ivanovic on the opposite flank at Chelsea. Otherwise, Mourinho will have another position to add to his summer shopping list.
4. Sit down with Michael Carrick:Michael Carrick made the most passes per 90 minutes of any regular appearance maker for Manchester United in the Premier League this season.
It would therefore seem odd to allow Carrick to drift away so easily. Although the midfielder’s more discreet style of play may not be to everyone’s taste, after winning the FA Cup this season, he has collected every single possible medal and trophy in a United shirt, and arguably remains the team’s best option in defensive midfield when fit.
5. Define Wayne Rooney’s role:Whether it’s in attack, in the hole or in midfield, United’s captain and his team mates need clarity over his position. Given the enormous contract he was offered during Moyes’ reign, he is effectively too expensive to sell and, in commercial terms at least, too valuable to let go.
Rooney was a target for the Portuguese in 2013 as his future at United hung in the balance. He could even be considered an admirer of the England captain, who remains a dominant personality in his club’s dressing room too.
Whatever call Mourinho makes, he has to make it decisive, and sell Rooney a vision of what he could become under another new manager.
6. Reinforce the right flank:It’s not just United who have struggled to add quality to the right-hand side of their attack. During Mourinho’s second term at Chelsea, the right flank was always the most troublesome part of his forward line, at least until the emergence of Willian last season.
Jesse Lingard has many of the attributes the Portuguese looks for in a winger – he is hard-working, combative and resourceful when tracking back and pushing forward – but lacks quality. Juan Mata out on the right seems a non-starter.
It seems likely that the Portuguese will have to dip into the market to ensure both sides of their attack possess the quality of a player such as Anthony Martial on the left.
7. Sign a proper playmaker or play without one:Will Mourinho play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 at United? If Rooney is to remain in midfield, the former seems likely. Without an out-and-out playmaker to take on the responsibility of sitting behind the striker in the latter system, he would have to spend big on one of the game’s most exciting and proven creators to make it work at Old Trafford.
Mesut Ozil remains his ideal No. 10. At Real Madrid, he built around the German whose incredible vision and passing made him into the trigger to unleash the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema upon opposing defences, and turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye.
The Portuguese must decide whether to bother with a No. 10 or spend another significant chunk of his budget on a truly influential creative player. He must be cursing that Angel Di Maria was sold last summer.
8. Boost the confidence in the dressing room and trust individuals:Manchester United were the fourth least creative team in the Premier League this season and scored only 49 goals – their worst return since 1990.
Under the reigns of Ferguson, and to a much lesser extent under Moyes, United became a club that worshipped the game-changing magic of playing on confidence, instinct and improvisation in the moment.
Van Gaal’s more thought-out approach was an anathema to a dressing room culture used to being built up and inspired rather than forced to analyse themselves and consider how to make marginal gains through assessing video clips and other post-match reports.
Regardless, Mourinho will have to manage the egos of the players as he finds them (or massively expand his list of players to buy and sell even further) and that may mean buying into the myth of intuition and instinct that made Ferguson’s sides so good at bouncing back and finding a way to change games.
9. Moderate the mind games
One of the hurdles that prevented Mourinho from winning the United job in the past was his public profile – volatile, aggressive, combustible and, especially after his return to English football, rather vicious. It could be argued that the extreme pressure and scrutiny of Real Madrid changed him for the worse, giving him a thinner skin and a shorter temper.
He will need to claw back his composure as United manager to keep his detractors at bay. While Ferguson was no angel, Mourinho’s card is already marked, and he bruised his relationships with some figures within the media last year.
The climax of the Eva Carneiro employment tribunal is also on the horizon, and with a circus already building around his arrival at Old Trafford, he must do everything he can to get back to causing mischief of keeping quiet rather than creating controversy or offence.
10. Tell Ryan Giggs to take it or leave it:Does Ryan Giggs have a future at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho?
Mourinho will be bringing in his own team and cannot be beholden to the career prospects of United’s most decorated player.
He won’t need Giggs to patrol the technical area in his absence, and a reduced coaching role should be offered but not embellished for the Welshman, who might be better off leaving Old Trafford for his own sake anyway.
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