Former Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak has told Sports Mole that the current crop of players are "good enough" to turn things around under Ruben Amorim, without the need for a major squad overhaul during the next two transfer windows.
United are currently languishing in 13th spot in the top-flight standings after 20 matches, representing their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign.
Following a sobering run of three straight defeats at the top table of English football to round off 2024, the Red Devils secured a respectable point at the home of league leaders Liverpool last Sunday afternoon.
Nevertheless, it is expected that new head coach Amorim will conduct an overhaul of his first-team squad in 2025 as Man United look to improve their fortunes, although ex-goalkeeper Kuszczak has told Sports Mole that the current players have the ability to play a big part in the future of the club.
"We see a lot of rumours at the moment about some players moving out and coming in. To be honest, I think the players which United have today, they are all good enough to perform the way everyone wants," claimed Kuszczak.
"When they come in, something fails" - Man United's biggest issue
New part-owners INEOS, led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, oversaw a raft of big-money arrivals during their maiden summer transfer window, with teenage centre-back Leny Yoro joining for £53m from Lille.
There was also an ambitious double swoop for Bayern Munich defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, so it is hard to argue that the Red Devils have failed to identify talented players from top clubs around Europe.
"There is a problem, a different issue because if you see the players coming to United and the amount of money that the club was prepared to pay for them, most of them cost £40m, £30m, £60m, £80m. This is the value of market for players who were performing very well in the teams which they played for before they joined United," Kuszczak told Sports Mole.
"That means if somebody is performing very well in some team and then United come in - or Arsenal or Chelsea or Liverpool, whatever, Barcelona, Real Madrid - and try to sign this player, that means he is good enough to play in this team, and United at the moment have a lot of players like that who were fantastic.
"These are not players which the club signed for £10m, £5m and grew them; they are already top professional players who have proven themselves in previous clubs. The problem is when they come in, something fails and this is the biggest issue which a new manager is going to have to figure out."
There are worries of a toxic atmosphere at the Theatre of Dreams, but that has not stopped some of Europe's most exciting talents from being linked to Man United, including Napoli and Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
"I hope he's going to change something" - Amorim part of "new era" of managers
It is not only a string of players who have arrived at Old Trafford and struggled to hit their pre-Man United heights over the past decade, with a queue of managers also unable to turn the club's fortunes around since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
Amorim is the latest man to try to buck that trend, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag all having been in charge over the past 11 years.
Kuszczak believes that the new man at the helm faces a difficult task in turning the tide mid-season, but believes that the former Sporting Lisbon boss is part of a "new era" of managers.
"It's difficult to judge a manager coming in the middle [of a season] and changing something quick. Football at this level, these days, it's not about tactics most of the time, it's about something different," he told Sports Mole.
"I see these last five performances of the football team and I see the four [losses] and the one draw against Liverpool and you think, what's going on?
"I think this is one of the new era of managers. If you see Sporting Lisbon performances and the way they play football, it's a modern football, attacking football, and when it's attacking football, you require a lot of concentration at the back.
"You need to defend as a team and be prepared for 90 minutes because you open up everything on the pitch and one bad pass could cost everything, and this is what happens in these games, and I hope he's going to change something."
No free lunch in "equal" Premier League
Whilst Man United's first half of the campaign has been alarming, it must be pointed out that the distribution in quality throughout the Premier League has changed from the days of Kuszczak.
Starting with Graham Potter's West Ham United in 14th and moving upwards, the majority of the sides in the top flight hold serious ambitions of qualifying for European football on a regular basis.
Discussing Man United's current league standing, Kuszczak told Sports Mole: "Thirteenth place in the table, frustrated, underperforming, with full respect to everyone because the Premier League has become a very solid, equal league.
"There are some differences on top but most of the teams are equal and it is not easy to win against Newcastle United or Wolverhampton Wanderers or Brighton & Hove Albion or whoever you play.
"It is always going to be difficult and very close and it is going to be very difficult until the end of this season."
Man United have not finished in the bottom half of the table since 1989-90 and are on course to amass just 44 points this season - a tally that would be their lowest since 1977-78 and would have seen them finish 15th last term.
Tomasz Kuszczak was talking to Sports Mole on behalf of sports betting site 888sport. body check tags ::
