What next for Man United?
They're England's most successful team but following Man United's loss to Barcelona in the Champions League final, talkSPORT decided to take a look at some of the issues facing Sir Alex Ferguson's side as they look to overhaul the Spanish giants as the world's greatest team.
GOALKEEPER
Replacing shot stopper Edwin Van Der Sar is going to be tough, although the club have not done too badly on the title-winning front since the great Dane, Peter Schmeichel, left in 1999. It seems that Sir Alex Ferguson has set his sights on David de Gea, Atlético Madrid's Spain Under-21 goalkeeper, who could be heading to Old Trafford in a £17m deal. No matter how promising de Gea is, at just 20 years of age surely he can't be expected to adequately fill van der Sar's gloves immediately?
MIDFIELD
Club stalwart Paul Scholes has retired, Ryan Giggs can't go on forever and the injury prone Owen Hargreaves is being released, while Barcelona's total domination of the midfield at Wembley showed how much room for improvement exists in the Old Trafford engine room. Tottenham's midfield star Luka Modric, Everton's 18-year-old Jack Rodwell and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young are all in Fergie's sights, not to mention Inter's supremely talented Wesley Sneijder. In the absence of Scholes, one thing is certain: when tackling, United will lack the distinct ability of taking the player instead of the ball!
STRIKERS
Dimitar Berbatov, the Premier League's top scorer in 2010/11, may not be at the club next season, but even if he remains it is clear Fergie doesn't trust the Bulgarian when it really matters. Berbatov was not even in the squad for the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona and according to reports is still raging. Michael Owen – who warmed the bench ahead of Berbatov – is hardly the reliable striker he once was, so if something were to happen to either Wayne Rooney or Javier Hernandez, there wouldn't be a great deal in reserve. Could Fergie look to the Barcelona model and play an attacking game without conventional strikers?
OWNERSHIP
It's clear that new player additions are necessary, but with the club heavily in debt under the ownership of the Glazers, doubts remain that Fergie is able to sign exactly who he would like to. The millions it will take to poach young David de Gea suggests that, despite the huge debt, United are still big players in the transfer market. Meanwhile, the Glazers' stewardship hasn't prevented United picking up four titles and making three Champions League final appearances and, while massive sums are being paid out in interest on loans taken out by the Glazers, millions continue to be raked in at Old Trafford. This summer will be a key test of United's current spending power.
YOUTH
Man United picked up a record-breaking 10th FA Youth Cup with highly-rated players like Ravel Morrison starring. As the class of '92 reach the end of the line, United fans will hope the 2011 graduates produce at least one or two players who make the grade. Sir Alex Ferguson, however, has criticised the academy system on these shores. “We are only allowed to coach for an hour and a half each week. Barcelona can coach every hour of the day if they want and that’s the great advantage they have got. You can see their philosophy through that,” the manager said. Ferguson will no doubt be pleased to know that plans are in place by the Premier League to restructure youth development in this country, which could result in those aged 10-18 getting three times as long on the training pitch. With Barcelona inspired by their magnificent home-grown players, the changes can't come soon enough.
EUROPEAN CUP
After overtaking Liverpool as England's most successful title-winning club, but finishing a distant second to Barcelona in Europe, Sir Alex's burning ambition must now be to elevate United to the select band of Champions League greats. Three finals in four seasons is a great achievement, but it's still not been good enough to put United up with the European Cup's historic leading lights: Real Madrid, AC Milan and Liverpool. While the nature of Barcelona's third win in six seasons has put them up with the greats (level on four trophies with Ajax and Bayern), it eats away at Ferguson that his domestic dominance hasn't been satisfactorily transferred to the continent. You can forget any retirement talk while a question mark, however picky, remains over his Champions League record. United desperately want to knock Barca and, yes, Liverpool off their European perch.