MU finalizes squad for Premier League: Red Devils expose weaknesses, beware of paying the price

Old Trafford this week has no cheering, only the sound of studs scraping along the tunnel floor. The list of 23 names was registered, and the moment that paper was printed, I knew Michael Carrick was holding a time bomb. Not because he is wrong, but because two lethal positions are waiting for someone to collapse. They call me a contrarian. I call them the crowd. But today, the crowd praises this squad list, and I see a parking lot painted in grass colors. This summer, MU signed Benjamin Sesko – a striker with 12 goals in 32 appearances last season – and invested heavily in overhauling the midfield. It sounds reasonable to prioritize the number 10 and number 8 positions, where Carrick once dominated. But someone forgot to read the list twice. The attack has exactly one genuine out-and-out striker: Sesko. The left-back position has exactly one true specialist: Luke Shaw – a name whose injury record is thicker than his playing CV. Carrick has players who can cover those positions, but they are better suited to other roles. Mbeumo and Cunha are not center-forwards. They are wingers, hidden number 10s, pieces for a rotating system – not focal points to absorb physical punishment. Let me speak plainly about MU's so-called attack. Possession is the most deceptive stat in modern football. A team can grind out 60% with meaningless sideways passes outside the box and call it dominance. But without a focal-point striker, those passes are just rituals at an altar with no offering. Sesko has not started any match this season as he continues regaining fitness after injury, and the question is: who carries the attack while he recovers? Zirkzee was retained despite Everton's late interest – a calculated decision – but he has shown he is not yet at the required level to lead the line when Sesko is absent. This is not academic tactical analysis. This is the pain on the pitch I see from the way Carrick rubs his forehead when asked about a backup number 9. What frustrates me is not that MU did not buy – not buying is also a decision. It is that they missed Danny Welbeck. A free agent who scored 13 Premier League goals last season – more than any MU player – and the fans saw the ending coming. Welbeck joined Chelsea at Xabi Alonso's request, who wants experienced players in a young squad. I am not saying Welbeck is a long-term solution. At 35, he is a patch. But in a season that could add more than 20 matches, a patch can sometimes save the whole ship. Do not ask me to predict the score. Ask why MU let a man who has scored 8 goals against them since 2026 play for a rival. Those defending the list will say: do not forget the U21 exempt players. Mainoo, Yoro, Heaven – and five academy graduates including Amass, the Fletcher twins, Lacey, Gabriel – are eligible without registration. The total squad is around 30. It sounds deep. But I stand between two worlds: one dying, one refusing to be born. Those young talents are the future, but the future does not score in the 85th minute against a disciplined defense of a mid-table side. The dry truth is always more interesting than a wet myth: MU is betting a full season on the fitness of Sesko and Shaw. Let me talk about fitness as a statistician who stopped filing reports. Last season MU played about 50 matches. This year, with the expanded calendar, the number could exceed 70. Twenty more matches, twenty more chances for muscles to tear, ligaments to snap, and fatigue to accumulate into half-a-beat-slow decisions. Possession percentage is the most deceptive stat – but the injury rate per match never lies. I have followed the Premier League for 34 years, watched many teams collapse from overconfidence in numbers. The crowd believes in spreadsheets. I believe in the pain on the pitch. And now Carrick, the worshipped tactician, the man who played controlled football in midfield, must face a problem that paper cannot solve. He has wide players who can drift left, attacking midfielders who can play false nine, but against a deep block, he needs someone to attack the box. Mbeumo and Cunha can move wide and cause chaos, but neither is a Sesko-type finisher. You cannot build an Eiffel Tower with warehouse bricks. You need steel, and MU has only one piece of steel. Let us talk about Welbeck's irony. Had MU made an offer, Welbeck would have returned to his boyhood home – where he rose through the academy, where fans still sing his name in beautiful memories. Instead, he will face MU when the Red Devils travel to Stamford Bridge on October 31. Xabi Alonso, a coach who won the Bundesliga, understands that at 35, Welbeck is no longer a star but still a guiding voice in the dressing room. Carrick chose youth. Alonso chose experience. Once again, I wonder: who will teach whom a lesson about squad registration? The January transfer window story – closing February 1, 2027 – will be the lifeline. If MU survives until January with a healthy squad, they can adjust. But the cost equation remains heavy: buying in a hurry mid-season always comes at a premium, and when the seller knows you are desperate, they inflate the price. This is what FFP cannot measure – desperation priced in money. I could be wrong. There is always the possibility that Carrick is nurturing a system that does not need a traditional target man – a fluid front three with interchangeable positions. I could also be wrong about Shaw breaking down; maybe he plays all 38 games. And maybe Zirkzee will awaken, turning doubt into goals. But that probability is as low as the odds of a team beating a stronger opponent by 2 goals in their last 5 meetings. When the whole world sings in unison about squad depth, my ears start ringing with the echo of error. This season will not be decided by the big matches – MU might beat Chelsea, might beat Arsenal. It is decided on a cold Wednesday night, with a congested fixture list, and Carrick forced to rotate. If Mbeumo plays left-back, if Cunha plays center-forward, and both do not know where they are – that is when the 23-man list reveals the truth. I do not write to be loved, I write to be read. And I have read the future of a team walking on a tightrope. I just hope they have a safety net.