Revealed: How Man United's first XI should look next season if Sir Alex wants to win the league

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 11:53 05/05/10

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The greatest talent any manager can possess is to realise the need for change before anybody else notices.

And while Manchester United can still end the season as champions, Sir Alex Ferguson did not become the greatest manager in British football history by chance.

Fergie's decision to start planning for a major revamp of the Old Trafford squad is yet another example of his insight - and desire to keep on doing what he does best.

If the Laird of Old Trafford was thinking about quitting this summer, he would not be bothered about the inheritance he will be passing on to his successor.

Ferguson, unquestionably, would prefer to go out on a  bang, and that means creating one last great United team before he accepts that Time is the one opponent that can never be beaten.

United have already landed Fulham centre-half Chris Smalling and Mexican striker Javier Hernandez for next term, setting out an agenda for reform.

It seems hard to believe Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick or Ben Foster will still be United players next season, while Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes know they will be sliding into reduced roles.

And there will doubtless be at least two more arrivals, with some of the £80million received from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo last summer still available to be spent.

United need an attacking midfielder - Spurs will not part lightly with Luca Modric - and a new lead striker to help carry some of the burden which Wayne Rooney has somehow held up almost single-handedly this term, perhaps Valencia's want-away superstar David Villa.

What it means is a different United, a younger, hungrier version - a team that can fulfil Ferguson's final footballing wish.

Indeed, United's first-choice 11 next term could look something like: Van Der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Fletcher, Modric, Obertan; Rooney, Villa. With a bench of Kuszczak, Fabio, Smalling, Gibson, Nani, Park, Hernandez.

Better than this season? Probably. The best yet? Unlikely.

After all, the football they played last season, with Ronaldo in his pomp, Vidic and Ferdinand formidable, Berbatov at least motivated and Rooney growing into his maturity, was as good

But what we know is that Ferguson believes in perpetual revolution, continual improvement - and major surgery when it is required.

The most obvious example of that came in 1995.

United had lost the title to Blackburn but only on the last day - shades of 2010, perhaps? - and many believed they still had the strongest squad.

Instead of incremental change, Ferguson went radical, getting rid of Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis and Paul Ince to create room for the "Fledglings" and begin an era of remarkable dominance.

Of course, the big changes have not always worked. Selling Jaap Stam in a fit of pique was something Ferguson has subsequently admitted he bitterly regrets while the manner of David Beckham's forced departure was not the Scot's finest hour.

He made the big call right, however, on Ruud Van Nistelrooy - and that seemed madness at the time - and more often than not, history has justified his stance.

This time, though, getting it right might be harder than Ferguson realises.

He only has to look across Manchester to see where the new emergent force of English football is coming from, with City ready to really start spending if they can take the fourth Champions League spot - and money nailed on to be laid out even if they do not evict Spurs from that position.

Chelsea, too, will be stronger. While Roman Abramovich wants to see the Blues strengthen from within, with five youth team prospects moving into Carlo Ancelotti's first team squad, you can expect two marquee attacking signings to bolster their firepower.

Ancelotti, as well, will be emboldened by the success of his first year.

Liverpool, with a new manager and - it must be assumed - new funds, will also be back, while Arsene Wenger will finally dip into his Emirates cash reserves to improve a squad that always looked too shallow.

Ferguson, though, has got it right so many times since arriving at United in November 1986 that only an idiot would bet against him doing so again.

The work is already underway. Most importantly, potentially, is the knowledge that the next United team will be Ferguson's last. He will demand that it stands as a monument to his achievements in the game, not a reminder of where he began to lose his edge.

Who do you think Fergie should buy and sell this summer? Let us know by leaving a comment below...

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