David De Gea: One of the few shining lights in a very, very poor season. De Gea won the double at the recent Manchester United seasons award claiming fans player and players player awards and the overall feeling was that this was rightly so. Furthermroe De Gea won the Match of the Day save of the season for his point blank range diving save against Suarez. De Gea has been simply sensational throughout the season and one stand out moment was his double close range save against Bayern Munich in the first leg which helped United claim a draw. Many have said De Gea will be a world class keeper in the future but he isn’t far off now.
Anders Lindegaard: It is hard to write much on a back up keeper because they very rarely feature. However, when called upon, Lindegaard did the job brilliantly. For example, at the win against Newcastle at St James’s Park, Lindegaard pulled off at least four top draw saves to secure the clean sheet despite some dodgy defending. He did all you could ask from a backup keeper.
Phil Jones: Well, how to judge Jones’s season? He has played often this season covering for injuries but due to being 3rd choice centre back and his own injuries throughout the year he failed to have a huge run of games consecutively. When he did play in his patches, however, he had mixed results. On one hand he showed the clumsy defender-aspect of him like when he came up against Suarez and Sturrige of Liverpool at home. He stupidly dived into the back of a Liverpool attacker to concede the penalty and his most recent injury against Hull where he again stupidly dived into an opposition player and came out with an injured shoulder. However we see at times just how amazing he can be where he has marked several strikers out of the game. However this season just wasn’t great for him and he really needs to improve.
Rio Ferdinand: Rio had a very poor season all in all but much of that could be accounted to age and injuries. Rio in his prime was a pacey centre back with great technique. Evidently he lost all his pace this season and injuries from past season have taken their toll on him. His season was summed up by the hugely embarrisng and quite frankly dreadful personal and team performance against Olympiakos in the first leg. He looked out of position more than he was in it and even when he was in position he was left for dead by to many attackers with only a decent amount of pace. A season to forget.
Chris Smalling: Smalling has struggled this season with injuries and not being given a long run in the side. He appeared clumsy when he did play but like Jones in other games he appeared very good and comfortable. However he was used as a makeshift right back too often and he is clearly not comfortable playing as a full back.
Jonny Evans: Evans, who for the last two seasons has appeared the future number one after more and more consistently good performances, saw himself be ignored at centre-back for others. It's hard to criticise Evans, after the Irishman was unfairly benched for the majority of the season. The few times he did play in a run of games he played quite well. Nothing sensational, but he was steady and effective, often solidifying a make shift back four. However he did play more games than Rio so it is a shock to see he was dropped so often.
Patrice Evra: The man with the second most appearances this season, behind De Gea, appearing in 33 of the 38 league games did not have his best season. As a fan favourite for his passion and commitment which can be hugely admired by fans but his performances lacked the class that they used to have. Much like Vidic and Ferdinand, his pace had left him and for the first time ever we saw Evra consistently caught out of position multiple times most games. However he was still more than happy to put his body on the line so it is hard to criticise him too much. A key example of this was the 3-0 thrashing at home against Liverpool, Evra did not shy away from a single challenge. But this in itself left the left flank exposed time after time. Evra’s season can be summed up like this. Appreciate the effort but we need to move on.
Alexander Buttner: A man who played only a handful of times this season due to Moyes and Giggs favouring Evra. However there was a clear spell before the second leg of the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in which Buttner performed especially well. He had clear pace which Evra lacked, he bombed forward but always made sure to get back to defend his opposition winger. He looked a threat going forward as well. However, his positioning was dire at times. Simply not good enough, but Buttner is still young so this can be improved. So maybe his season can be looked as a positive one.
Rafael Da Silva: The loveable young, slightly mental Brazilian. His season was surprisingly poor for a player that shined so brightly last year. He, like, Evra and Buttner was caught out many times due to his positioning. He was exposed defensively time after time, gave away stupid and needless fouls which resulted in yellow card after yellow card. He looked good going forward but he failed to deliver anything when it was expected and required. Rafael was a huge disappointment this season.
Nemanja Vidic: Much like Ferdinand, Vidic struggled this season. Despite being a battle hardened warrior at the back, Vidic still was next to useless if fans aren’t being romantic about it. But it is hard to be too harsh on Vidic at the age of 32 he needs a faster and top draw partner but he hasn’t been given this consistently enough this season and he has struggled as a result. His poor season was summed up at Shakhtar away where he attempted to clear the ball and passed it directly to the opposition striker who tapped home to nick a draw.
Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley: I am putting these two players together because they didn’t play in long enough spells to assess separately. Fletcher can’t be faulted and I will not do so. The fact he could feature after only returning from a possibly career ending bowel problem last year is something to be admired. Cleverley, in all honestly, did not have a good season and at times he was dire.
However, the way he was treated by so called fans was nothing short of disgraceful, the fact he was hounded off twitter due to abuse from his own supporters is shocking. There is obviously potential there but he was very poor in truth.
Nani, Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young: The less said about these the better. Being very honest it is hard to find anything good they did this season. Nani was out for a lot of the season came back and looked uncaring. Valencia has adopted this walk out fullbacks approach from nowhere and Young contributed just three goals to the side all season.
Marouane Fellaini: Fellaini is another player who has to be criticised. He has not been worth any of the £27 million payed for him. To keep it simple the best thing he did all season was when he came on with minutes to go against Donetsk and kept the ball in the corner for several minutes to run the clock down. He has been poor in every other way.
Ryan Giggs: The legend who we will never see in a United shirt, much to everyone's dismay played a minor part this season on the field but he still had a massive impact. When United were two nil down against Olympiakos Giggs was placed in the centre of midfield, to the shock of many, and was instrumental in overturning the deficit. He played through ball after ball to Van Persie who ended the night with a hat-trick.
Michael Carrick: A star in the United team last season but he did not live up to the same level of performance as he did last season. He still had a decent season in fairness but he quite obviously declined. He seemed to sit further and further back every game which led to him being forced into many mistakes. Carrick is very much the kind of player that if your team is playing well he plays well and is a huge asset. But if the team is really struggling he is left exposed and he was this season. Under Moyes he was stuck doing sideways passes more than he usually would as United struggled to create chances all season. This made him a pointless player in the line up.
Shinji Kagawa: The Japanese star is yet to solidify himself in the side. He looks lightweight, unable to fit into the side and just a makeshift winger. But at times he clearly shows how good he is. He has pace, passing ability and a great first touch complemented by his dribbling ability. He has always had the potential to fit in but like two seasons ago when we won the league he doesn’t perform one day then performs the next. He has had a frustrating season and he needs to improve soon.
Juan Mata: The shining knight of Manchester United’s season. He came in during our darkest hour in recent times and at least gave us something to cheer about. Even if it was as trivial as debating which of his two costless-kick goals are better he gave the United fans something to be proud about this season. The Spaniard managed three assists in his first three games he still wasn’t happy due to his goal scoring drought. So what did he do? Go on to score six goals in the next 11 games. The only negative about Mata is how he slows down the play at times but bar that he was a revelation in 2014 for United.
Adnan Januzaj: What a revelation Januzaj was this season. A few months before Sir Alex announced his retirement he was quoted as saying “I’m not quite sure how to pronounce his first name and last name (laughs) but he is one for the future.” Well he has proven to be one for right now as he surprised every single United fan with his ability and talent. His deceptive pace, dazzling footwork and skill alongside his lack of fear to take opposition on showed the footballing world that he will become a star. He was called up to the Belgian World Cup squad after just one season of first team football. He isn’t the perfect player yet obviously. He needs to improve his work ethic at times, his willingness to get back and defend and even bulk up a bit, but he has shown the next few years will be great for him and United fans.
Robin van Persie: van Persie was the hero last season as he fired us to the title. This season he got off to a great start with two goals in the first game of the season against Swansea but things declined dramatically for him. His decline runs in correlation to his injuries and lack of ability to recover his form from them only to be injured again, the lack of the form within the entire squad and the obvious frosty relationship between him and Moyes. At times he looked moody, uncaring and just very poor. But at other times he looked just sensational. His hat-trick against Olympiakos was stunning and he came up trumps when needed the most. Maybe under Van Gaal he can improve his form with a manager he likes and trusts.
Wayne Rooney: Rooney had a lot to live up this season with the strong rumours he was desperate to leave in the summer due to falling out with Sir Alex despite the fact the Scot had retired. Fans were on his back and he needed to perform well otherwise he was in trouble. Rooney finished the season with 19 goals in all competitions and was the team’s top goal scorer which half way through the season helped him negotiate a £350,000 p/w contract. So despite the fact Rooney was the team’s best player with some great moment; the thunderous volley against Hull to bring United back into the game, the halfway line finish against West Ham and his double against Villa later on in the season, is this really worth £350,000 p/w? That may be a debate for another day but he was arguably this season’s top performer despite not even having his best year.
Javier Hernandez: A very poor season for the Little Pea. A fan favourite after his exploits in his debut season, last year he was unable to repeat this. This year was no different, Chicarito struggled for form mainly due to the fact he was hardly picked. When he was picked his performance were far from good enough and he missed more chances than he scored which is exactly what you don’t want from a poacher. But if all fans are serious about it then they must realise yes he played poor but the lack of game time gave him little time to pick up his shoddy performances.
Danny Welbeck: Welbeck is a hard player to assess. On one hand United have the striker who isn’t particularly great at finishing and on the ball isn’t great either. But on the other hand United have the striker who never stops running, gives 100% regardless of the game or situation and can be relied upon to do any job. It is easy to understand why some fans are not lovers of Welbeck but his hard work is invaluable in big games. In the Bayern Munich first leg he missed a great chance, but he was robbed of a clear goal which should not have been ruled out and caused the defence problems all game as he just ran and ran at them. He also showed that he does have the potential to score when he scored a double against Villa and consistently found himself in the right position.
James Wilson: Only a short mention is deserved since he only played one game but that one game deserves a mention. Two goals on your debut for the first team is something which is quite amazing and this lad looks like he has a great future ahead of him.