r/reddevilswomen • u/DarrenMWinter • 2d ago
On the occasion of United selling Melvine Malard to Chelsea, I thought I'd look at some numbers regarding MUWFC squad strength
- In the winter transfer window we signed Schuller, Wangerheim and Lundqvist; but Geyse, Williams, Blundell (on loan), Barry and Rabjohn all left. Bizet was missing on maternity leave.
- So far this transfer window we've signed only Andrea Medina, a left back to compete with Anna Sandberg (probably our second best player last season) and Gabby George, who rarely starts now. We have more competition at left-back than centre-forward.
- However, this summer we've also lost Hannah Blundell (permanently), Leah Galton, Millie Turner and fiancée Lisa Naalsund, plus Melvine Malard, who between them played 625 times for United.
- Last season Man Utd Women played 41 games. They were only able to put out a full bench 17 times in 41 games.
- On 15 of those 17 occasions, there were two goalkeepers on the bench.
- Only twice in 41 games did they have 1 goalkeeper and a full complement of outfield players.
- In the league, Utd only had a full bench in 13 of the 22 games.
- Against Everton in March, Utd had only two senior outfielders on the bench.
- In the Champions League, United never filled the bench, even with two goalkeepers. As far as I could tell, the best they managed was three empty seats on the bench.
- Of the current squad of 26 players, 11 have made fewer than 10 starts for United Women.
In summary:
- Our squad was already woefully too small
- We've lost our two most experienced players
- We've lost our best attacker from last season, in terms of goal involvements
- Our only signing is a third left-back
- We've also promoted three Academy players who were already in various squads last season
This is based on some quick calculations on my iPad so if I missed anything it's because I ran out of fingers!