Yes, I wondered what people now thought that, as I suspected, Moyes would see Heitinga as the odd man out when picking his first choice 11. Should he now be sold. If he doesn't start at the weekend the toys will surely fly wit the window shutting the following Friday.

I can't see Fellaini leaving unless it's against his will. He was apparently had words with Mirallas and helped persuade him to sign. Unless he was pulling an elaborate prank on his mate, that's not the sign of a player who wants out.

I also can't see Baines leaving now that Man U have signed another left back.

This season is so important though. If we're to keep the team we have assembled over the last year then we need to get European football of some description. Fellaini especially wants it and if we don't at least get Europa League then I think he'll be off to Arsenal or Chelsea in the summer.

For me it's the injuries gamble...if we win, I think the squad we have will take us into Europe. If we lose, it could be a very scrappy season.

I know it's because you are comparing last septembers squad when he hadn't actually joined but we had McFadden for the bulk of last season so in theory that's another first teamer down. That makes it 13 off the wage bill and 7 in.

The first team looks fairly strong compared to last September but squad depth is worrying, get a few injuries and suspensions and we'll be caught short. The better players who play the most games are going to be more prone to injuries and we don' t have the equivalent quality to replace them from the bench. A decent cup run coupled with the intensity and tempo we play will see us run out of steam post January.

If you take your comparison back by one day to 31/08/11 we sold Arteta, Beckford & Yakubu on that day so arguably we've lost 10 first teamers and brought in 5 in the last year.

Don't forget Hahnemann off the books either, the more I think about it we've taken nearly 20 players off the books and replaced them with about 7 so we need a few more in this next week or so.

Drenthe and Straq were loan players. So their "in" and "out" do cancel out.

One day Marouane will probably play for Real Madrid. But not this year, or next year if we get into Europe. Same sort of thing for Baines, only because some very big money will come chasing him. Probably Jelavic too.

Heitinga? Too hard to call. My opinion is that he is in Davey's plans and will give us another good year, but what do I know?

And don't be surprised if someone shows a lot of interest in Gibson. Possibly even the Manure. Scholes controls the MF and runs the game does he? Not on Monday he didn't. Fellaini playing up had a lot to do with that, but Darron was magnificent behind him - getting better all the time.

But the main thing in this analysis for me is Mohammed's headline - Picking Up Where We left Off. GP was like the Newcastle game, only bigger and louder on Monday night*. Contrast that to beating Chelski with Beckford's goal of the season (not his, the Prem's) to the abject display against QPR at the start of the following season - Rodwell and Barkey starting.

We appear to have learned a few things from the second half of last season - buying Pienaar 'at any price' being one of them. Very very early doors yet, but the attitude looks right, and we have picked up where we left off, for a change.

* I never thought that I would say this, but thank you SkyTV for moving us from Saturday to Monday night. Two more days for Fellaini and Gibson to recover, and the Old Lady under the lights to help things along.

And finally, Mohammed, a little late, but Eid Mubarak.

Jason, in purely counting numbers terms yes, you could say the loanees cancel out, but they were actual bodies on the pitch and now we have less bodies.

Mohammed
It is interesting to highlight the number of senior players we have lost - particularly if you add in Arteta, Beckford and Yakubu who all departed last August. That leaves us 4 senior players less than last year. But I do expect a couple of loan moves before the transfer window as it is relatively easy to pick up a few squad players - and Moyes has said he is looking to do this and once he has he will loan out some of the younger players.

The hard part is improving the first team and Moyes has already done this - I would say we have added 4 first teamers since January in Gibson, Pienaar, Mirallas and Jelavic. That is transformational (and correlates entirely with our change of fortunes since January, with Mirallas yet to show his hand).

Your main concern that we are cutting back on the youth section to fund the senior squad is probably nothing to worry about. We operate an "up or out" policy so it is natural for a crop of youngsters to depart every year. They are naturally (and cheaply) replaced by the next generation that comes in behind. There is nothing to worry about there.

Overall we look in much better shape than a year ago with probably a reduced wage bill and a lower age profile, as well as a markedly better first XI and better back up in the striker positions (we really had no one other than Saha for the first half of last season, and that was/is insane). We have 15 players who are definitely first XI standard in Howard, Mucha, Hibbert, Neville, Distin, Jags, Heitinga, Baines, Fellaini, Gibson, Pienaar, Osman, Mirallas, Naismith and Jelavic. Between them we have cover for every position, such is their versatility. Currently we have 4 more on the fringes - Anichebe, Duffy, Coleman and Barkley who could do a shift. I agree this is still a bit light, we are now suddenly weaker in central midfield than before the departures of Cahill and Rodwell, so at least one more to cover Gibson, Fellaini and Neville in the holding DM role is important. But overall I am delighted by the quality and depth of the current squad and hopefully it is financially sustainable which is key.

I should also have added Junior to the Duffy/Coleman/Barkley category as he seemed to have a great pre-season. Maybe he is the cover in central midfield if we can't get any new loanees in before the deadline.

Thanks Keith I appreciate it. I heard Martin Jol has bought 11 Felli wigs for Saturday's game...
Man U might refuse to walk onto the pitch :-)

I really don't have too many concerns... Its a good summary of the shift and highlights the improvement in the first team (especially if Mirallas is as good as we hope).

The point has been made about youth player churn which happens every year... where we had Wallace and Baxter we now have Barkley and Junior a year older..

Some of our youth are now going to be in the u21 league or would be playing reserves more often such as Lundstram and even Hope maybe...

The key is the 1st team squad... and David Ellis does a nice job of putting that together. Of that 15 1st team level.. 8 can plat CM.. it is a versatile squad...

David E, think you also missed gueye and vellios from that list, bulking our squad to 22. Wouldn't mind 1 or 2 more.