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The second act of van Gaal's revolution, Tottenham reinforced the defense

Manchester United bought fired and brought big names, all in the attempt to become competitive for the title, and Tottenham only reinforced their back line

The legendary Sir Alex Ferguson retired two years ago, and Manchester United are still adjusting to that, while trying to find their way to the winning path.

They completely failed in the first year since. Bringing the coach David Moyes meant missing on both the trophies and playing the European cups. He got fired even before the season ended, and last summer Louis van Gaal took his place. He's known for rarely adjusting to the players, but always follows the game plan he imagined.

Van Gaal managed to get them the fourth place and get qualified for the Champions League, but it's common knowledge that for the Old Trafford, the only good season is the one where they get a trophy, especially the English Champion one.

Van Gaal isn't humble, and wouldn't settle for anything less, so he started reconstructing the team this summer. Some players who would definitely be reinforcements to any other club were fired (Di Maria, Falcao, Persie, Nani). He brought five new Red Devils - the best young Dutch forward Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven), the Italian defender Matteo Darmian (Torino), the experienced German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern), who switched clubs for the first time ever, and the French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton), who cost the club €35 million, and the Argentinian goalie Sergio Romero (Sampdoria).

There may be some new arrivals before the summer transfer window ends, and the captain Wayne Rooney is leading everyone who stayed in van Gaal's pick. It's interesting to notice he was using 33 players last season, more than any other team in the league (20 teams).

It's hard to predict whether Manchester United can get to the top in the competition with rivals such as Chelsea, Arsenal, ManCity, and even Liverpool, but everyone in the club are hoping for an even fight for the title. However, some analysts noticed that van Gaal didn't bring the real playmaker, the creative force behind the center forwards.

ManUtd beat Barcelona 3-1 in the pre-season, but also got beaten by PSG 0-2. The real image of their starting form will show in the first duel of the Premiership, though. This duel will start the new championship when they host Tottenham at the Old Trafford.

- I think we're much better and readier than last season when we lost to Swansea, we're feeling really confident before facing Tottenham. If we play like we did for the last six months of the last season, then this season will be very good for us - van Gaal was in a good mood, even though he's missing a few starters. 

The goalie De Gea is negotiating leaving to Real, so Romero will get his first chance. Fellaini is finishing his cards, and Schweinsteger, Rojo and Hernandez aren't ready enough, according to van Gaal.

- We're living in a crazy football world, especially in the transfer window, and you never know what might happen. We have problems with De Gea, and losing Di Maria is a big loss, too, because we need forwards as fast and creative as he was - van Gaal pointed out. He'll bring Pedro, and Depay was great in the pre-season. He might be the discovery of the season, next to Rooney who scored six goals at the season beginnings so far. Those two players might give the hardest time to Tottenham.

The Argentinian coach Mauricio Pochettino took care of Tottenham last summer, and he hoped to get the fourth place and get placed to the Champions League. But, that turned out to be too optimistic, and they ended up fifth. They'll play the Europa League again.

The biggest win of the last season was definitely Harry Kane, the young forward who grew to be a star of the league. He scored 21 championship goal, and 31 total. That launched him to the England's A team. Tottenham are building their plans on him and the great playmaker Eriksen. There weren't many changes in the transfer window.

Pochettino gave up on a few players who didn't prove themselves, and some were sold for good money, like the midfielders Stambouli (PSG) and Paulinho (China). Since the defenders Chiriches (Napoli) and Kaboul (Sunderland) left, it was important to reinforce the back line. So, the Australian national team player Kevin Wimmer (Koln) came to the White Hart Lane, also Kieran Trippier (Burnley), and the most famous of the three, the 26-year old Belgian Toby Alderweireld who played in Southampton last season, borrowed from Atletico Madrid.

Pochettino is hoping to get the fourth place this year, too, but that definitely won't be easy. It might actually be just as hard as keeping the fifth place. Tottenham did some travels this summer, to Asia, Australia and America, and their last checks were in Germany against Real Madrid at the Audi Cup. They were beaten 0-2, and they were beaten by Milan in the fight for the third place, as well.

- We're ready for this season and I believe in this team, they'll definitely improve even more - Pochettino pointed out. The only one he can't use today is the just recovered goalie Lloris, and maybe even the forwards Townsend and Soldado.

- The first match of the season is always a bit mysterious, and it's always hard at the Old Trafford. But, these are the real challenges but we believe in ourselves, and we're coming to play football and get a good result with that - Alderweireld said.

Tottenham won only five out of the last 46 championship duels against Manchester United, but got two wins in the last three away matches at the Old Trafford. That was all before the last season, they were beaten 0-3 this March.

The first match of the new Premiership season, a duel between to seriously ambitious teams, Manchester United and Tottenham. This will hardly be a war of tactics, both sides will be running like crazy.
United have an advantage for the win, but Tottenham have their chances, as the odds suggest. Those were favored to the home team's side in the last seasons. These 1.65 or 1.70 are always the uncomfortable margin in football whose value is hard to judge, so we'll turn to the odds set for the goals. The 1.15 for United goal says it all, and 1.50 that Tottenham will score at the Old Trafford does underestimate the guests. United have two potential weaknesses today, both defensive. The first goalie De Gea won't be tending the goal, he's trying to leave to Real Madrid. Louis van Gaal made some changes in the team, and he had most problems with the center back duo. His attempts weren't too successful in that segment last season, either, and time will tell if Jones and Blind are a winning combo. This is a new role for Blind, and he can play it, but that's still out of his comfort zone. Jones doesn't seem too sure either. Harry Kane will give them a hard time today, and the guests have some other wild cards, as well, especially since they don't plan to bunker themselves up.
Tottenham are aware it'll be hard to keep it to 0-0, and they need to score for the success, which they can do. Their defense will struggle, and the substitute goalie Vorm is tending the goal instead of Lloris, which means the option that both will score is very likely. The odds are worth taking, and if the game fires up, it'll be very realistic. This bet might not have always worked last season in the Premiership, but it did in the previous five duels between Manchester United and Tottenham.