leadership needed by Man United

Pedro has signed for Chelsea, after having been pursued by Manchester United for much of the summer. The former Barcelona forward would have been a very fine acquisition for Louis van Gaal's team, adding greatly to its goalscoring options. However, the greatest loss to United is perhaps one of experience.

Van Gaal has a three-year period in which to return his side to the top, a short time given the scale of rebuilding that he has been faced with. Yet the failure -- or refusal, depending on which version of events is preferred -- to secure Pedro's services highlights a shortage of trophy-winning know-how in this squad.
United, of course, have others in their ranks who are used to winning. Yet the introduction of Bastian Schweinsteiger against Club Brugge in the second half of the UEFA Champions League qualifying tie may, in its own way, prove to be one of the most symbolic moments of the season.
Michael Carrick, whom he replaced, has won a great many titles with United, but he has not been at his best in recent matches, and is not the most obviously assertive of players. Schweinsteiger, on the other hand, was giving orders from the moment he stepped onto the pitch -- commanding one colleague to come short here, telling another to inspect a pass inside there.
There was much discussion of whether Schweinsteiger would still be a useful asset to United when he joined this summer, with many arguing that he was a significant way past his peak. But though he may no longer charge around with the abandon of old, he has shown himself capable of exerting truly decisive influence.
Some will argue that the German's highly impressive performance only came against the likes of Club Brugge, but this would do a disservice to the occasion. He entered the fray at an excited but perhaps nervous Old Trafford, where the supporters were witnessing the possibility of a first visit to the UEFA Champions League group stages in two years. That he asserted himself in such style bodes very well for the rest of the season, and his fitness has already assumed a far more crucial status than it did before.
Schweinsteiger does not merely offer excellent distribution from the base of midfield, as Carrick does. He seemingly also encourages those ahead of him to push further forward. Against Aston Villa and now Club Brugge, his introduction looked to coincide with an increase in United's ambition in attack.
He is maybe slightly less precise in the pass than Carrick, with a handful of long-range passes not hitting their target. These are the type of balls that Carrick would not necessarily play, but are also evidence of a greater urgency and enterprise in Schweinsteiger's play, which is just what United need given the abundant time that they spend keeping the ball. Possession is nothing without penetration, and in his short time at the club Schweinsteiger has already shown this.

Louis van Gaal insists that the fitness of Bastian Schweinsteiger is what's keeping him from playing the full 90 minutes.

On this note, it must thus be hoped that Pedro will not be too significant a loss. The Spain winger has an exceptional record for goalscoring at the very highest level, at the game's most decisive moments. As an alternative to Pedro, United have been linked with Southampton's Sadio Mané, who would be a very good signing, and indeed his statistics compare favourably to those of Chelsea's new forward.
Per 90 minutes in the league last season, Mané created more chances than Pedro and scored more goals, while also blocking and intercepting more goals than the defensively diligent Spanish winger. He also managed important strikes against Arsenal and Chelsea. The only category in which Mané was markedly worse than Pedro was retaining the ball, a prerequisite for Van Gaal's team. And, clearly unlike Pedro, Mané still lacks substantial achievements at an elite level. It is here where United may stand to miss out the most.
Yet, Van Gaal's success in the 1995 UEFA Champions League with Ajax was attributed in large part to the fearlessness of youth, typified by a teenager -- Patrick Kluivert -- scoring the winner in the final against AC Milan. Still, that picture is not a complete one.
Van Gaal also relied upon the canny generalship of the team's senior members, with Frank Rijkaard and Danny Blind crucial elements in that triumph. Schweinsteiger may yet prove to be Van Gaal's Rijkaard, but the inescapable feeling is that he still needs a Blind or two alongside him, to add authority to the spine of the team. One of those, Victor Valdes, is out of favour and very possibly led to Pedro's decision to choose Stamford Bridge over Old Trafford -- and, given the tightest of title battles that seem set to unfold in the next couple of seasons, that nous will be essential.
It is to be hoped that, in the closing weeks of the current transfer window, United will be able to find another proven winner elsewhere.
Musa Okwonga is a football author, poet, musician, broadcaster and social commentator. He is on Twitter @Okwonga.