For my first column it’s probably best I address the reaction from everyone who was surprised by the team I said I would select for Wednesday’s game against Sheffield United.

I suggested a few changes, and it’s difficult to explain in a tweet, so here goes. Roy Keane put it strongly in his punditry but you know what, I think I probably would prefer Sergio Romero because I honestly think he has a more calming presence at the moment. David De Gea is a great goalkeeper but is too nonchalant – maybe that’s ironic coming from me, as I was too – but there are too many mistakes in him, and because he knows he’s undroppable he doesn’t have the edge he should. That said, because he is undroppable to Ole, he will stay in the team.

At centre-half I think Eric Bailly is the best we have at the club. Now, that’s only relevant when he’s actually fit. Which, of course, is hardly ever. He is sometimes erratic but he’s also very brave and he has the energy and recovery pace to make him the perfect partner for Harry Maguire. Especially at the moment, as we’ve seen Harry get found out whenever he’s in a 1v1. 

Victor Lindelof, for me, is a standard centre back. His passing ability is decent enough but he is too weak in the tackle and he doesn’t always look as though he can cover Maguire. This seems to be Ole’s biggest blind spot at the minute.

I also suggested we switch up the full-backs against Sheffield United. We know we can attack them and they’re probably going to sit and look for scraps, looking to rebuild their confidence after their poor form of the last week. Diogo Dalot and Brandon Williams bomb forward and can cross the ball well – Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw rarely get any crosses in, and obviously they will be needed for sides who are going to be more adventurous, so it might be a good opportunity to give them a rest.

I think what we saw against Spurs is that Mason Greenwood needs to start, especially against teams who play the low block. I worry that Ole is over-using Dan James because he’s being loyal to one of his signings but maybe it’s doing more harm than good. Dan’s obviously a good kid with great pace but his footballing intelligence needs to improve – at the moment he would probably be best as an impact player. I heard the rumours that he might go out on loan and that might not be the worst thing.

Meanwhile, in Mason, we have a player who I believe has the ability to match or even surpass any other United player. He’s that good. Yes, he is young too, but the boy knows where the goal is. The threat improves the second he is on the pitch.

Midfield has been the main talking point – for once, United have some positive choices to make in this area. Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Nemanja Matic should be the three every week. Against Spurs – and I worry Ole thinks like this all the time – United played two holding midfielders. He was thinking more of the opposition and was afraid to attack, which was strange because of the manager he played against. Fred and Scott McTominay are good options from the bench to give more energy in the second half – especially with more subs allowed now – but they are not at the level required to dictate the pace of a game. Matic is better equipped for that job.

Finally I suggested Rashford shouldn’t play on Wednesday, but that was only because he didn’t look match-fit to me. Against a team like Sheffield United, Odion Ighalo would be perfect as he can hold the ball up and keep up for Bruno and Pogba. Anthony Martial needs space to run into and Rashford, for me, needs a slow integration into the team in 15/20 minute cameos. I don’t see that happening with Ole, so I just hope it doesn’t backfire and Rashford gets hurt again.

Sheffield United are there to be got at and Ole is going to have to be more adventurous otherwise two holding midfielders will play right into Chris Wilder’s plan. We need the technical players to try and break them down like Newcastle did at the weekend – if you are bold enough to attack them, they will retreat and eventually fold. If Ole does that I can see a comfortable 3-0 win on Wednesday night.