Valencia and Shaw must help Pogba, Martial and Rashford thrive

August 2016 seems a very long way away. Back then, there was talk of Manchester United possibly winning the title this season -- and now, there's claims Jose Mourinho believes the squad needs at least two transfer windows to be fixed.

If this is true, it is worrying that Mourinho so badly underestimated the scale of the problem before him. However, there is a suspicion that if these are indeed Mourinho's sentiments, he is buying himself time.

With the exception of Eric Bailly, the players he has brought in have not been consistently outstanding. Paul Pogba has dazzled in patches, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has flitted between dominant and listless and Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been the most baffling of absentees. Before Mourinho goes shopping again, he must ask more from those under his command.

Looking at United's Premier League season so far, the problems look to be systemic. They are sixth in the table and after 12 games have scored 17 and conceded 14 -- both fairly average returns which reveal both insecurity at the back and a failure to penetrate. To address the latter issue, Mourinho will need his full-backs to be more far effective in attack.

It seems harsh to demand anything else from Antonio Valencia, who has been one of Mourinho's most reliable performers in recent weeks. His work ethic is faultless and he has been far less prone to mistakes than Luke Shaw, who everyone would regard as a more natural full-back.

At the same time, Mourinho needs to be more creative in order to bring the best from United's attackers. Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are both intelligent and self-sacrificial enough to spend several months on the wing, but that is not where they are most dangerous. They do their best work closer to goal -- Martial looking happiest at inside-left with Rashford able to operate equally well as an inside-left or No. 9 -- but recent formations have seen them marooned on the touchline. What's more, they have defensive duties that hinder them from wreaking the havoc in the final third of which they are truly capable.

Eden Hazard's form this season shows what can happen if a team's playmakers are truly liberated by their manager's tactics. Hazard is supported on the flanks at Chelsea by Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses, who cover a formidable amount of ground and allow him to dictate the play. Valencia and Shaw, at their best, can perform a similar function for Rashford and Martial, allowing them to stay closer to the penalty area and combine better with Pogba -- who, it must be noted, has completed more passes in the final third than any other central midfielder in Europe this season. The more these three are able to play off each other, the better.

This brings us back to United's full-backs. They are essential for two reasons -- first, as mentioned above, they allow their team's most creative players to move infield, and secondly, they stretch the play against teams who try to congest the midfield. And this is where Valencia can and should do more. Since the 2012-13 season, when United last won the title, he has scored only four times in 118 matches. Given his speed and strength, and the fact he takes up very advanced positions for his club, this is an area where he could do better. He could also improve his final ball -- he was once a winger whose delivery was among the very best in the division, perhaps even Europe, but on several occasions in the last few seasons his crosses have found themselves deflected away by the first man.

Daley Blind's best games have served as a reminder of just how important it is to have playmakers in the back four, which is perhaps one reason why United have been so strongly linked with the Monaco right-back Fabinho -- and which makes it more surprising that he was not acquired this summer.

At present, United's full-backs are largely hardworking but offensively limited -- see also, Matteo Darmian -- while their competitors, both at domestic and European level, have players in these positions who not only accompany forwards in attacks but initiate those attacks themselves.

There is much talk of Barcelona's magnificent trident of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar, but they would not be nearly as dangerous if they did not have Sergi Roberto tearing up the flank to their right, as Dani Alves did before him. What's more, Roberto is smart enough to exploit the space these players draw away from him.

Martial, Rashford and Pogba are three of the most disruptive presences in the Premier League, with their movement confusing some of the very best defences. United's full-backs must be at their very best to profit from the ensuing chaos.

Musa Okwonga is one of ESPN FC's Manchester United bloggers. Follow on Twitter: @Okwonga.