“Attack, attack, attack, We’re Man United and we want to attack”, roared the Manchester United’s support during United’s recent ties, in response to the lack of goals. On Saturday when the club face Watford at Vicarage road expect United’s notoriously noisy away support to be in similar voice.
Ahead of the Watford game, United sit just 2 points off the summit of the Premier League, having played all but Chelsea from last season’s top six. They are top of their Champions League group and one victory away from qualifying to the next round. Although United are eliminated from the Carling cup it was always the lowest priority, both for fans and the club.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal.
There is an air of unease around the stands at Old Trafford these days. The fans were letting the team and the manager know how they felt, just like club legend and nowBTV pundit Paul Scholes, who claimed United’s style was void of creativity and risk and not suited to scoring goals.
This is the first time in his reign as manager that Louis Van Gaal is facing serious dissent — especially from the fans.
To be clear, the dissent is not aimed at the results so far.
The dissent is aimed at the performances, more specifically, the lack of entertainment and goals. Most of United’s performances this season, even in victory, are perceived to be extremely boring and uninspiring, characterised by a slow build up, possession at all costs approach that yields very few goals or chances during a game.
Between Anthony Martial’s headed goal in Moscow on 21 October and Wayne Rooney’s headed goal in the return leg in Manchester on November 3, United went through a run of four games without scoring a goal. According to Opta, United have the 2nd lowest number of shots (after Sunderland) and sit just 8th on the goal scoring charts with 17 goals. Their possession based approach means they rank highest in the league with 59.3 percent of the ball per game, but 67 percent of their passes are either backwards or sideways. Statistics don't tell the whole story but they do provide some context.
Another source of displeasure is the performance of captain Wayne Rooney. Entrusted with the No 9 role, Rooney has scored a measly two goals in the league. Furthermore, he has offered very little else in attack with 0 assists and the lowest successful pass rate in the United team . Yet he has played nearly every minute of every game, thanks in part to the “captain’s privileges” bestowed by the manager due to his leadership capabilities. To accommodate this, Martial, United’s biggest goal scoring threat this season, has been shifted to the left; Ander Herrera, a fan favourite and dynamic passer and tackler, spends most games on the bench, while Juan Mata continues to play on the right wing.
Van Gaal has not found the right balance in attack and it shows.
Yet while United’s attack has made the headlines, the defense has quietly become the best in the country. United have not conceded a goal in their last 555 minutes, their best run in all competitions since 2004-05. Van Gaal’s desire to “control the game” for 90 minutes means United have majority of the ball, give very few chances away and are very difficult to beat.
Chris Smalling is a transformed player and versatile Daley Blind is arguably the finest ball playing centre back in Europe. When called upon David De Gea is ready to consistently provide the spectacular. The manager deserves credit for this transformation, especially given that last season it was United’s anemic defence that faced similar criticism from all corners.
All title winning sides have been built on strong defences. Manchester United are one level away from becoming a very good team that, while dominating, can consistently create chances and score goal goals.
The biggest issue with the attack so far, form aside, is the lack of pace and the ability to penetrate opposing defensive lines . Neither one of Rooney, Marouane Fellaini, Mata, Herrera or even Jesse Lingard, who have played in the four attacking positions in the team, offer explosive pace. The double leg fracture to Luke Shaw robbed the team of his pace on the left wing. That leaves only 21 year old Memphis Depay — currently struggling adjusting to the league, Ashley Young—quick but with distinctly average output, and 19 year old Martial—who so far has been the only player making threatening runs behind defenses, beating players and providing an attacking point for the creative players.
ALSO SEE
It is no surprise that when United scored 3 goals for 4 consecutive games, Martial and Depay, and even Young had playing time together in those 4 positions. Without the threat of pace or dribbling, teams are comfortable to cede possession and play on the counter. This approach remains United’s Achilles heel.
Van Gaal knows this. He has explicitly mentioned that United struggle against this approach and that United lack players with pace and the individual ability to break defensive lines. It might explain why United were willing to pay as much as they did for Martial.
As things stand 3rd place is the most realistic position. To make the step up and grab either of the top two spots, integrating Herera and Lingard into the starting XI and helping Depay translate his ability into performances will be will be key to over come the attacking weaknesses.
With Watford starts United’s busy end-of-year period — nine games over five weeks. If positive results continue and United mount their first title challenge in two years, even with a repeat of the performances so far, then the dissent will quickly be doused. This team may not be of the Busby Babes or Sir Alex ilk but Van Gaal is en-route to making United a winning club again, while blooding youth in. That's what his three-year project was always meant to be.
The author writes about internet governance, the Chinese internet space, and China-India relations for various publications. A rabid Manchester United fan, he tweets @DevL18
No comments:
Post a Comment