Manchester United: On the Edge of a Knife

Paul Scholes’ frank remarks about being genuinely scared for Manchester United’s long held tradition of success were once again highlighted yesterday with another poor footballing display in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland. I am going to attempt to highlight a number of my personal frustrations with not only this game, but the last few seasons at Old Trafford that have led us here. Despite our impressive preseason that I was equally guilty in celebrating, I truly believe that Man Utd are on the edge of a knife and if we do not arrest this decline urgently, then we will face a number of years in the wilderness.

I want to quickly highlight a few of my own hang ups that date back to Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge in 2012/13. This team won the league by a comfortable 11 points and according to many, even myself, were handed in pristine condition to David Moyes the following season. How was it that this same team went from 1^st to 7^th in a single year?

2012/13 saw the end of Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City reign, a season in which they truly self-imploded, notably the 3-1 defeat to Southampton which effectively ended their serious effort to reclaim the title. Mancini was replaced by Manuel Pellegrini at the end of season amid reports he had lost the dressing room, a fact that all Manchester United fans doing their best to hide their glee, unaware what we would later face under David Moyes’ tenure. Chelsea, meanwhile were facing their own managerial problems with Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto di Matteo and Rafa Benitez all attempting to put their own mark on the team that was a disorganised mess until Jose Mourinho’s return in 2013/14.

With this in mind, despite Sir Alex’s sterling management of what we now know is a very poor team, I truly believe that the failings of our rivals was the main reason for our runaway success in 2012/13. However, in Pellegrini and Mourinho, as well as the re-emergence of Liverpool under Rodgers, our rivals have not only strengthened on the pitch, but the boardroom scraps that held them back in the past look firmly put to rest. Coupled with our own managerial upheaval this has been, in my mind, the most obvious reason for our recent demise.

Robin van Persie. After losing the title on goal difference in 2011/12, we did what proved to be the decisive factor in winning the following season. We bought the league’s top scorer. Robin van Persie’s 26 league goals, and notably his hat-trick against Aston Villa, the game in which we secured the title, were clearly crucial. However, last season under Moyes, and even yesterday against Sunderland, admittedly lacking match sharpness, van Persie looked uninterested and was in the physio room for large periods of last season.

Before joining Man Utd, we had already signed Shinji Kagawa, with the idea to play him at football’s most glamorous position, the Number 10 (more on this later). I’ve only really seen Kagawa play an effective role in this position once, during which he scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Norwich and seemingly pulled the strings, as one wants from your Number 10. However, it is interesting to note that he scored 2 of those goals, before Rooney added the fourth, after van Persie had been substituted by Welbeck.

The reason I bring this up is twofold.

First, van Persie’s arrival was at the expense of Kagawa. It was only well after Kagawa had joined us that we learned of van Persie’s availability with the frontrunners for his signature being us, Juventus and City. If City had van Persie in 2012/13 I’m certain they would have run away with the league that season. While signing van Persie looked a shrewd decision then, it has caused an imbalance in the team, not only to Kagawa but also to Welbeck, who’s lack of goals that season (1 in the league) continue to be held against him, despite his more impressive return when in his favoured central position, not buffeted out onto the left. His goal return in other seasons, while not prolific, is acceptable for a third choice striker.

The second reason is that I don’t feel playing Rooney (seemingly undroppable under Moyes and now as captain under van Gaal) and van Persie mean that to play a Number 10, whether Kagawa or Mata, is next to impossible. We are simply not mobile enough with those players as an option. Number 10’s need fast players to stretch the play, giving them more time on the ball and options. Welbeck answers these problems and allows a Number 10 more creativity with his movement but with both Rooney and van Persie lacking in pace, the Number 10 is irrelevant, forced to knock sideways passes, as we have seen in the games already this season.

So, while van Persie’s signing helped win us the league in 11/12, it has come at the expense of Welbeck and Kagawa and if we continue to pair him and Rooney up front with Mata at 10, we will have the same lack of movement in the final third, especially as we lack quality wingers.

Look, David Moyes was clearly overwhelmed with top level management and it’s sad that his stock will have fallen so drastically after his sacking (which was handled appallingly) but from our performances under van Gaal so far, I see very little difference. While we have lost 3 of our core defenders, and defence is an issue I will come to, I’m seeing the exact same boring, turgid style of football that left me resenting David Moyes and joining the mob, calling for his sacking. It’s funny to note that during our dark periods last season, fans were begging Moyes to bring Kagawa, Hernandez, Nani and Zaha into the team to change our approach yet there are few fans who would want to see those players start for us this season.

Yes, Moyes was out of his depth but I think the myriad of issues I’ve raised above go a lot further in explaining why we dropped from 1^st to 7^th in one season thant Moyes ineptitude as a manager. He wasn’t the right choice, he made bad substitutions but so far nothing I’ve seen from van Gaal seems to have changed our style. I don’t even care about the result so long as we look like we’re trying to play football. Lumping long balls up to Fellaini against Swansea was embarrassing, and I can only hope it was van Gaal’s way of letting the Glazers and Ed Woodward know that we need major reinforcements to this team.

I do feel van Gaal is the right man for the job, unlike Moyes. His adventure with the Dutch national team at the world cup, despite their relatively limited squad, took apart Spain and Brazil and played entertaining football against Australia and Mexico and I think with a few more players he can deliver a brand of entertaining attacking football.

I read a lot of noticeboards and forums, listen to a few podcasts. Even the most optimistic fans have conceded that we will not win the league this season but many talk about our rivals, “while City and Chelsea have reinforced, there’s no reason we can’t be up there with Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs this season.” I find this laughable. All of those teams possess better squads than we currently do in all but a few areas. The most depressing thing about our performance against Sunderland wasn’t Sunderland held on to a point, but that we came out of the game with anything at all. Sunderland didn’t even play well, but our midfield play was abysmal and I genuinely thought at times we would be caught out, and if it wasn’t for Connor Wickham’s poor finishing (after a very skillful touch to bring it back over Michael Keane) it would have meant another loss for us. We were hassled by Will Buckley, contained by Lee Cattermole and easily kept out by Wes Brown and John O’Shea (two players we could do with considering our injury crisis at the moment!).

Scholes believes we need 5 players. Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Raphael Varane, Angel di Maria and Mats Hummels. Well, Varane and Hummels are simply not available, neither team needs to sell and Hummels has explicitly stated he will remain at Dortmund. With the arrival of Marcos Rojo, who I know very little about, we may be able to strike one defender off the list, if the rest of our defenders can stay injury free and one of Tyler Blackett and Michael Keane can establish themselves as squad players. Of the two, I originally thought Michael Keane was the better player but Blackett’s ability to fit into van Gaal’s 352 system has surprised many of us. However, it’s all well and good having solid games against Swansea and Sunderland but up against top quality, pacey attackers I think both may struggle.

Many have questioned if Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling can produce the goods in defence. I’m still not completely convinced in the case of Smalling but if the defence is protected by a strong midfield, you don’t need defenders like Vidic making last ditch tackles, especially if you can hold onto the ball, something which Carrick and Herrera are both capable of. If you look at Barcelona’s defensive pairing of Pique and Mascherano, neither are good tackling centre backs but are good on the ball and anticipate danger. Bayern Munich also played large periods last season with Jerome Boateng (who was a liability at times at City) and Javi Martinez at centre backs but with a strong midfield their defensive frailties were limited. The main problem is not whether they are good enough, but if they can stay fit for an entire season?

Maybe we do need 5 as Scholes says, but realistically I think 3 would be a push and that includes Rojo as one of the defensive options. Marcos Rojo, Arturo Vidal, Angel di Maria. However, if Evans/Smalling/Jones can’t stay fit through the season then another centre back simply must be looked at. Both Benatia and Daley Blind have been sounded out as additional cover.

While Herrera looked a cut above the rest of our midfield in preseason, the only game I really saw him look a world beater was against LA Galaxy, hardly the toughest opposition. I think Herrera will be a great player for us but I think a few fans are going overboard in their estimations of him but this may be fair considering he cost more than Fabregas and Toni Kroos (two players who both rejected us this season). Rojo too, just because he has an exciting foreign sounding name doesn’t mean we should expect great things from him. Considering our choices were either him or Vermaelen I’m not expecting him to become our domineering new centre half.

Vidal and Di Maria would be exceptional purchases. The financial climate in Italian football means teams can’t hold onto their prize assets like other clubs can so the likelihood of Vidal leaving is possible. He is a beast, quite simply and would add some force into our midfield we have not had since Roy Keane left. I’ve wanted Vidal at United for last two years and see him as the player we desperately need.

Di Maria would also be a fantastic player, comfortable on the ball, good passer and adds pace. He enjoyed his finest season in Madrid last year but with the arrival their shiny new toy, James Rodriguez, he has been pushed further down the pecking order, despite his work rate and teamwork while Ronaldo and Bale bomb forward.

It came into even sharper focus (as if it needed to be) against Sunderland that our midfield was woeful. Fletcher’s control was dreadful, Cleverley looked frightened when he had the ball and other players would often elect a more difficult option over passing to him. I thought van Gaal may be able to turn Cleverley into a decent squad player but he is simply not cut out for this level of football and it was frightening how out of place he looked. As vice-captain, Fletcher’s influence in the dressing room should remain for now especially with the loss of senior players.

While it’s been talked about all summer, I’ll quickly echo who should be joining Cleverley in the exit queue. Anderson is obvious, despite training with the first team since his return from Fiorentina, he’s deadwood and hopefully we can find a buyer. Talk of a £5.5 million move to join Nani at Sporting Lisbon sounds incredibly optimistic but if true we should be biting their hands off. As with Nani, we would most probably have to cover a large part of his wages for the next year of his contract. The Nani deal seems frustrating as despite his large wage (which we will be picking up for the duration of the loan), he was one of the few players who may have any potential sell on fee, a factor that has been sharply highlighted with Man Utd’s high net spend over the past five seasons.

Marouane Fellaini is another player who needs to be moved on quickly, hopefully his wage and current injury status won’t put potential buyers off, as he clearly doesn’t fit the system. While a personal favourite of mine, Javier Hernandez, should move on (especially if it’s a choice between him and Welbeck) for the sake of his career and international future. He’s a supremely talented goal scorer but is a very one dimensional player. He’s entering the supposed peak of his career and would command a decent transfer fee considering his goal return. He currently looks bereft of confidence and a move would suit all parties. While I would personally keep both Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young as squad players, on the condition that they are expected to maintain a certain degree of form and are both on their very last chances, I would move Wilfried Zaha on, either on loan or a permanent deal. While there is some talent in him, his attitude is poor and he will struggle as a wingback. Anders Lindegaard is seemingly set to join Celtic in a bid to find first team football, he’s been a solid back up to De Gea and I for one wish him the best.

I would even consider shipping out Rafael. Unlike many, I have no issues with his defensive discipline but his form last season was poor if we can take the chance to sell him for a considerable sum to a team like PSG who seem set on completing a Brazilian back four (Thiago Silva, Luiz, Marquinhos). I’d hate to see us stuck with a player like Nani, just hoping he can rediscover his form. We’ve hung onto players for far too long when they have underperformed. If we did sell Rafael, then we would have to add another signing as we have no other right back options.

Some final points about yesterday’s game with Sunderland concerning our front three. As mentioned previously with Kagawa, Mata’s role as a Number 10 is completely ineffectual with the combination of a midfield unable to retain possession and forwards who lack mobility. Our lack of decent wingers also highlights his deficiencies to this team. A great player though he is, Mata is a serious case of a square peg in a round hole when we already have Rooney, Kagawa and Januzaj. There is simply no point in having a luxury player like Mata if all he is able to do is knock the ball sideways. As I have mentioned already, Welbeck replacing van Persie and Januzaj’s addition against Swansea helped Mata as they spread out the game, otherwise he looks like an ordinary player at best who offered little. His goal hides the fact he has been anonymous in both games. Van Persie was lacking match fitness but I still thought he had little to know impact on the game, meanwhile Rooney seems to have lost the ability to shoot from outside the area, where so many of his goals have come from in the past.

In short, I feel the next two weeks will be make or break for both van Gaal and Man Utd. Without a doubt, van Gaal is a better manager than Moyes but if we do not mount a serious challenge for Europe this season, it will be a long time before we make it back. It is public knowledge that next seasons Adidas sponsor will be considerably less without European football, making it harder and harder to attract top quality names while Chelsea, Manchester City and the rest get stronger and stronger. Rojos is a decent start but we definitely need more players to arrive in the next two weeks, Swansea and Sunderland make a strong case for that.