Everyone who’s everyone is having their say on the issues that Manchester United are currently facing, so here’s my view.
Most pundits are pointing to the back three or four as the problem area, but I would argue the defensive frailties are simply a by-product of what’s happening further up the pitch, in midfield.
A glaring issue against Leicester was United continually getting overrun in midfield, due to the side lacking a strong presence in the centre of the park.
Louis van Gaal’s line-up featured Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie playing as a front pair, with Wayne Rooney in behind as a number 10. The midfield was then Angel Di Maria on the left, Ander Herrera on the right and Daley Blind central, in a holding role.
This is where the problem lies. We saw just how lethal United can be when they attack, but Van Gaal will soon learn that attack alone won’t win him the Premier League. Jose Mourinho knows best that the Premier League is about picking up points. It’s a marathon where every game counts.
The United side is too heavily weighted towards attack.
Against Leicester they couldn’t hold the middle and were consequently overrun. Their defence was stretched from there, allowing the Foxes to isolate the defenders and pick Manchester apart.
It works both ways too. Not only is having someone solid in a central role important in defence, but also going forward.
Esteban Cambiasso showed that against United. He was the focal point in midfield through which everything passed. As soon as possession was turned over, the ball found its way to the Argentinian and away Leicester went.
Blind can play the holding role, but he is certainly not as much of a presence as someone like Nemanja Matic or Yaya Toure.
Blind is versatile and it’s one position he can cover, but during the World Cup he wasn’t even playing there for Holland. You also have to remember he’s new to the Premier League and it’s a significant step up from the Dutch Eredivisie, in terms of quality, pace and intensity.
I am a huge fan of Matic and the role he plays. He’s a big strong body and he has great distribution, which helps with the fundamental rule of football – win the ball first, then you can use it.
The midfield battle is often overlooked in football and its growing increasingly important, given the tendency for managers to play with a single striker and pack the central areas.
United simply haven’t got the balance right.
Rooney does offer something as a number 10, but he’s a striker and we all know how much they like tracking back. He will work for you, but his setting is firmly switched to goals, and it’s the same for Falcao and Van Persie.
Di Maria can play in the front line, and he wasn’t exactly known for his love of defensive work at Real Madrid, and Herrera is also an attacking minded midfielder.
Blind can’t do the job alone. The question is, who do they turn to?
Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher are options, perhaps even Phil Jones, but they still don’t offer you a strong physical presence that’s going to hold the centre of the park, win you the ball and distribute.
Marouane Fellaini could be an option in that role given his size, but Van Gaal has already indicated that he’s not entirely a fan of the Belgian, and we already know what United fans think.
If United can somehow find a solution and plug the gap until January, then they have the attacking firepower to win plenty of games.
Come the window they may take another look at Arturo Vidal, who is exactly the type of player they need. If I was shopping for someone I’d go for Daniele De Rossi, but I don’t know how keen Roma would be to sell, nor De Rossi to leave. Realistically, Vidal is probably the best bet.
Van Gaal has forced himself into playing Rooney as his number 10, given the plethora of options he has with Van Persie, Falcao and the England captain in the mix. But playing with a number 10 is a luxury.
Often the role has cover placed in behind, sometimes with two screeners to provide protection, or the attacking midfielder sitting at the top of a diamond.
Sides that use it best are those that command the midfield, dictating the game and enjoying the bulk of possession. At the moment that’s not United. This is the first lesson Van Gaal and United must learn.
At the end of the day, it’s not how many goals you score, it’s how many points are next to your name come the end of May.
Mourinho is often criticised for his negative mindset, which is tailored with the above philosophy in mind, but you only have to look at the Special One’s trophy cabinet to see that it works.
KD
Guest
So what if he does!
Radelaide
Guest
Yeah I read to same rational in one of the English papers the other week in that there is no Scholes or Keane to control the middle.
Fadida
Guest
Liverpool appear to be shot. Weak squad lacking depth, at the back and up front. United only have to sort out the back :)
Doug Graves
Guest
It's going to be close and could come down to a point or 2 or even goal diff but I'm tipping Liverpool to scrape into 4th this season (and then hopefully lose the CL playoff!)
Fadida
Guest
Who's finishing 4th. City, Chelsea, Arsenal and ? Not Liverpool :)
Albo
Guest
I can't agree with putting the blame on the midfield ! The back four had very little to do last week, but what they had to do, they completely stuffed up ! It was schoolboy standard errors ! But we have seen it all now for a year or more ! The decline of Ferdinand & Vidic has been coming for a couple of years, and has never been addressed with appropriate replacements and the fullback role at MU has basically excluded any one with an ability to defend ! It has been all about attacking priority for MU fullbacks for years ! Guys like Evra were great attacking fullbacks but were regularly caught out in defence. And the current crop of expected replacement defenders are riddled with major deficiencies. The likes of Jonny Evans, Smalling, Jones & Rafael each have a major blunder in them each game , and it appears the one "newbie" defender they actually spent a quid on , Rojo, is out of the same mould ! Sorry, you can't blame the midfield for the continual poor performances of the back four ! The Club is to blame , as it has prioritised its spending around its marketing of themselves as the promoters of the attacking game and have splurged on such players, and ignored the woeful predicament they have across the back four and the dodgy goalkeeper ( who will surely be found out even more under the current defensive set up ) .
Doug Graves
Guest
It's been hilarious to watch the United train wreck over the last 18 months but I still think United will recover to finish 5th this season. Fourth place looks to be just out of reach after this comical start but in the short term I'm hoping the Hammers park the bus this weekend and continue United's misery!
Mice
Guest
At the moment it's great being a Foxes fan. I will bask in the glory, until the next game anyway!
Fadida
Guest
Agree, good post
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
As LVG said in the post-game press conference, United threw it away because they couldn't keep possession when they were 3-1 up. A team that plays well enough to earn a 3-1 lead should be able to play at a similar level to maintain it. The problem at the moment, as I see it, is not a personnel or technical one, it's a mental issue. The goals conceded against Swansea on the opening day were because midfield players didn't track their direct opponents. I haven't seen the second half of the game against Leicester but LVG claim about not keeping possession can come down to two things; Leicester putting United under more pressure by giving them less time on the ball or United switching-off mentally. I'm inclined to agree with LVG as he has a track record that suggests that he knows what he's talking about. Having said that, United under Ferguson were so mentally tough that such a result almost never happened (I can only recall two capitulations against Everton in the season where Man City won the title on goal difference).
Fadida
Guest
I have to say that it's fun being a United fan again :) Give me a 5-3 loss over the 1-0 defeat that Moyes would have produced, with 10 men behind the ball, terrified to play Football is supposed to thrill and entertain, and boy was that an entertaining game :)
Nicholas Hartman
Roar Guru
It's pretty ridiculous to say the midfield is at fault, when Jamie Vardy, playing out wide, was man of the match. Both of Ulloa's goals came from attacks down the right hand side (first goal, I think it was Cambiasso who lobbed a long ball over the head of Rojo), and the first Leicester penalty came from Vardy harassing Rafael, on the left hand side of Leicester's attack. I can't account for the other two goals, because I don't really remember them. It was clear that the defence struggled. Phil Jones, the best defender by far, was out injured, and so too was Jonny Evans, the most senior MU defender at only 26 (or something), and the only reason Evans is at the club is because he's homegrown. Luke Shaw was on the bench, unfit (according to LVG). So for most of the game, MU had Rafael, Smalling, Blackett and Rojo as their defence. As has been shown by Burnleh and Leicester, a solid, drilled defence accustomed to each other is far more effective than a defence, whilst made of up better individuals, that is new to each other. QPR have bought 75% of their back four over the summer (Caulker, Ferdinand, Isla) and look how that's going for them.(although I don't think Redknapp has a good defensive record as manager anyway) So on Sunday, MU had a bloke who is a centre-back and probably cant speak English that well playing on the left (Rojo), a talented 18-yo with 6 appearances (Blackett), one of those perpetually-potentially-great players (Smalling), who I don't think is that good, and brainsnap-prone Rafael, who unsurprisingly brainsnapped after Vardy riled him up. MU let Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra go in the summer, who together have accumulated about a hundred years of life experience and probably a thousand top-flight, Champions League and international appearances. They left the club for probably a total of £8m. Noone in kind was brought into the club to replace these three stalwarts. MU were looking at Hummels, but no transfer eventuated. This a huge reason why there was such a defensive collapse, there was no defensive leadership. It was intriguing that LVG didn't attempt to dissuade Leicester's tactics by reverting to a 4-5-1 or something similar, attacking down the wings in order to force Vardy back and to take advantage of the lack of width in Leicester's diamond midfield, a formation that mirrored MU's. Furthermore, it was mystifying as to why LVG removed Falcao and not RVP or Rooney, especially as the wee Scouser had been shutout of the game by Cambiasso. In regards to your other points about the midfield, Di Maria WAS regarded well for his midfield running at Real Madrid, especially as he had to change his game in order to accommodate Real's horde of wingers and AMs. His Champions League Final MotM is testament to his dedication, attitude and commitment to the team. It's also frankly ridiculous that you'd think Daniele De Rossi would be a good buy from Roma, I'm guessing you're naming him because he's rated well in FIFA or something. The bloke's 30 years old, MU have for a long while followed the policy to only buy young players with potential sell-on value. To add onto that, Vidal is 28 and injury prone. He wasn't fit at the World Cup because he was rushed backed from a long-term knee injury, or something. And finally, its utter utter bollocks saying that LVG has to learn how the Premier League works, like Mourinho knows how. This bloke has been to 3 Champions League finals, and has won La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Eredivisie. Oh, and he steered a 6/10 Netherlands team to 3rd place at the World Cup, whatever. TL;DR (too long, didn't read, old folks): It woz defence's fault, innit
Fadida
Guest
Blackett has less than 10 senior games, while Rojo is new to the league. It took both Evra and Vidic half a season before they looked up to standard. Given there is a new manager with a new system of play I think it's fair to say that the players had a) previously not played together much as a unit b) are adjusting to a new style ( and are now a 4 rather than a 3 or 5 at the back.) Agree wholeheartedly that the team should have been built from the back I suspect LVG was expecting a Hummels type signing. The lack of shape in transition is a glaring problem. The fullbacks need to be high but the opposite side fullback is too high, meaning any loss of possession takes them right out, as shown by the 2nd penalty. Blind also needs to be a little deeper to fill in between the centre backs as they split Blackett has certainly struggled with both decision making and positional play. For the 4th goal he should have jockeyed rather than overcommitting allowing Vardy to be picked out far too easily. The lack of leadership is obvious. Vidic organising that team would make an enormous difference. Expect a big defensive signing in January
Fadida
Guest
Agree re Van Persie. He looks like a player in serious decline.
Alex
Guest
there was one once... Pogba. He is the one i would go for, especially ahead of people like vidal and even ronaldo with their injury problems.
Johnno
Guest
Man United back room needs a whole lot of rejigging, there board and governance structures and there management set up are out of date. Van Gaal can just coach he's not the back room.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
What they need is an Eric Cantona but there's only one and he no longer plays football. They need a bloke who galvanizes his troops, the club and the supporters.
Batou
Guest
One of my favorite players ever and I'm no United fan. Scholes was pure class but without the pretention of so many star players and he wasn't afraid of working hard either. From reading the article and comments above though it sounds like they could do with another Keano!
AZ_RBB
Guest
What I should've said is the backline of Rojo, Blackett, Rafael and Jones/Smalling have had limited time to work together at this level. But that was not excuse for their performance on Sunday. Regardless, I have no issue with sticking with some of these players. I believe they'll come good sooner rather than later. I remember Rafael played in that role last season for a game or two. I can't for the life of me remember how he went. But I remember it was the reason Paul Pogba left. But I doubt Rafael's passing vision would be close to what Scholes possessed but maybe with time and experience he'll improve.
j binnie
Guest
AZ -Whilst agreeing wholeheartedly with your 'midfield" observations I would question your "young defender" statement. The back four that started v Leicester were aged Rafael 24, Evans 26, Blackett 19, and Rojo 24,Not only are their ages not so 'young" but their experience at United is even more surprising,Rafael 6yrs,Evans 8yrs,Blackett 12 yrs,and of course Rojo, a new signing, but a full international for his country. Add to that the substitute Smalling 25,and at United for 4 yrs,and the injured Jones 22, at United for 3 yrs, it can hardly be said (1) they are "young" and (2) They have not have time to learn each others playing styles. No AZ, I am afraid there are other positions to be filled. Re. your Scholes observation,again I agree but wonder why a non stop,knock em down ,tireless worker like Rafael should not be tried in the ball winning role allowing Blind to play in his "international" position as an attacking full back!!!! Your thoughts???? jb