The Manchester United conundrum

By Vance Abreu / Roar Rookie

The arrival of coaching sensation Jose Mourinho signified the start of a new era for the illustrious club that is Manchester United.

After three torrid years under David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal, United floundered; struggling for both domestic and continental success. The period dubbed the ‘Post Sir Alex era’ reaped a mere three titles – two Community shields and an F.A Cup.

Widely regarded as a failed period in United’s history, Louis van Gaal and Moyes both placed an emphasis on youth talent. A mixture of injuries and experimentation resulted in the likes of Marcus Rashford, Adnan Januzaj and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson emerging as potential top tier players.

However the hiring of Mourinho has indicated United’s impatience to rebuild and their desire to win now.

Mourinho gained a reputation for stunting the growth of young players as he sought out experienced, world-class talent in order to have short-term success, sacrificing the long=term stability and development of his previous clubs.

Youth players such as Luis Barker, Nathan Ake and Javi Garcia have all had their careers stunted to an extent due to this regime. United youngsters will also be likely to struggle.

Mourinho only intends of carrying a playing squad of 24 people. The squad will most likely feature the following:

Goalkeepers
David De Gea and Sergio Romero

Defenders
Antonio Valencia, Matteo Darmian, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind

Midfielders
Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Ashely Young, Morgan Schneiderlin, Henrik Mkhitaryan, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini

Forwards
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay

The squad above will result in studs such as Andrea Pereira, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Axel Tuanzebe missing out on frequent game time at the premier league level unless they reluctantly are loaned out.

Furthermore, as the squad is assessed in depth it becomes apparent that United’s star power is featured heavily in similar positions.

The combination of Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Martial and Depay will all not be able to share the pitch together without becoming a defensive liability.

The issue wouldn’t be heightened if United featured a pair of experience elite centre backs.

Smalling, now 25, will have to assume a leadership role at the back as he is most likely to be partnered with 21-year-old Eric Bailly.

Along with Bailly, Shaw and Darmian creates a youthful defence that was torn apart at time last year’s against the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham.

Don’t be fooled by United’s league-best 35 goals conceded. The defence was inconsistent and lacklustre frequently through the year with only the heroics of De Gea preventing multiple embarrassing losses.

United’s failure to focus on improving their defence will be highlighted multiple times during the year, especially with both Fosu-Mensah and Borthwick-Jackson showing a lot of potential last season it seems necessary that Mourinho exposes both players to frequent top flight football in United’s system.

In conjunction Rashford will have his minutes up front slashed exponentially due to Ibrahimović’s arrival.

Mourinho will deploy a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 meaning Rashford’s minutes will come out wide; a position he is unfamiliar with.

In essence, Rashford’s development will also be stunted. After his breakout year and solid performances for England, United should have emphasised on building the attack around Rashford and Martial respectively.

The signings of Mkhitaryan and Pogba were smart and suited the direction United was heading in however the Ibrahimovic signing is somewhat of the opposite.

There is no doubt he will dominate in England and provide Manchester with domestic success but fans of the game and the club must question if this short-term signing is really worth the potential long-term repercussions it may have.

The Crowd Says:

AUTHOR

2016-08-13T04:12:28+00:00

Vance Abreu

Roar Rookie


Thats a good point you make. His willingness to coach them may make here a long term stay for him and have some emphasis on the youth

2016-08-13T03:30:23+00:00

Andy

Guest


The difference though is that Jose has wanted to coach at Man United for at least a decade, he has made no secret of that. I am optimistic that he will be looking more long term than he has at other clubs. I agree Zlatan will only be there a few seasons at best but he is the type of player who is so damn arrogant that that certainty of winning will rub off on the other players aswell, i think that will be more important than any short term trophies he delivers. He is not Cantona but he is in that mold and Cantonas legacy wasnt so much the trophies it was the certainty of the players that Man United meant winning.

AUTHOR

2016-08-12T03:32:00+00:00

Vance Abreu

Roar Rookie


Yeah exactly. He's great at leaving massive holes in a club which could happen to United sooner rather than later

2016-08-12T02:14:04+00:00

r king

Guest


History suggests you are right. Jose is there for one reason only, to win the EPL and again history suggests he will in his first season, I'm sure that by Christmas next year there will be talk of his sacking as the massive ego's he has there will start to unwind. Youth development is not high on his agenda, that Will be left up to others as he is there to win trophies. Something he is good at.

Read more at The Roar