For the best part of the two decades gone by, Domination was their second nature, Old Trafford their fortress, nigh impregnable, Comebacks their way of life. Enough of living in this bygone glory. The shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson’s regime still lingers on in this post SAF era Manchester United.
The Decline
It doesn’t take a football expert or some psychic to tell you that a downfall was around the corner. It also doesn’t take a lot to say United are not the same without The Boss. But not many could have predicted such a decline in the performance. The Theatre of Dreams suddenly seems to fulfill the dreams of the visitors (magnanimous nature of the Red Devils). Five “mid-table” teams have come here and got 3/3.
Manchester United has always been known for their style of play with exceptional talent along the flanks and down the middle as well. The long diagonal balls along with their pacey wingers cut through defences like a knife goes through butter. Currently, this has been the key concern.
Manchester United’s wings have been clipped by other teams and this stays true in its literal sense as it does figuratively. The number of crosses that either hit opposition defenders (read intercept) or that have been into StretfordEnd is as great as the number of empty seats at Old Trafford.
The saddest part, both these numbers do not look like decreasing at the moment. Manchester United has the most number of attempted crosses at 429 (and counting) with an accuracy of around 18%.
Apart from this, the likes of Valencia and Young among others, have wasted possession in the final third, rather easily, predictably and consistently. Losing possession nearly 3000 times in 2013/14, they have put too much pressure on the defenders who have had to clear the ball nearly 800 times.
Surprisingly, it has been young Adnan Januzaj (who already has a well earned chant to his name) along with the full backs, who have produced a semblance of quality from the wide areas.
Young has been poor, Valencia rather one dimensional and mechanical in his approach. Barring the occasional moments of brilliance, they have been a failure.
In the two illustrations, it is evident that the full backs have had more influence than Valencia. Cleverley has been exposed quite a lot in the absence of midfield stalwarts. It has gone to Rooney to do the distribution, of which he is doing an impeccable job.
Because of this sub standard wide display, the full backs are under immense pressure and this pressure can be seen when teams exploit the hole in the left side which Patrice Evra has failed to cover. Infact most of the goals or the goal-making moments have started from the left side.
IS THERE A COMEBACK FROM THIS?
Clearly the wider players lack luster. In all the matches, united showed glimpses of their attacking prowess when the likes of Welbeck, Kagawa, Rooney and, in rare occasions, Cleverley played swift, incisive, one touch passes between the lines and defender’s legs (Indicated by the red triangles).
David Moyes, apart from the obvious improvements in resources currently available, needs to make certain changes. There is no need for a major revolution but a slight tweak in the approach to the game. Just like Liverpool did in the aftermath of Suarez’s arrival and many other teams. The play needs to be more central to put pressure on the defenses and open them up.
The likes of Cleverley, Kagawa and Welbeck have been improving, some at a snail’s pace and others at a faster pace. The players also need that extra bit of edge. Just like the case of Fernando Torres, in the limited number of games he has had an impact this year. He was direct, with lots of desire and a streak of passion about him. It is this bit of passion and hunger that Manchester United players need to show.
Ultimately, everyone needs to remember Fergie’s last speech as a manager at OT.
All the stats are taken from starinsights
P.S: The article was written prior to Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Swansea! The Red Devils are just two points behind Liverpool at seventh place, who have a game in hand.