Going, Going, Gone: Three Reasons Why Manchester United Will Not Make A Famous Comeback This Season

It is January 2014 and Manchester United have lost their first three games of the new year, something which hasn’t happened since 1932, before old Fergie was even born! A struggling manager, injuries to their only sources of goals and a squad struggling for form and confidence, the 2013-14 season has been an absolute nightmare for Manchester  United fans.

However, there is a large degree of belief in the footballing world that United will make things right in the end, limping to a fourth place finish, securing Champions League qualification and strengthening the squad in the summer. However, that plan may look simple on paper but for David Moyes and co., the future isn’t as bright as they hope. Here are three reasons why:

1. Tactics, Shape and Clueless Management

Old Trafford used to be, and still is to some extent through reputation, a fortress where getting three points was more difficult than winning the Rhodes Scholarship. This season has seen Man Utd lose an alarming number of games at home and with the likes of Everton, Newcastle and West Brom achieving unlikely victories there, the usually solid defense has been called into question and rightly so.

Defense as a concept is the responsibility of the whole team in general and the back four are not the only ones charged with protecting the goal. In Wayne Rooney, Man Utd have one of the most tireless players of the game, always chasing back and hounding opponents, because of which injuries to him are proving extremely costly. Javier Hernandez is a completely different type of player and not somebody who can lead the line of attack either. A support striker, he has been found lacking when asked to play up front on his own.

Next, we come to the midfield. David Moyes has continued to apply the traditional 4-4-2 at Manchester United, with emphasis on wingplay, surging midfield runs and a pivot with an eye for a long range pass. In this sense, Michael Carrick is about the only successor to the great Paul Scholes, minus the cracking shot and the tendency for clumsy tackling. Again, another key player for Man Utd out through injury. With a still young Tom Cleverley and technically lacking Phil Jones playing in midfield, United have struggled with their passing accuracy and possession retainment. As for the wingers, it seems as though the likes of Young, Nani and Valencia have come close to the end of their respective careers at United whereas Shinji Kagawa, someone who can do maximum damage drifting infield is being asked to play as a winger, limiting his impact. The lone bright spots for United in this area have been the young Adnan Januzaj and Danny Welbeck with his immense work rate. Counting on these two to carry United to fourth place might just be a bit premature.

Finally, we come to the defense. The area of right back has been a Gary Neville shaped hole ever since the United stalwart’s retirement. Sir Alex Ferguson managed to get the most out of stop gap replacements but Moyes is clearly struggling with that position, having to see himself being forced to use Antonio Valencia there with his power and physicality. The centreback options are similarly limited, having to play either the waning duo of Vidic and Ferdinand or the inconsistent Jonny Evans alongside Phil Jones, leaving a gap in the midfield again. As a consequence, we have seen some goals scored which make the defense look quite mediocre (Morgan Amalfitano must have felt like Messi with his goal at Old Trafford). At left back, one has to wonder if even Patrice Evra will agree that his time is up and he is clearly past his peak. The nippy Frenchman has an uncanny ability to win headers and used to be a pacy option going up front but has clearly accumulated some rust in his engines. That United are looking at 29 year old Leighton Baines as a replacement speaks for itself.

Simply put, these squad deficiencies are a problem that should’ve been remedied in the summer. The same summer in which United splashed a questionable 27.5 million pounds on one Marouane Fellaini who seems to have perfected the art of invisibility. The January transfer window is a chance to repair some of the damage but with United looking weak in the league and struggling to win games, the chance of being an attractive prospect for talented players has gone. With rumours swirling about the exit of Wayne Rooney, Moyes has a sizeable headache to deal with.

2. Ed and Dead Wood

Sir Alex Ferguson was not the only high profile exit from Manchester United in 2013. The new season saw Ed Woordward take over boardroom responsibilities and draw much chagrin from fans as United seems to have struggled in the summer window before going for Fellaini in a move that had “panic buy” written all over it. A similar worry was raised at Arsenal when the long standing David Dein quit the board but they still had Arsene Wenger to steady the ship. Conversely, United have found that two major staff changes are a bit much to deal with.

Anderson, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia. These three players seem to be the easy targets these days for any fan of United to blame their woes on. Anderson seems to have fitness issues and can barely break into the first team, Ashley Young has lately been known more for his struggles with gravity than his goalscoring exploits and Antonio Valencia has suffered an absolutely shocking downturn in form. As Liverpool can tell you through their stellar acquisitions of Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, having non performing players in your squad is about as bad for team spirit and form as it can get. Arsenal themselves sold a raft of players before this season, getting rid of the non performing Gervinho, the demotivated Andrei Arshavin and the non-existent Sebastian Squillaci (does he exist? I want to believe). At least to put the brakes on their horrendous form, United have to get rid of the players who seem to do nothing for them apart from contributing to the wage bill. However they will find out soon enough that moving players who are on astronomical (relatively) wages to clubs without similar financial clout is easier said than done.

 

3. The Greatest Show On Earth

The Premier League this season has been an exhilarating ride. Certainly the most competitive and enjoyable season I have seen since I first started following football. That we go into the new year with the top five so close to each other with their points tally tells you how neck and neck the race for the title and European spots has been. Without assuming too much, it is safe to say that barring an absolute disaster, the top three will comprise of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, the order in which cannot be predicted, maybe even until the last day. This leaves one Champions League spot (which doesn’t guarantee Champions League football yet, but a qualifier berth) up for grabs with Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham competing with Manchester United.

Everton have been a bastion of solid defence this season, showing extreme stinginess with the likes of Distin, Jagielka, Coleman and Baines/Oviedo refusing to let goals through. The presence of the powerhouse Romelu Lukaku up front supplemented by the excellent Ross Barkeley (the find of the season, surely), the talented Gerard Deulofeu and the experienced Gareth Barry behind him. They have their sights set on a tough fight for fourth spot.

Liverpool this season have been in patches of scintillating form until Man City and Chelsea brought them crashing back in the space of one week. Through the likes of Sturridge and Suarez, they will still have their sights set on breaking into that top three and with the form of the toothy forward, writing them off completely is still a hazard to some extent.
Tottenham Hotspur seem to be the easiest threat to deal with for Manchester United what with an inability of their star signings to force themselves on games and a recent managerial change. Then again, they did go to Old Trafford and come back with three points.

So with the problem of tactical inertness, injuries to key players, some heavy dead wood lying around and stiff competition for fourth spot, Manchester United with their current run of form look highly unlikely to make it to the Champions League next year. However, they will hope to overcome Sunderland in the second leg of their Carling Cup tie and win it to qualify for the Europa League or go on a dream run to win the Champions League (which has been shown to be doable by Chelsea under Roberto Di Matteo) but those hopes are, in the opinion of this writer, given the current state of things, extravagant to put it mildly.