Two Changes Moyes Must Do Against Arsenal – Manchester United Fan Column

A remarkable turn of events in the last minute at Old Trafford LEFT David Moyes and his Manchester United side absolutely shell shocked as Darren Bent’s header gave Fulham a remarkable two all draw against the Red Devils. It was Steve Sidwell’s brilliantly timed run and finish that enabled the Cottagers to lead at the Theatre of Dreams before two goals in a matter of minutes ensured that the home side would lead 2-1. Robin Van Persie finished well from close range from Juan Mata’s pass as Micheal Carrick gave the lead following his thunderous shot which took a deflection from Scott Parker. However it was not until the dying stages of the match that Kieran Richardson bursted into space and hits a powerful shot that David De Gea did well to save but the ball dropped onto the head of Darren Bent, who nodded home to send Old Trafford into a state of shock. The result means Fulham close to four points from safety while United are now nine points off a Champions League place and in serious danger of missing out on Europe’s elite competition.

So what went wrong for the Red Devils? There was absolutely no creativity in the middle of the park with the two wingers in Mata and Ashley Young resorting to only crosses from either flanks. United had over 60 crosses (more than 80 overall) but failed to score till 78 minutes, a testament of the lack of quality in the final third. Juan Mata’s whooping transfer was expected to invigorate a faltering campaign but David Moyes has now picked just a point from their last two games against Stoke and Fulham, unlike United-esque.  Mata had an off day while Ashley Young would want to forget this as soon as he can and Darren Fletcher alongside Micheal Carrick didn’t seem to work. Next game against Arsenal is a crucial one. Here are few things Moyes must to do to stand a chance against the gunners,

1. Ashley Young Out Januzaj In

The Englishman had a plethora of chances to deliver incisive balls into the box but failed time and again. Young isn’t that good enough to dart inside using his body strength and Moyes needs to realize that he needs to play Mata in the middle alongside Januzaj and Valencia to get results.Playing Juan Mata in the number ten role carries a lot of thought while Shinji Kagawa is another option. Adanan Januzaj can be played on the right as an inverted winger, using all his pace and trickery to cut inside crate space for others wingbacks overlapping on either flanks.

2. Change of Formation/Tactics

As I had already written, I would play a 4-1-3-2 line up to get the desired three points. 4-4-2 is not working at all. They need to play 4-3-3 sacrificing either Rooney or Mata as we saw how ineffective Mata is on wings. If they don’t want to make this sacrifice then they can try out  4-1-3-2 featuring all three in desired positions but sacrificing a midfield body.

The basis of the double pivot in any classical formation is a passer and destroyer with a creator in the number ten role. Sadly Darren Fletcher and Micheal Carrick are of the same mould but hardly provide anything extra. Both of them are really good sitting deep but they aren’t the sort of players who you need to provide a calm influence in the middle of the pitch and screen the back four as well. Marounne Felliani was brought to address this issue but his injuries did him in.

Another formation to look into  is 3-5-2: To do so, United need to play three centre backs with both of Carrick and Fletcher in the middle and Mata alongside Januzaj and Valencia or Kagawa in the wings with Rooney and Van Persie up front. Whether or not Moyes tinkers with his formation remains to be seen but the Scot is surely running out of time to get his team back on track.