David Moyes has now steadied the Old Trafford ship after
some troublesome waters thanks to the Premiership fixture list. Since that defeat to West Brom, United are
unbeaten in 9. Although the performances have not been glamorous majority of
the time, they have been somewhat effective. Many people speculated as to how
United would change under Moyes and if truth be told looking at the statistics,
not that much has changed in terms of style.
Last season United struggled in wide areas, for the first
time under Ferguson the strength of United was not out in the flanks. Moyes did
not make any recruitment in the wide areas so this has been a regular pattern
of play for United. Rooney and Van Persie are the focal points of the team,
both the main sparks and the main threat for United.
Whatever happened between Moyes and Rooney it is clear to
see that Rooney is galvanized. He and Van Persie have had almost identical
patterns this season. Both have played 10 games in the league with 1 appearance
coming from the bench. Van Persie with 7 goals has 2 more than Rooney, but
Rooney has 2 more assists than Van Persie. According to whoscored.com the five
best domestic performers for United have been Evra, Rooney, Van Persie, Januzaj
and Vidic.
One thing that immediately strikes you is the absence of
midfielders from the top 5. This again was a pattern last season under
Ferguson. Manchester United’s midfield strength now comes from their ability to
hold onto possession. This allows United to see out narrow leads through
defence by ball possession. Michael
Carrick has no assists so far, but last season was his best in a United jersey.
He has developed into a very clever player, breaking up the game through
interceptions thanks to his clever positional sense. This season he is
averaging 4 interceptions per game which is the second highest in the league.
Carrick also is second this season in the average passes league, hitting on
average 77 per game, 5 behind Yaya Toure. With Carrick now out for a few weeks
Manchester United have a slight problem, and they may by relying on Darren
Fletcher returning ahead of schedule or else Fellaini finally settling. In
Cleverly United have a clever (pardon the pun) passer who is capable of
retaining possession for his side through shorter less ambitious passes. With a
pass completion of 89.7% he is United’s most accurate passer this season.
What next for United? With each game they win confidence
grows for United. The win against Arsenal threw them straight back into the
title race and with the experience held by the United squad you wouldn’t bet
against them being contenders. Undoubtedly Moyes will be given time to build
his team, if he is to continue with the 4-4-2 come 4-4-1-1 formation he favours
then he will have to identify targets to improve United’s creativity out wide.
United are too reliant on Van Persie and Rooney creating their own chances and
working together without much more forward support. In a few of the big games
this season the likes of Kagawa, Young, Valencia and Nani have been ineffective
and this has handicapped United. Many fans grumble about the lack of creative
quality centrally but it is actually working well for United, with two
disciplined players they are getting control of games. They have had half a
percent less average possession than Arsenal this season and more than
Liverpool, so midfield control of games as well as that match winning strike
force is by far Moyes’ greatest strength. Consistency, confidence and smart recruitment
out wide should provide a good platform for the future at Old Trafford.
The solution: sign Carlos Mane!! well maybe?
ReplyDeleteHe's only 19 but looks promising.