Is there anything wrong with Manchester United's 'long-ball' obsession?

Manchester United have been dubbed as a ‘boring’ team in the post-Ferguson era. It can be critically blamed on the club’s poor domestic performance in the Premier League as United have failed to finish in the top three since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. These “so-called” poor performances can be solely derived from the tactical changes in the team and one of the most noticeable change, as seen on pitch, is the frequent use of long-balls.

The evident reason for United’s poor domestic goal-scoring record in 2016/17 (when United scored only 54 goals in the Premier League) is because of the “long ball” obsession as opined by numerous football pundits.

Managers such as Sam Allardyce and Pep Guardiola have further commented on United’s obsession to play the ball long and that has sort of taken the attention away from United’s domestic form prior to the preposterous loss to Championship side, Bristol City which showed the former holders of the League Cup the exit door.

“You could argue United played more long balls, and why wouldn’t they? They’ve got power and pace and if they can get those players ahead of the ball with good accuracy, they’ve got pace and power to burn,” said Hughes after the Potters drew to United 2-2 at Bet365 stadium.

Manchester United have always been known as a team who play attacking football until Ferguson left as the manager. In the recent past, the number of goals have reduced drastically as opposed to the Ferguson era but that cannot be blamed to tactical change only (opposing the views of pundits) as players have left and new ones have often come in. The alteration of the squad depth has further put United’s play in turmoil. This season, it can be seen that Mourinho’s tactical shrewdness has come to work as United have already scored 39 goals in the Premier League. Then why such absurd talk?

It will be ridiculous to conclude that United play the “most” long balls. Depicted by league statistics, United have played 1,176 long balls and stand 12th in line for the most number of long passes played this season. Albeit, United stand in the bottom half, they have more long passes than Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City who occupy the last 4 positions. It seems fit, to pay no heed to managers, pundits and those who slander Mourinho for his tactics as, though United were shown the exit gate in the League Cup, they stand in second position in the Premier League and have reached the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League – the best United have performed since Ferguson’s retirement.

The use of long balls though may seem very boring to watch as the probability of winning the ball back is minuscule, it has been rather fruitful this season. Mourinho can see every reason to implement the same in every match. Firstly, United house a team of giants as the average height of the team stands at 6ft. Furthermore, the pace of the likes of Martial and Rashford gives United an added advantage in the flanks to receive the ball from the knockdown. Lastly, due to the high work rate in midfield, the rate of recovery becomes high.

These have made it rather evident as to why such “long-balls” are being played on the pitch.

The condemnation of the fans to see more goals being scored has further made United vulnerable to mudslingers. Therefore, it’s best to leave Mourinho to his plans as its only December and United are at least competing at the top of the table after the great Ferguson era.