Stats can be misleading. Even more so at the beginning of a season. Like the stat that showed Manchester United with nine points from three matches played in the 2016/17 Premier League - won three, lost none, drawn none, six goals scored, one conceded, goal difference of plus five. And if you happen to be Manchester United, you are in bed with hyperbole, whether you like it or not, real or imaginary. Title contenders one minute, crisis talks the next. Home run every time to hardly making first base.
United's scoring exploits came to a halt against their city rivals from across town, whose scoring run has turned out to be more legit and long lasting so far. That defeat set in motion a horrendous eleven days that saw them come up short twice more, failing to perform as expected against moderate opposition, losing to Feyenoord in the Europa League and Watford in the Premier League. They were successful in preventing a fourth consecutive loss last night in the EFL Cup encounter against Northampton.
When results don't give you the complete picture
United's start to this campaign is a classic case of the results masking certain inherent deficiencies in a team. United's drying returns (three goals against Bournemouth, two against Southampton, one against Hull), in fact, was the early hint. Adding credence to that hint was the manner of the victories too. The opening game at Bournemouth was played without Paul Pogba, and in retrospect, was one of their better outings so far.
The opener was a gift though thanks to a horrendous backpass, the second came after an Anthony Martial miscue resulting in an inadvertent easy header for Wayne Rooney and the third was Zlatan Ibrahimovic taking a punt from long range.
Also read: Wayne Rooney - Road to Perdition
Second game, at home to Southampton, in came Pogba, a Zlatan header gave them the lead before a.penalty doubled his and United's tally. Third game, away at Hull, a last-gasp winner from substitute Marcus Rashford saved the day after United had done much huffing and puffing without being able to force the door down. Prior to the league campaign, they got the better of English champions Leicester City in the Community Shield through two moments of individual brilliance.
Through it all, though, apart from the long overhead to the target man and the use of Antonio Valencia bombing forward, United have lacked a distinct approach to the game, especially to the attack which has been predictable and slow. The 'Manchester United midfield’, those three words that have come to represent the most surreptitious of the club's maskings for years now, are back in the footballing discourse. It's a midfield where intelligence has come to die.
Lack of intelligence in midfield
United and Jose Mourinho had a good thing going in Juan Mata. The Spaniard was widely tipped to draw the short end of the stick when Mourinho arrived, yet when offered the chance to play, provided his team with good incisiveness. Here was a guy with a massive chip on his shoulder, on a good run of form, and despite being played as a winger, an intelligent player nonetheless.
See below: One of Mata’s assist from last season
Along with Mata, if you had to pick the most intelligent players in the United squad, it would have to be Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind. It is not an indication to any degree that the others in the side are completely devoid of imagination, just that these four are better. We have seen it in evidence countless times.
Mata maybe, slow, but his touch is assured and he can pick out a pass both aerially as well as on the ground. Carrick has drawn the ire of many for some ill-gotten reason and undervalued for like eternity, but what he represents is control. The assuredness that he brings, the calmness on the ball and the ability to choose the right option. He's gotten slower at 35, but Xabi Alonso is the same age too and Bayern Munich still consider him an integral part of the side (Do check out his expert finish against Northampton Wednesday night).
Players like these two are of a certain vintage who haven't lost their value in the face of the arrival of your modern, muscular types like Pogba. At Bayern, Alonso enhances the likes of Arturo Vidal, allowing the Chilean to do what he does best. Just the way he was afforded at Juventus too by that magician of a man called Andrea Pirlo. You know who else used to similarly play with Pirlo? Pogba. Carrick's cogent distribution of the ball has the ability to hold the midfield together.
Herrera has to play
Herrera’s pace of recycling the ball is unmatched by anyone at United. Some of the Old Trafford’s best and most fluid football over the last couple of years has come when he's been present in the middle of the park. United's most impressive run under Louis van Gaal, between February and May in his first season, saw United string together an array of impressive results with attractive, pacy football to boot.
Between February 28, 2015 and the last league game of the season on May 24, 2015, United played twelve games of which they lost only three and drew two (the five games coming right at the end). In that spell, they registered six wins on the trot to begin, which included impressive wins over Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Herrera played in every game in midfield, enjoying his best spell at the club to date.
See below: One of Herrera’s best showings for United
Blind played all but one game, in midfield or at left-back while Fellaini played as an advanced midfielder behind the striker, Wayne Rooney. Mata was a key cog of this successful unit as well. United outscored their opponents 15-4 in that six-game span. Last season as well, doused in their dourness, United showed more impetus when Herrera played, the Spaniard suffering from inconsistent team selection from Van Gaal. Even as recently as the Manchester derby, we saw how he changed the game when he came on at halftime.
Pace of passing is something that United desperately lack at the moment and the Spaniard is the key to that. He is also amongst the best at playing the incisive through ball. He also has a very good understanding with Mata, a partnership that can be put to great effect.
Also read: 10 goals that changed the history of football
Daley Blind may have been axed from the lineup after his error gifted City the opening goal in the Manchester derby, but he offers more than Chris Smalling alongside someone like Eric Bailly. His reading of the game is excellent and has good range with the outball from defence. Even if you’re playing Route 1 football, you need an adept passer to be spraying the ball.
Carrick, Herrera, Mata and Blind more than anything else work in close tandem with other players in that they’re always like a wingman, available to take a pass and make a pass, getting into positions to do just that.
The best footballing sides don't leave out their most intelligent players, at least not the majority of them. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are the reason why Real Madrid are so good even against sides where they have lesser possession. Sergio Busquets may not have anything glamorous about him, but he sure as hell knows to pick out the right option. Arsenal are a different side when both Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil are in the eleven. Passing and controlling play aside, what sets all these players apart is their touch on the ball, and it is a major asset, in drawing more errors and fouls from the opposition.
Two of the four United players listed above playing as a bare minimum and three out of four for best results would serve United and Mourinho better. Quite surprising it has been that he’s chosen to leave them out when you consider that in all of his previous sides he had that one midfield player to control things in midfield – Deco at Porto (later at Chelsea), Wesley Sneijder at Inter Milan, Luka Modric at Real Madrid and Cesc Fabregas in his second stint at Chelsea.
What of Marouane Fellaini?
Belgian Marouane Fellaini has been amongst United's best players so far. Zero sarcasm there. Along with Valencia and Bailly and Zlatan up front, these players have certainly fared the best in the squad.
Fellaini has been unrecognisable from the player these past few years (not just because of the bleach). His mobility for starters has been absolutely astounding. He's been one of United's best pressers when the opposition has the ball and has fared impressively when it comes to interceptions. He's been quicker than we've ever seen and has been busy buzzing around in that shielding role in front of the defence.
This might be one of the hardest decisions for Mourinho of all, as by himself while Fellaini has performed very well he might have to make way to accommodate his club's best eleven or play in a midfield heavy eleven with the other guys.
Also read: What if: Roman Abramovich never bought Chelsea
One of United's best midfield combinations, rather funnily took to the pitch last week, despite which they suffered a loss. In the game against Feyenoord, Mourinho deployed Pogba, Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin as the midfield three. They looked rusty and lacked coordination. Not because they don't fit as a trio, but perhaps more to do with the fact that they were playing together for the very first time.
And here's where the approach comes in. The lack of an identified way of playing seems to be affecting those players sitting on the outside looking in. They get few opportunities and when they do, they fail to impress due to a lack of a defined approach. City don't have that problem anymore, Arsenal haven't had it under Arsene Wenger and Juergen Klopp has engineered the same at Anfield since arriving.
Too early for doom and gloom
The biggest upside to all of this is that United and Mourinho are only into their second month and under 10 games played overall in what is going to be a long, hard season. Setbacks suffered early are major platforms on which to build on, especially for a new manager.
The combinations, of course, are flexible, but these four players need to be critical components of the side to better help the Zlatan, Mkhitaryan and Pogba do what they’re good at and prevent the United midfield from resembling grenades that blow up in the face to well-deployed ones that help clear a trail to go about completing your objectives.
The solutions for United and Mourinho are right in front of them, tucked inside their large player chest. Starting this Saturday against Leicester City, some of those other pieces might find themselves making their way onto the playing board. For at this early point in the season, there are moves still open to them.
