Opinion: A playmaker seems to be the missing piece at Manchester United

A scoreline of 0-3 against Young Boys might reflect a comfortable win for Manchester United in their opening game at Champions League, but it wasn't all cakewalk for Mourinho's side.

Young Boys were able to manage more shots on goal (13) and corners (9) compared to Red Devils' 11 attempts on goal and seven corners.

At the same time, Manchester United was forced to make 34 clearances as compared to only nine by Young Boys, giving a better insight into the story than what the scoreline depicts.

Pogba's sublime finish from his weaker foot in the 35th minute provided some breathing space for the visitors as they were under immense pressure from the hosts, for the first 30 minutes.

Soon followed a calmly placed penalty by the captain in the 44th minute, which gave a two-goal cushion to Mourinho's Men just before the halftime break.

Manchester United looked more composed in the second half against a side that had less experience of playing at a platform like the Champions League. With Young Boys committing more players to attack, it was easy for Martial to finish from close range in the 66th minute, tripling the lead for the visitors.

Now if one takes a closer look at Manchester United's gameplay and compares it to that of teams which dominate the game in midfield, there'll always be that one key playmaker who controls all the passes and the direction of the game, deciding whether to build the attack from the right, left or the center.

More often than not, the control to initiate an attack or to slow down the pace of the game by playing to and fro passes with the defenders lies with this player.

Players like Sergio Busquets, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne fortify the above theory. While Chelsea has discovered their maestro in the form of Jorginho., James Milner and Jordan Henderson are doing an equally incredible job for Liverpool.

In contrast, even though Manchester United's midfield, comprising of Pogba, Fred and Matic, looks more than promising on-paper, none of them have shown the intent to take the responsibility to control the game.

Matic's participation is very limited in distributing the ball towards attack. The former Chelsea player still appears to be playing at a deeper role when he has a more advanced position to play at Manchester United.

When he shows reluctance in going forward, he leaves a big void at the center of the pitch when the team is attacking as he is not available at attacking positions.

On the other hand, when Manchester United loses possession in opponent's half, there is no midfielder to break down opposition's attack near the halfway line, which makes it easier for the opposition to reach the final third of the pitch, leaving the last line of defense highly vulnerable.

Matic's participation is very limited in distributing the ball towards attack

Even though Fred and Pogba try to collaborate with the wingers, there remains a big hole in the middle of the pitch due to Matic sitting back.

This void is usually covered by Sanchez when he's playing in a free role but gets very difficult to manage in his absence, which leads to a bigger problem of negligible sideways overlapping in midfield.

This inability to overlap sideways makes it easier for the opposition to man-mark Mourinho's men as well as keep their formations intact.

To add to this scenario, Pogba has shown a tendency to use his strength to shield the ball. He ends up being pressed by two or more players in this process, eventually giving away possession.

These are the moments when he needs to shoulder more responsibility in his decision-making ability.

Pogba has shown a tendency to use his strength to shield the ball but is usually pressed by two or more players and gives away possession easily

So is it a Center Back, which Mourinho claims he doesn't have or is it a game controlling magician, like Giggs or Scholes, that's missing? Something that Manchester United needs to think about before prioritizing their transfer targets for the mid-season transfer window.