Last week,
Manchester United lost quite comprehensively to their big rivals Manchester
City. I watched the match and found some
of United’s defensive play rather disappointing. I’ve set out below what I saw
as their main defensive weaknesses and have added some thoughts on what I think
they could improve upon.
Defending Issues
Obviously,
Moyes’ hand had already been played in terms of who was playing at right-back.
Rafael was unfit and Chris Smalling has previous experience of a Manchester derby.
So, in respect, it might have been a good move, but Smalling was given a hard
time by Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri, thanks to Antonio Valencia’s
seeming inability to cover for his team-mate. Meanwhile, on the other side of
the United defence, there was a similar ill-balanced contest going on in the
form of a one-man roasting of Patrice Evra by Jesus Navas. Turning to the
middle of the defence, a Sir Alex Ferguson Man United team would more likely
have had a younger centre-back with Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic and Michael
Carrick would’ve been sitting deeper in his midfield role. However, David Moyes has signed Marouane
Fellaini to play in that position but obviously he doesn’t want to defend.
Of
particular concern was the fact that all of City’s goals came from crosses into
the box, while David De Gea’s failings in relation to communicating with his
back-four seems to be, and always has been, a problem and a liability.
Lack of Ability
Another
reason that United lost the match is the lack of meaningful cover upfront.
After Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney, there is precious little in terms of
back-up. Danny Welbeck has the first touch of a League Two Goalkeeper,
“Chicharito” is out of favour, and Angelo Henriquez is out on loan. So keeping
RVP fit would be crucial, surely? Obviously not though, as United look to
play-on without the man who is arguably their best player. Added to these
problems are Ashley Young’s inability to stand up for more than five minutes,
Wilfried Zaha’s inexperience, and the whole Shinji Kagawa affair, which I think
Moyes could’ve dealt with better by just playing him when Rooney was injured. Furthermore,
the lack of strength in midfield for United (Carrick and Fellaini) allowed Yaya
Toure and Fernandinho to dominate proceedings. And the lack of looking for the
midfield rock to build the team on has seemingly come back to haunt the Red
Devils. In fact, if you look at the successful Premier League teams of the
past, there was always some sort of strength in that department. Arsenal’s
Invincibles had Patrick Viera and Gilberto, Chelsea had Claude Makelele and
Michael Ballack, and the current Man City side being tipped for a good year has
the aforementioned pairing.
So if United
are serious in mounting a title challenge this season, they need to strengthen
in those areas.
What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments below.
