Midfield problems & tactical issues by @BusbyMUFC

The central midfield area has been cause for concern for a while now & this season it  has been further damaged through illness & injury. So much so that Paul Scholes had to return from retirement to give us some stability & class in the middle. He has been sensational but at the age of 37 he is by no means the answer. He is more a stop gap & whether you like it or not, it represents a desperate act by Fergie. It was an admission that our current crop aren’t ready or simply aren’t good enough.

Of course there were mitigating circumstances on that front. Darren Fletcher has been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, a condition I know a great deal about (when compared to the average person) and I can safely say that he won’t be playing top level football again. On the couple of occasions that I have seen him this season he has looked weak & has lost a lot of weight. For an athlete that is not a good sign as it means he is losing muscle mass. Then you have the ongoing injuries to Anderson & Tom Cleverley, who admittedly looked excellent at the beginning of the season. But their injury records are a massive cause for concern.

All this leads us to the unavoidable fact that we need signings in the middle of the park. The most important thing about ALL of our signings is that they must improve the first team. This requires heavy investment especially when signing central midfielders. We have been linked with a number of different midfielders but there are two things that are interesting for me. We have been linked with a few ball winning midfielders (Tiote, Martinez, M’Vila, Asmaoa & Diarra) and plenty of creative attacking midfielders (Kagawa, Lucas, Ganso, Hazard, Sneijder, Gaitan, Goetze, Thiago & even Kaka has been linked).

What’s particularly interesting about the players concerned is the attacking players; none of those players would be considered central midfield players who could slot into a traditional 442. All of them would play as an attacking player in a 3 man midfield supported by two more traditional central midfield players suggesting a possible change form Fergie’s preferred 442 to a more fluid 4231.

For me this would represent a positive step and our current squad could support that with the signing of an attacking midfield player. I have maintained that his season was a transition one but we are only 2 or 3 signings away from a world class team. For me the most important of these signings has to be the creative player but he must be supported by a midfield that can win the ball AND retain possession.

In Carrick, Scholes, Anderson & Fletcher (IF he does return) we have natural midfielders who can control possession. Fletcher is the only one who really bullies opposition players into losing possession so a ball winning midfielder of high calibre is also a must.

Any of the players I mentioned would be excellent signings in this regard however I do believe that some are better than others. I haven’t seen too much of M’Vila so cannot comment fully but he looks like an excellent box to box player as does Asamoah. However, as I have not observed them individually I will leave them out. Youtube can make ANYONE look great after all!

Of the players left Tiote is the one most heavily linked but also the most limited in my opinion. Despite his Premier league experience and obvious talents I have my reservations. In terms of a ball winning midfielder he’s exactly that. Strong, tenacious, determined and aggressive; an excellent candidate at first look. However, as evidenced in his game against City, against top level opponenets, his ball retention and distribution are poor. His awareness of his teammates and players around him isn’t at the level I would expect for a top level midfielder.

This leaves the two Spanish based players, Martinez & Diarra. Whether we are even in the market for them is anyone’s guess but a player of their calibre is exactly what we need. Both are excellent ball winners but importantly they are also very good in possession. I have a soft spot for Diarra. He is underrated and his work with the ball is underestimated. Both are top level players and alongside Carrick would provide a solid base for the 4 attacking players.

 Out wide we are well taken care of. Valencia on form is almost unplayable & the same goes for Nani. Both need to improve their consistency but they were hampered by injury. Most of you will know I don’t really like Ashley Young. However, he has put in some excellent performances too and once he fully understands what it means to be a United player I can see him becoming an excellent addition to the squad. He too needs to find consistency but hopefully playing at a higher level will help him find it.

I would love to go into the merits of each and every attacking player I have mentioned but I would be here for days. Suffice to say, each brings qualities that we are currently lacking in the middle of the park. Creativity, flair, goals, an eye for a pass and the ability to travel with the ball at pace. For arguments sake I’m going to go with Kagawa.

The following team is a potential team in a new formation that I believe would allow us to retain possession better and control games better as well as provide solid protection for the defence. 442 is far too rigid. With two CM players operating in the same area opposition teams can find space in between these lines, especially if they play a roaming midfield player. Plenty of examples come to mind from this season:

Silva has been doing it all season for City and was excellent against us as was Nasri. At Stamford Bridge Mata ran the show for Chelsea & they opened us up almost at will. The forwards of Bilbao DID open us up at will. The thing they all had in common was tactical fluidity and a player with the ability to find the space in between the midfield & defence. With a ball winning holding midfielder and Carrick playing further up field we have better protection against these players.

The above formation allows us to play something different away in Europe & in the big games in the PL. Fergie tried it against City by deploying Park in the ‘Kagawa’ position. However, he was primarily there to do a defensive job on Toure because his runs from deep are devastating. This actually worked to an extent as City were restricted to 3 shots on target all game. The problem is we had no attacking threat at all.

With the above formation & personnel Carrick & Diarra would provide excellent defensive cover AND ball retention allowing the attacking players to do what they do best. When we don’t have the ball Kagawa has the energy to drop into midfield & help out before being available to launch attacks with Rooney. It also means Rooney shouldn’t be dropping too deep to collect the ball & can affect play higher up the pitch.

The key message to take out of this is that we do NOT need wholesale changes; merely the addition of two or three top class players in the right areas. The squad has good balance to it with these signings and it has excellent strength in depth. Secondly, I’m not saying the above formation is right for EVERY match, just that with the right signings, it would provide us with something different against the top teams. 442 can be effective but it can also be predictable.

Look out for further articles in the coming weeks.