And... we are back! With the World Cup not that far away, the blog can't be either. But we will look at the World Cup a bit later. Today, its glory, glory Man United!!
Well, it isn't basked in glory at the moment, to understate a bit. The Moyes era ended a while ago, but the pain refuses to subside. There are many reasons for this.
The last season offers many clues, which unfortunately, Van Gaal seems to be misreading. The very simple reason for the disappointing season was the lack of Goals. Stats do not lie:
United conceded 43 goals in Sir Alex's last season in charge. Finish: Champions.
Guess how much Utd. conceded in the season after that: Exactly 43. But Finish: 7th place.
So, needless to say, the 2013-14 season was lost due to United scoring only 64 goals - their 2nd lowest tally in the Premiership era. Critics say that United weren't creative. Weren't sharp. Weren't incisive. Lacked ideas in the opposition half. No one would like it, but every United fan would grudgingly agree with almost all of the criticisms.
Ok, we need Goals! says Van Gaal and he set off on ridiculous buying spree - United have spent a record 150 million £ this season, comfortably their highest ever. And in come the Angels, in come the 'El Tigres', the Rojos and if the glitter gets too much, we have the Blinds as well. United's arsenal of attacking options has become a big talking point, but we will not talk about that today. What we will talk about, is the one crucial piece of the jigsaw that Van Gaal seems to have ignored, Manchester United's Leaky Cauldron: The Defence. The men who formed the backbone of United defense - Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra have quietly left last season, leaving a black hole to fill. The goals were a problem, but United also conceded way more than they would have liked. 43, is not a small number considering you play 38 matches in the league. And the principal reason behind this was that United did not have the same back 4 in even 2 straight games, let alone a season, that generally is expected of a Champion defense. And now, with Van Gaal's 3-5-2 formation, the back 3 become even more crucial. It is here that the transfers do not make much sense. Luke Shaw and Marco Rojo are essentially left backs. Yes, Rojo will probably play at the centre, but there is no denying the fact that he is most comfortable at left back, where he plays for Argentina. So, two new players for a single position, and that’s all as far as new signings in defense go. What United badly needed was to have some experience at the back. Look at any Champion line-up and you will see at least one (if not more) veteran defender. Manchester City has Kompany, Atletico Madrid has Godin, Bayern has Lahm, PSG has Thiago Silva.
And what do United have – Jones, Evans, Smalling, Blackett and the new two. Again, stats do not lie: The aggregate career appearances of back 3 which played the previous encounter vs. Burnley are 256. Compare that with those of just one who has left United, Rio Ferdinand: 494 career appearances. It is this glaring weakness which the other teams are going to exploit against United. Mind you, any player who plays for United at this level is necessarily world class, and although Van Gaal (and indeed United) is known to back young talent, there really is no substitute for experience. What United needed was one solid, experienced international defender who would have shepherded the defense. With Jones and Smalling out due to injury for a while, unless the holding midfielders – the Herrera, Blind, Fletcher – (who are all really good by the way), step up to the plate, the cauldron will continue to leak.
Ok, Defense is one. Defense signings are two. But I mentioned ‘many reasons’ for the pain. We will look at one more reason in my next blog – the magic numbers 3,5 and 2
