Manchester United and the Theatre of Nightmares

8/11/2019 Manchester United and the Theatre of Nightmares

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Manchester united and the theatre of nightmares

When people think Manchester United; they think Fergie time and a never say die attitude. When

people think Manchester United, they think the tricks and flicks of Ryan Giggs, the never dying

passion of Wayne Rooney and the turnings of a skinny 17 year old from Portugal, into the most

envied and feared football superstar in the world. When I think Manchester United; I think Teddy

Sheringhamsand Ole Gunnar Solskjrs, injury time winners in the Champions league final which

went on to seal Unitedsplace on the summit of English football, by making them the first English

team to complete a legendary treble title winning season in 1999. Eventually propelling Manchester

united into a decade and a half of English and world football domination.

Recent Manchester united history has been loaded with great history making nights, which no

current English club has even come close to matching; because in the theatre of dreams, dreams

really do come true. However fast forward to 2014 and after a 7th place finish in the previous

season, the current campaign despite early promise, threatens to also repeat recent heart breaking

history. Some people say that it is merely a blip on the road to the summit of world football; instead

I see it as a dire warning, foreshadowing of a gruesome nightmare to come, unless we dont address

these three problems; the big money signings will make it difficult for youth players and academy

players to get into the team. The current 3-4-3 formation is not suited to United and the work done

in the transfer market was a disaster.

Problem for youth players

The bases of all great football teams is a strong academy or youth contingency coupled also with

boldness and patients to play them. All great teams need solid foundation and Manchester United

was always a team famed for that especially when you consider the alumni of class of 92; Giggs,Scholes, Beckham, Butt and Neville who went on to inspire united to a fruitful golden period. Even to

this day, the youth policy continues to be a strategy adopted by many clubs. Just look at Barcelona

and that wizard called Messy, Dortmund and the world cup winning goal scorer Mario Gotze or even

Real Madrid and the best keeper in the world for almost 10 years in Iker casillas. But ironically the

team, who made such a tactic renowned, seems to be doing the exact opposite and building the

roof, before checking that the foundation is stable.

Why splash out on 16 million Rojo for when you have a young right wing back in Rafael who has

been a consistent first time choice on the right ever since Gary hanged up his boats. Sure Rafael

could be erratic at times and no stranger to red cards in big games. But that volatility only adds to hisstrength because people begin to fear what they cant predict. Then we have Di Maria who is clearly

far superior to any youth player we have, but at the same time his presence has stifled other

emerging talents leading to the first casualties of the Van Hal era in Nick Powell and Wilfred Zaha

who were loaned and sold respectively. Which is highly unfortunately when you consider that both

before Di Maria, they had defiantly showcased the talent necessary to warrant a starting places in

the team.

The wrong formation

From front to back, Manchester united simply doesnthave the personnel to effectively carry out a

3-4-3 formation. First of all you need a sweeper keeper, who is quick of the line and always willing to


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mop up balls hit over the top, because 3-4-3 formations are infamously poor at dealing with direct

football. David Dea is not a sweeper keeper. Dont get mewrong he is a top quality goal keeper,

probably top ten in the world when it comes down to purely shot stopping. But he doesnt have the

sharpness and quick wit of lets say a Neuer or a Tim Howard who would be more suited to such a

role, especially Neuer who is a raging bull when it comes to rocketing from goal line.

In defence you need three robust defenders who are comfortable in possession of the ball and can

bring it out of defence and play if necessary. In the 2012-2013 season Juventus went undefeated

using a similar formation, but they didnt have a world betting striker like an Aguero or Suarez who

can bang in 40 gaols a season. Instead their success was built on three centre backs perfect for the

formation; caceres and bonucci who are both agile and robust and adept at closing down space for

the opinion when they didnt have the ball.Then when they did have it they had strength and

stamina to break into the midfield and support attacks if needed. While the third musketeer chiellini

always provided cover for the other two as well as being a solid defensive rock with his supreme

reading of the game and herculean power. Smalling and Jones simply arent good enough on the ball

to contribute to attacking shifts in play, although defensively they are more than competent.

However when it comes to dealing with sharp crafty attackers like Sanchez and Diego Costa, I think

their lack of pace and agility may leave united backline exposed.

For 3-4-3 you need a midfielder with great stamina to get up and down the pitch with ease, while

still having the defensive presence of mind to be able to slot into the back 3 to make it a back 4 in

periods of sustained attacking pressure on their backline. You also need a midfield maestro who can

dictate the pace of the game, but at the same time have the shear genius to launch killer balls over

the top of defenders heads like a NFL quarterback, or the cute through balls with the precision of a

surgeon. In the midfield when everyone is playing at the best, Darren Fletcher certainly has the

intensity and tenacity of a pit-bull. He just loves nibbling at the feet of opposing players and getting

right up in their faces as if he were a boxer in the ring. But unfortunately illness had left him largely a

shell of the player he once was. Sure his back as a regular starter in the first team this seasons, but

can his body sustain him throughout an entire season just when we need him the most?

In regards to a creative edge in midfield, losing Paul Scholes to retirement left a creative canyon

sized chasm in the midfield that United have struggled to fill ever since. I wont claim to have seen

very much of Herrera, but what I have seen he is simply not the calibre of creative midfielder

Manchester United were screaming out for. His a top class passer of the ball, but Im not convinced

his the type of player that when down by one goal in a knock out game in the Champions League,

will have the decisive brilliance to produce a wonder ball or a surgical pass that opens defenders

wide apart.

Its only in that attacking regards do I see United has an safe bet in the current formation; Rooney, Di

Maria, Van Perise and Falcao is an almighty alliance that only realistically Barcelona and Real Madrid

can match; Its almost like stepping onto mount Olympics surrounded by football gods. Why so

confident? Because 3-4-3 formation begs for attackers to be versatile, shapeless and quick; Rooney

and Di Maria are the most flexible of the attacking arsenal, they can easily slip into midfield creating

an integral bridge between midfield and attack, whilst at the same time they can move into the left

and right wing and provide width to the team. While Falcao and Van Persie play their best football

when they are playing against the shoulders of defenders, where they can beat you in a foot race or


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out muscle you to the ball, either way they are like ducks to water and most important all four can

score goals!

Dodgy transfer dealings

150 million, 50 million and 60 million; those are the three figures that meant Manchester Uniteddealings in the transfer market caught all the headlines. The first figure was the amount of money

we spent to bring in 5 new players. 50 million was the then British transfer record that Chelsea paid

for Torres and 60 million is the amount we used to break it with the purchase of Di Maria. Its true

we were in bad need of an expensive overhaul and revolution, to get rid of all the dead wood in the

team, but the money we did spend was wasted because the players we did buy were largely the

wrong ones and were grossly overpriced.

With departures of Vidic, Ferdinand and Ever who at their peak formed part of the most formidable

back line in Europe, so we needed titan-esk players to come in and fill in their giant shoes. In the

current football climate, on op the mantle was Mat Hummels who looked like an absolute beast forboth world cup winning Germany and bundesliga runners up Dortmund. So who did we buy? Blind

and Rojo, okay they arent just mere chumps or mortals and certainly caughtthe eye in the world

cup; but they are simply not the centre back power house we were crying out for, especially this

season were defensively we look abysmal.

United fans have been yarning and wishing upon a star for the day they could finally find a

midfielder orchestrator that can match the perfection that was Scholes. We have spent big in the

past two seasons; Fellini for 27 million, Mata for 37 million and now Herrera for close to 30 million,

but despite such heavy investment, we are still no closer to finding an adequate replacement. Give

me the 30 million you paid for Herrera and I will happily skip to mama Kross house and ask if Kross isallowed to come out and play for Manchester United. Kross who despite his age had the unmissable

air of the Zidane in him, he can attack, defend, pass and score goals. Calm down Silva! Just breath,

the guy went to Real Madrid, I have to let go of the past.

Who else could we have gone for? Well allow me to tell you a story; it was 2011 and we had a tall

gangly young Frenchman in our youth ranks who despite his incredible potential and imposing

stature was unable to break into the first team. So Fergie instead of sending the boy out on loan or

taking a risk on him, decided to allow the boy to move to Juventus. Once there he went on to

become a man, a complete midfielder and a treble title winner, whilst at the same time the

Manchester United midfield began to look like it couldnt even get into the soccer aidteams.

I adamantly stand by the fact that allowing Paul Progba to go to Juventus so early in his career was

the biggest mistake and sin committed by Sir Alex Ferguson; so just forget the signings of Veron,

Folan or Bebe. But its a shame because like I have blogged about before; Progba is in my top 7 most

formidable complete players, especially abundantly made clear when you consider his ever present

status in the Juventus midfield despite having to compete against the likes of Arturo Vidal, Andrea

Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio.

Transfer failures or shortcomings are on the whole rather minimal upfront, but while the inclusions

of Di Maria and Falcao will surely create a revolution in currently meandering United team, the

biggest blow in the transfer market for me was allowing Welbeck to go to Arsenal, a rival team for


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such a merge price. If you gave the choice now between Van persie and Welbeck, I have no doubt in

keeping Welbeck. Not only is losing him like losing a son, but I just feel in the long run he would be

so much more beneficial to the United cause. While Van persie in his advanced age and increasing

disillusionment with playing the red devils, Welbeck pace, strength and passion for the club would

be something greatly missed. Sure he isnt as prolific in the goals department as a fit and firing RVP,

but at 23 he certainly had the time to add that to his already brilliant game.

So what does Manchester United immediate future resides?

For a generation of Manchester United supporter who have seen their team in the last 20 years

consistently changeling for the top honours both at home and in Europe; just maybe this years

absence in the Champions League, may actually be a blessing in disguise. Youll probably saying right

now, that when it comes to Manchester United, failure is never an option, but just maybe this failure

is what we need in a moment of metamorphosis. With only the Premiership and the cup

competitions to challenge for, the reduction in games means we are more likely to keep a consistent

line up allowing for the 5 new players who are probably going to go straight into the first team, to be

able to bond with each other as well as their team members at a lot more rapid pace. Less games

means United players would be less likely to sustain major injuries and for players like Van persie

who has had a injury fraught history, this will serve him well and United who need our flying

Dutchman on full tilt.

Remember the old saying fortune favours the bold; ultimately the success of United, rests in the

hands of choosing the right formation. Manchester United had been playing the standard 4-4-2

formation for as long as I have known how to count. Its what they are famous for and have used it

time and time again to great success. Sure Van Hal has been although Europe; Bayern Munich,

Barcelona, the Dutch national team and he has brought his unique stamp to each of those teams,

but alas I dont see a happy future involving the 3-4-3 formation for United. Although I applaud the

fluidity of the formation and the great counter attacking options it offers, but against the more

direct opponents, Im not sure if the formation allows for sufficient defensive covering in the most

crucial of moments, United simply dont have the team to fully exploit all the capabilities of the

formation.

If United under current circumstances switches to a diamond formation of a 4-5-1, I believe with the

supreme attacking arsenal at our disposal that can Expendables 1, 2 and 3 our way to the title, but if

we continue to use 3-43 with the personnel we have, I can with a heavy heart say adios to another

opportunity to reach not only the title, but to Champions League football also.

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Manchester United and the Theatre of Nightmares