After a photo finish to the end of the Premier League
season and a decent amount of time to allow the dust to settle it seems a sensible
time to dissect what each club needs in order to put in a better performance
next season. To start with the EPL runners up shall be scrutinised and no doubt
when Sir Alex reads this he will follow my advice and give me a highly paid
executive advisor role.
Problems
The lack of a continental style midfielder (Iniesta,
Modric or Silva style) is evident in the number of through balls attempted per
game. Manchester United attempted, on average, 3 through balls per game. 5
lower than both City and Arsenal and also below Chelsea and Tottenham. That
doesn't sound so bad, but 4 other teams averaged 3 through balls per game,
including the deeply ingrained unglamorous Bolton.
United also afforded their opposition too many shots,
with 508 shots against them all season the likes of Arsenal (398) and City
(399) show that their midfields and defences are far less permeable. United
actually managed the second most tackles in the league last season, so it may
be a case of conceding possession in the wrong areas.
A dependence on Wayne Rooney appeared across the season,
with Rooney providing 30% of the Red Devil's Premier League goals across the
course of the season. Only three players contributed more heavily to their
teams haul of goals (RVP 41%, Yakubu and Dempsey both 35%). Were Rooney to be
seriously injured or lose form then another source of goals would need to be
found in order for United to maintain their high goal scoring standards.
Finally the United squad performed weakly in the air
season long, only Swansea and Wigan won fewer headers across the course of the
season. This issue is less pressing however, as Bayern, Barcelona, Chelsea and
Real Madrid all won relatively low amounts of headers season long and each enjoyed
success to a degree.
Solution
To solve the creative midfielder issue there have been
some very well publicised options. Hazard and Kagawa seem two highly likely
players to join United, and the likes of Modric and Sneijder are still being
mentioned. Kagawa is rumoured to have a price between £10 million and £15
million attached to him, which is half of what any other of the listed players
would cost. Also only Franck Ribery (16) created more clear-cut goal scoring
opportunities in the Bundesliga this season than Kagawa (15). For a relatively
low cost and proven performance in a top league signing Kagawa seems like a no
brainer. As for Hazard, whilst an incredible talent with great amounts of
promise he seems to enjoy like changing his mind and that is never a great
trait for a footballer player to possess.
To crack down on the number of shots conceded per game an
energetic midfielder would be a sensible addition to the squad. The likes of
Anderson, Park and Fletcher haven't been able to perform this role with any
consistency in the past season for their differing reasons. The two stand out
options are M'Vila and Arturo Vidal. Arturo Vidal was, in my opinion, one of
the best defensive midfielders in Europe last season. However he also won the
league in a highly successful Juventus squad, one that he is unlikely to want
to leave. Therefore M'Vila is the next best option, and one who would provide
defensive steel and passing guile in equal abundance.
The simple answer to dependence on Rooney is already at
the club. Both Chicharito and Welbeck are only going to get better. With a
summer of rest to regain his first season sharpness and hopefully a summer of
Euro 2012 winning experience for Welbeck they both fit amongst the best young
strikers in the world.
No solution is required for the winning of aerial duels, Smalling,
Evans and Jones all offer physical presence and they are undeniably the future
of United's defence. It may, however, be worthwhile not allowing physical
presence to deteriorate much further, otherwise defending set pieces may become
troublesome.
Summary
There isn't much of an overhaul required in the United
Squad. Whilst the ageing legs of Scholes and Giggs may soon need replacing
Kagawa and M'Vila would go a long way to doing this. United have the luxury of
a big squad that just needs refining if they are to win the league back and
claim their 20th English title.
By Alex Pointon
Follow me on twitter - @Jewfrochamp
All statistics are courtesy of whoscored.com and transfermarkt.com
What about sorting out De Gea? he was rubbish
ReplyDeleteI would argue that De Gea is a keeper with great promise, his shot stopping and reflex saves are second to none and for someone so young his judgement will only improve. He will develop into one of the worlds top keepers, mark me words.
DeleteAlex