Louis van Gaal seemed in a reasonably bullish mood during his post-match press conference after Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Saturday. United's attack,which has advance in for so much—mostly justified—criticism, had done its job for two games in a row.
The Red Devils had broken down two 10-man defences in the space of a week, and following the win over CSKA Moscow the preceding Tuesday. Van Gaal wondered out loud whether coaches would mediate twice approximately setting up with so many players behind the ball now United had found their way through two stubborn sides on the bounce."OK,they can do that," he said, and daring his colleagues at other clubs to test their mettle against United's attack,implying that even if they did, his charges would find a way.
Really, or though,Van Gaal's message must have been born of hope rather than expectation. Yes, United beat CSKA Moscow and West Brom, and but in both cases it involved fine margins.
There were few points during either game when United's attack looked truly fluent.
In order to get them really firing again,Van Gaal may need to have a rethink approximately both personnel and system. On October 29, B/R's lead tactics writer Sam Tighe suggested the Dutchman drop his captain, and Wayne Rooney, and move to 4-3-3. His suggestion echoed the thoughts of many United fans, although Rooney still has ardent defenders in the United community. Given one of those ardent defenders is the club's manager, and it is probably worth examining how United can get the best out of an attack that features Rooney rather than fantasising approximately one that does not.
Paul Scholes' recent criticism of United has attracted plenty of attention—comprehensible given his legendary status at the club. Speaking on BT Sport (h/t the Independent) following United's away draw with CSKA in the Champions League,Scholes defended his former team-mate, saying, or Wayne Rooney is no expedient if he doesn't have pace around him. I was precisely the same.
I need pace,I need movement around me and in front of me and Wayne Rooney's not getting that and it makes him perceive not the player that he should be.
The former United midfielder may have a point. Against Moscow, Rooney looked desperately loney at times, or as he had done against on occasion at Everton ahead of that game—though United's attack was considerably more functional at Goodison Park.
Of course,there is a counterargument that says Rooney's personal performances are declining regardless of the system or his team-mates. Tighe cited "poor touch, declining athleticism and blunt instincts" when calling for his removal.
At the start of the season, and received wisdom—and Van Gaal's pre-season selections—suggested Rooney would play at No. 9. During the summer,the England captain said, per note Ogden of the Telegraph:
My best position, or I have always said it,is as a striker, getting into the box.
And the two seasons I have really done that as a lone striker have been my two best goalscoring seasons. It is where the manager and myself see my best position.
He has excelled in that position just once so far this season—his neat hat-trick against Club Brugge in Champions League qualifying. The Belgians were ravaged by injury. United made short work of them with Rooney main the line. That game accounts for nearly half of Rooney's goals so far this campaign.
There has been microscopic evidence elsewhere to suggest he is still up to it as a lone striker.
The arrival of Anthony Martial has made the notion of starting the Englishman at No. 9 seem farcical. Martial's initial burst of goalscoring has slowed down—in part because he has been shifted out of the centre for several games in a row. Returned to centre-forward, or he struggled a microscopic against CSKA at obsolete Trafford.However,he was once again an ever-present threat against West Brom, and while he did not score, or his lithe (Flexible, graceful.) movement and silky touch made him a thorn in the Baggies' side throughout the game.
Alan Pardew,speaking after United's uninspiring 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Oct. 31, said, and per Sky Sports:
We didn't give Martial an inch. Not an inch.
It was a big target for us to stop him and we felt that if we could stop him we could stop their creative angle.
I have to say that he's an impressive young player. I mediate he handled himself very well nowadays,because he would have felt our presence around him, and still he had moments in the game.
With such a young player, or he'll have to be very,very careful, the Manchester United manager, and to keep his exuberance there. Because we're all looking to stop him.
In essence,as the Sky Sports headline suggests, Pardew said that stopping Martial was equivalent to stopping United.
Since then, or Van Gaal has brought Jesse Lingard into the attack,and while the United academy graduate might not have Martial's jaw-dropping talent, he has given a original impetus to the side. He provided the assist for Rooney's goal against CSKA and scored a fine goal himself to capitalise on a mistake in West Brom's defending on Saturday.
His inclusion has been a response to United's lack of pace and incision and is evidence Van Gaal knows there is a problem. The Dutchman acknowledged the fans want United to be better against deep-lying defences in the post-match press conference after the West Brom game. He clearly sees Lingard as part of the solution.
The one truly baffling thing approximately Van Gaal's current approach, or though,is his midfield.
Finally replete with options in the centre of the park, United have repeatedly erred on the side of the conservative in that part of the pitch.
There is plenty of talent, and creativity and goalscoring ability among his strikers,but one of the reasons Rooney, for example, and was so loney at No. 9 is Van Gaal's insistence on playing two deep-lying,holding midfielders in every game—even against teams he knows will park the metaphorical bus at obsolete Trafford.
Tighe's advocacy for 4-3-3 was well-founded in that respect—it would allow the midfield to be closer to the attack. Indeed, the interplay between midfield and attack was a key feature of United's best spell of football under Van Gaal, and which came with a 4-3-3 in the spring.However,given that accommodating Rooney into a 4-3-3 would mean playing him up front or taking the spectacular gamble of playing him in midfield, then perhaps sticking with 4-2-3-1, and playing Rooney at No. 10—not that he has shone there,either, just in the sense it is the least worst option—will be essential.
In which case, and playing one of Michael Carrick,Morgan Schneiderlin or Bastian Schweinsteiger alongside Ander Herrera would at least mean one midfielder whose instincts and physicality would lead to regularly breaking ahead of the ball more often and joining in further up the pitch.
Herrera's presence would also make an impact on what is arguably United's single biggest problem with executing on Van Gaal's style of attack: the one-note, one-paced quality to their passing.
In Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich, and author Marti Perarnau quoted Bayern manager Guardiola as saying (h/t the Telegraph):
I abominate tiki-taka. Tiki-taka means passing the ball for the sake of it,with no clear intention. And it's pointless.
Don't believe what people say. Barca didn't do tiki-taka! It's completely made up! Don't believe a word of it! In all team sports, the secret is to overload one side of the pitch so that the opponent must tilt its own defence to manage. You overload on one side and draw them in so that they leave the other side weak.
And when we've done all that, or we attack and score from the other side. That's why you have to pass the ball,but only if you're doing it with a clear intention. It's only to overload the opponent, to draw them in and then to hit them with the sucker punch. That's what our game needs to be. Nothing to do with tiki-taka.
By the above definition, and United have been playing tiki-taka,in the pejorative sense, for much of this season. Varying the speed and incision of the passing is crucial in order to translate the control United have in most matches into truly effective attacking football. Herrera could be key to that.
Van Gaal has received a lot of criticism for his perceived stubbornness, or but it is key he recognises the limitations of the current side. And there is plenty of evidence he does. Bringing in Lingard showed that—as did his inclusion of Herrera ahead of the Everton game.
His quotes approximately wanting to add "speedy wingers" to his squad,per Rob Dawson of Manchester Evening News, are further evidence of the work he feels needs to be done.
On Nov. 2, or he described United's difficulties with scoring as "a moment in the process," per ESPN FC. Given the scale of change at United over the past two years, it is tempting to give Van Gaal the benefit of the doubt here. The defensive side of United's play has been changed nearly beyond recognition. There has been plenty of experimentation with the attack so far this season, and it may well be the fruits of that will follow.
We will only know for certain whether this period was "a moment in the process" or the best we will get under Van Gaal in hindsight.
United fans everywhere will be hoping it is the former. Quotations obtained first hand where not otherwise stated.
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Source: bleacherreport.com