One of the key talking points over the last couple of months seemingly has been which creative midfielder Sir Alex is looking to get to replace a certain Paul Scholes. To those fans who are bored about this very subject, don’t turn away because I will not be talking about that at all.
I do not think that United need a creative midfielder as much as most fans think we do and that it’s not the way to go for the engine room in our team. What I have missed and what our team I believe lacks is actually the complete opposite in terms of our midfield.
I believed that what we lack is the obvious leader to our midfield, the type of player who is best described as a warrior and a fighter who will do the ‘hard work’ and carry the team on his shoulders on bad days.
This kind of midfielder of course is very hard to come by and clubs are lucky to find these kinds of players once/twice in the space of 10-15 years. Roy Keane was the last type of player in this mould that United have had and (as is the case with good players) has never really been replaced.
Having a player like this in a squad can be so vital as they can help raise the level of performances by their team-mates by sheer presence alone and that’s of course what Keane did for us for so many years. When we were struggling, he was there to pick up the pieces an simply by running faster/longer, tacking harder and communicating loudly was able to turn around a deficit or a draw into a win.
Between 2006 and 2009, the absence of this midfield-enforcer could be covered by the flair, skill and match-winning goals of a completely different type of player in Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronnie to his credit was a key part in our success during those 3 years and helped us win alot of games.
During that time he covered up for the lack of such a warrior in midfield, even if during that time it was possible to spot that a natural leader and warrior was not there. Of course when you are winning regulary, people often tend to not mind our weaknesses and tend to forget them. When results don’t go to plan, it’s far easier to spot problems.
When the Portuguese forward left to join his childhood love Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, the absence of a Keane-esuqe player became even more visible and easier to notice. Whilst United were not too far away from having a successful season in 2009/10, particularly in midfield we were on certain occasions too weak where without abit of Ronaldo magic we found it predictably harder to break down teams.
The lack of this warrior-midfielder has also impacted on Sir Alex’s choice of tactics. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been using three midfielders (a DM + two CM’s or 2 DM’s and an AM, depending on which way the triangle has worked) in important games, compared to two like we used to do.
In other words, Fergie used to believe that two players (like Keane and a younger Scholes) could do the working in this crucial games, but in recent years it seems like he has spotted a need for a third man to contribute.
I know that the style of play that the top teams play changes over time, but I think we play at our best (which incidentally is when we’re at our most entertaining) when we have two strikers up top. United’s philosophy in the big games used to be that the opposition would revert their tactics to try and stop us, not vice versa which (although it’s been successful for us) as been the case in recent years.
Maybe It’s because I am the type of fan who likes to see us focus more on playing our own game, but if we had a player who had Keane’s qualities in our side, it would allow more space for our wingers and attacking-minded players to do what they get paid to do and that’s attack.
Whilst we will always win games and score goals, at times I do think that Sir Alex is not trusting his two central midfielders enough and although wanting to play a safer approach isn’t necessarily a bad thing, our style of play could be more dynamic playing in a 4-4-2 system.
To play 4-4-2 as outlined in this article, I believe that we need to find that key midfielder who will allow extra space for our offensive lads. The question is though who could this player realistically be?
Good article.
Do you think if R.Keane was in the MU team it would have made any difference to the outcome against Barca? Apart from possibly giving away even more free kicks, as they would have fallen like leafs in autumn once Keane was near. Ronaldo as good as he is and was for MU, he was nowhere to be seen in 2 Champs league finals for MU.
After seeing the recent friendly against Barca what was apparent was MU kept the ball for seconds, Barca kept the ball for minutes. But MU kept their shape AND discipline, not giving away fouls. Each MU player attacked and defended. Important players were missing on both sides, but the strategy was there to contain and counter Barca.
Does Barca have a R.Keane figure? or a single General? or anyone who shouts and screams? no…What they have is a collective of like minded players, small in stature, huge in belief and ability. I think SAF got the tactics wrong in the previous Champs League finals. After the recent friendly against Barca, being the REAL General SAF is, I think MU have a formula to beat Barca, but does MU have the Mid Fielders to carry out the plan at the top level?…that's another topic for discussion
We wouldn't neccesarily have won against Barca, but we would clearly have a better chance to to so. Still the most important part wouldn't be to beat Barca, the most important thing would be to play our own game, trusting our own abilities, in hard games. In recent years, I think we've been too defensive-minded, more focused on breaking down the opponent side rather than to build up our own play. And that's what i not like. Other teams should adjust their tactics to United's, not vice versa, which has been the case.
In an ideal world that would be true, or playing in the Prem. MU know how to win the Prem, but have failed miserably in Europe. Beaten soundly in finals, winning 2 finals, 1 on penalties and 1 in extra time, after being completely out played by Bayern. This isn't the stuff of a top European club.
Yes MU can dictate the pace and style of play to lesser or smaller clubs, even overrun a major club in Europe. When it mattered MU came up short, hence the restructuring. I have no idea why SAF didn't let Rooney support the MF then join the attack, when Rooney did that, SAF gave him a public dressing down on the touchline. SAF tried to play to MU strengths, playing 442, but it was clear to everyone that the MU MF was no match for the brilliance of Barca. The only way to play them, is to match them, as MU did last night in the friendly.
Mourino with Real, showed how to contain Barca and was doing just that until Real had a man sent off. Last night, MU contained Barca, even though Barca was moving the ball trying to break up the MU strategy and discipline. I truely feel that other clubs will learn from this and that Barca WILL NOT be the force they were last year.
Time will tell…