THIS UNITED LOOK DISJOINTED
As United crumbled against Swansea on Sunday, I kept wondering how they managed to take nothing from a game in which they had so much ball possession.
Pass, pass, pass, and pass again but no consistent threats in the opponent’s penalty box: Mata on the wings, Rooney as a lone striker, Herrera just behind Rooney, and Blind as a centre back marking Bafatemi Gomis, all we saw were square pegs in all the round holes all over the pitch.
And when the substitutions came? Fellaini upfront as a target man? Young on the right? (He has played on the left all season! So what exactly is happening with United?
As Swansea battled hard for the points on their own ground, United looked out of sorts and did not resemble the traditional United team that we’ve been used to in the past: there was no pace on the wings, the defensive rear guard lacked the steel of a Rio Ferdinand or Vidic, or Steve Bruce we’ve been used to through the years and was a mismatch against the strong Gomis.
Rooney looked like a young centre forward still learning the tricks of the trade as he was not used to the movements with his back to goal, Hererra looked lost trying to find space behind the Swansea midfield, Mata was again being under-utilised on the wings while Deepay simply failed to shine after the initial bubble at the club.
LVG has had enough time by now to understand that the EPL is no LaLiga, or Eredivisie, or Bundesliga, and that teams would fight you all the way substituting hard work for talent, if they can’t match you in that department.
Swansea showed character, guile, discipline and flair on Sunday, while United players looked lost as they continued to pass the ball without igniting the bombs at the opponents goal.
With £231million spent since his arrival, LVG has to revert to football basics and field the best team by putting the right people on the right seat on the bus –play them in their natural positions and stop fixing what is not broke.
Janujaz has now gone to Dortmund and what will happen to DeGea remains to be seen, the question now is; how long will it be before the board impatient with LVG? How soon would it be before the scenario that unfolded at Bayern repeat itself again? I’m watching closely as to how this one would unfold, but I hope LVG is not running out of time and ideas.
CITY LEAVE THEM TRAILING
There is no second guessing a team with numerous attacking options on the field of play.
Stop Yaya and Fernandinho will bomb forward. Attack with Sterling and Kolarov makes a decoy run, Navas and Sagna operate the same way on the right flank, Silva continues to pull a thousand tricks from his magic hat, while Aguero on his own upfront is as devastating as any deadly agent on a mission to kill.
With the addition of Kevin DeBryune and Otamendi, the options just continue to increase, and surely Manuel Pellegrini has found a way to motivate his players to take on the whole world at the moment.
If the early results are anything to go by, we can hand the League title to City, and just as Chelsea did last term, they have started ‘the project’ since January.
They bought Wilfred Boni in January (Chelsea bought Matic at same point last year)
Come summer they cleared the deck and brought in fresh players: out went Dzeko, Jovetic, Negredo, Milner, Boyata and Sinclair as they welcomed Sterling, Otamendi, DeBruyne and Delph
Whether all would get enough games is another debate, but we can see where Yaya Toure has found the new springs in his feet through renewed competition.
Last season everyone said Kompany was finished and had become a shadow of himself, but with Mangala, Otamendi and Demichelis breathing down his neck, the Belgian captain has raised his game to new heights.
Sterling’s arrival dropped Nasri down the pecking order and I am sure £55m for DeBruyne means Navas will most definitely drop down as well. With Delph ready to pounce if anyone got heady and refused to give their best because they’re being substituted consistently, there is competition for places in the middle.
We have to give credit to Pellegrini and the board, they have re-built the engine and re-styled the autocar, what is left to be seen is how many titles City would be hungry for this season.
After failing to land any silverware last season, my guess would be, everything, but let us not get carried away yet as it is still early days, but it’s City’s to lose at the moment.
CAN CHELSEA AVOID THE DROP?
How can a championship team lose their appetite so early at the start of a new season?
How does a team that lead the league for the whole of the previous season suddenly become bad overnight?
How do you explain a team that conceded 32 goals in 38 games last term, already shipping in 9 goals in 4 games this season?
Ivanovic is nowhere to be found, Azpilicueta is on a game of Jekyll and Hyde, Matic the giant has turned into a dwarf in midfield, Fabregas always looks like a 15 year old playing against 30 year olds, Willian runs a lot but appears to be labouring on the pitch, Eden Hazard finds it hard to get into second gear and Diego Costa looks like he is on a suicidal mission alone upfront and suddenly everyone has found out that John Terry has no pace.
Forget the players, and forget the theatre at the bridge, the blame lies at the door of Jose Mourinho.
Why he refused to shake the team up during the summer is still a mystery to me.
Why he refused to let the fringe players leave as soon as they won the league is still baffling to me.
Exactly the opposite of what is happening at the Etihad is happening at the Bridge, surely the regular starters have seen off the competition from last season so what exactly is Mourinho holding on to in his fringe players? Obi was seen off to the stands, Ramirez played catch up all season, Loic Remy has lost one season of regular football, even Oscar was seen off ceremoniously as soon as Cesc arrived, so just why are these players still there when for the same reason Luis Felipe was released at the end of the season?
Why should Fabregas raise his game if there is nobody to challenge him for his place?
Why should Costa be a constant goal threat when there is no world class forward in form, pushing him to his limits? Where is Ivanovic’s competition? Where is the player to put Azpilicueta on his toes (Yes now they have Baba Rahman but why did they not bring him in when they knew Felipe Luis was leaving at the start of the window?)
What happened to Stones? Are we going to see a similar end to the story as we saw with Rooney two seasons ago? All noise but no results?
As I watched the Palace game on Saturday, it was obvious that this team needed a shake up after the season, but Mourinho stubbornly failed to do so in the name of loyalty.
Unless a new and fresh team is built at the Bridge to create a new problem for teams, I am afraid Chelsea may not avoid the drop from Champions League football this season, but then most of the other teams are not altogether at the races isn’t it?
Maybe that is what Mourinho is still holding on to as he weighs his options with a few hours to the end of the transfer window – the others are not that special and I can play catch up.
Perhaps he wants to chase City this year and put pressure on them as opposed to last season where he was under pressure from day 1, but whatever it is, I hope he hasn’t gotten it all wrong this time around.