3 reasons why Danny Welbeck needs to start against Manchester City

Wayne Rooney can’t do it all by himself against Manchester City, and with Robin van Persie potentially out for the rest of the season, Manchester United must turn to local lad Danny Welbeck to lead the line against their rivals. Here’s why he needs a starting role in the Manchester derby.

1. Pace

Danny Welbeck

The versatile, Longsight-born striker possess something to invoke fear in the hearts of almost any top-class defender: genuine pace.

While United’s much hyped, all-star quartet of Juan Mata, Adnan Januzaj, van Persie and Rooney may each be individually superior, they have struggled at times without the necessary acceleration and speed to zip behind opponents’ lines.

Welbeck provides just such an outlet, which could be extremely useful against City, what with their relatively slow central defenders and tendency to push their full-backs up in support of their narrow midfielders and forwards. Placing him either on the left wing to cut inside and attack Vincent Kompany & Co. diagonally, or as a No. 9 ahead of Rooney, would force Manuel Pellegrini to reconsider his game plan, pulling back his defensive line to guard against the danger of the Mancunian breaking the offside trap at speed.

2. Movement

Danny Welbeck stats

As well as pace, United have often struggled to break down opponents of late due to the lack of off-the-ball movement and runs, with their celebrated four piece compromised mostly of players who prefer to come narrow into the hole to play at being their side’s No. 10.

Unfortunately, due to the entire front line being sucked into the space between midfield and attack, this leaves Moyes short of players to actually finish chances or encourage killer balls forward for runners to get on the end of into the opponent’s box.

Gary Neville pointed out a similar problem with Arsenal this season, and the lack of movement around Mesut Ozil to get the best out of the German. The same is true at United where there has been a surplus of thinkers and not enough doers on the field whenever Mata and his other playmaking partners have lined up together.

Along with Antonio Valencia, Welbeck is one of the players best suited to working hard in the attacking third for his creative teammates, regularly surging forwards to test defenders’ reactions, or running the channels to offer options to those behind him.

City are far from unbeatable, but in order to exploit their frailties, United must seize the initiative rather than dally with the ball in midfield. By selecting Welbeck, Moyes will have a forward able to distract Pellegrini’s defence with his off-the-ball movement, and heave United’s attacking line into the face of Joe Hart, creating space for Rooney or Mata to work their magic in the hole.

3. Big game mentality

Danny Welbeck stats

It’s almost a cliche to describe the academy products of Alex Ferguson’s reign as big game players, but as was so often the case, it was the likes of John O’Shea, Wes Brown and of course the famous “Class of ’92? who so often came up big for United when they most needed it.

As shown by his towering header against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu last season, and his sterling work in the return leg at Old Trafford, Welbeck is a player who continues this fine tradition, and his appetite for the big occasion could be key to nullifying City and making the most of the scraps available in attack.

Whether he plays wide left, up front or even behind Rooney, in a similar role to the one he played in the second leg against Madrid last year, Welbeck has the tenacity to press from the front as well as the aforementioned pace and movement to turn successful duels into direct runs on goal on the biggest stages of all.

Yaya Toure, David Silva and Samir Nasri are all set to dominate the midfield battle at Old Trafford, but should Moyes throw Welbeck into the melee from the start, his readiness to close down opponents in their own half could snatch the momentum away from these celebrated names through his graft, pace and power. It’s unlikely that Kompany or his derided partners Martin Demichelis or Joleon Lescott would enjoy the extra attention either, and we’ve all seen what happens to their composure and performances when placed in situations outside of their comfort zones.