Basic mistakes from Manchester United's new (or not so new) manager

Ashley Young (if ever fit) had a fantastic debut season (actually fantastic debut half season as he was injured for most of the second half) two years ago, but since then, there has been nothing great in his performances. In big games he always goes missing. His tendency to be an easy diver is also well known. Even though, among all the wingers, Young can deliver the best crosses, he has not been consistent enough the times he is fit. Nani is, well, Nani! Had he been blessed with the decision making skills of the likes of his Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, he would have become one of the most feared wingers in the Premier League for sure.

The other two wingers amongst the squad – Wilfried Zaha and Adnan Januzaj – are young and exciting talents and surely merit more playing time than they are getting. After all, how else will they become better footballers. For this sake, I felt United needed to either buy a ready-made first team winger or invest time (intensive time, mind you) in the young wingers at Man Utd.

The future of Manchester United…but ONLY if they are given the chance

3. Tactics and squad selection

At Everton, David Moyes generally preferred the 4-4-1-1 formation with the fullbacks providing the width to the team’s attacking chances and the wingers coming inside to give additional support to the No. 10. This is not largely dissimilar to the way United operate (although United wingers generally do not come into the central areas as much).

However, last season, after purchasing Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie, Sir Alex had often experimented with his formations, sometimes choosing a 4-3-3, and at other times opting for a 4-1-4-1 diamond which often suffocated the centre of midfield, with both formations leading to moderate success (most of the times, Sir Alex had to make changes to the tactics midway during games last season). Though they were not a complete success, the variations showed Sir Alex’s willingness to change the way United play.

His ability to adapt his team and his coaching style with modern times was one of the biggest reasons for his longevity as Manchester United manager. David Moyes also needs to learn to adapt his style. The 4-4-1-1 is probably not a bad formation, but not ideal against big teams which deploy three men in the centre of midfield (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City).

Moyes needs to find what formation suits the team best and ensure that the best players are in the best position. I would have suggested a 4-3-2-1 for United as well, but seeing how United’s wingers are struggling at the moment and how the team’s play is lacking in creative bite, employing two holding midfielders would only make the task of creating chances all the more daunting.

Another major complaint against United has been squad selection. David Moyes’s selection of players more often than not has been very poor. Moyes has continually said that ‘he’s getting to know the players’, but what does seem baffling is that he still has no proper clue on what his best XI is.

Another problem has been his squad rotation. Moyes has made poor use of his squad, there is no doubt about that. He continually chooses to stick to the same set of players despite some of them not performing so well in previous matches (Ashley Young, Ryan Giggs are prime examples of this). This is something he did at Everton too, rarely tinkering with the squad, often choosing the same set of players in every game and only making exceptions for injuries or suspensions.

But at United, he faces a problem. United are not Everton; they have many games every week, considering they participate in the Champions League, Carling Cup, FA Cup and Premier league of course. Although it is understandable that he wants some stability in his squad, he should under no circumstances keep choosing to start players who performed poorly in the previous games. Another concern is overplaying some of the players. Rooney played four games on the trot in two weeks. Though his performances were nothing short of brilliant, at some point, players will start to fatigue. So it would be more sensible to give the players a break as well, before they completely break down.

Conclusion

I have no doubt that David Moyes will eventually lead Manchester United to a respectable position in the Premier League and considering the long term, he was the right choice. It will be interesting to see in what shape United will be come the January transfer window. No matter what, I am sure all true Reds will be behind their manager.