Why David Moyes's tactics are nullifying Manchester United's key players

David Moyes

At Everton, David Moyes enjoyed exploiting the flanks and attacking the opposition primarily through crosses. This pattern of play has transferred from Goodison Park to Old Trafford as the Scotsman switched his job and Manchester United fans have witnessed their team display a preference for wide areas of the pitch so far this season.

This may be because of a lack of a real attacking presence to supplement Wayne Rooney through the centre of the pitch, or a belief that this will enable Man United to break down well organised defences who sit deeply at Old Trafford. Whatever the reason, however, it is clearly not working as well as was intended; the Red Devils currently sit in seventh position with a ‘goals for’ tally which is almost half the value of their ‘noisy neighbours”, Manchester City.

There are a number of reasons for this. One such explanation is the wingers which Moyes plays with, who often prove detrimental to his preferred style of play. The likes of Adnan Januzaj, Ashley Young and Shinji Kagawa all have a tendency to come into the middle of the pitch, and this restricts the damage which they are able to inflict upon the opposition; after getting into a dangerous position, they then enter the congested centre and inhibit themselves from crossing the ball. This undoes the effort which the team has made to get into crucial final third and has to be righted if Moyes wishes to persist with the wide game.

Often, a winger who is instructed to adopt a narrow position is intended to create room for an overlapping full-back by dragging the opposition’s defence out of shape. However, whilst this may be the desired outcome at Old Trafford, Moyes’ full-backs (in particular those on the right) are hindering his system – Chris Smalling, who has featured in the right-back role this season, is not the type of full-back to take up this role consistently despite his strengths, whilst Rafael has often failed to take advantage of the openings created for him.

For example, in their last Premier League game, against Chelsea, the Brazilian managed only four crosses throughout the entirety of the match despite finding himself with the ball in an advanced position frequently. This type of play will frustrate Moyes as he looks to impose himself at Old Trafford.

Rafael Crosses vs Chelsea

A lack of players in the penalty area has also inhibited Man United’s attacks from wide areas. Moyes’ central attacking players, namely his number 10 and lone striker, have often looked isolated in the 18-yard-box due to the withdrawn positions of his central midfield players; the likes of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley remain further back on the pitch and as such offer little attacking threat as Moyes looks for players to latch on to one of his team’s crosses.

Indeed, Carrick failed to even attempt a single header against Chelsea, whilst all four of Jones’ were around the halfway line. The lack of support from the two players in these roles makes it easy for the opposition defence to outnumber Man Utd’s attack and as such comfortably deal with the aerial threat Moyes hopes to offer.

Phil Jones Headed Duels vs Chelsea

Injuries have also had an effect. The absence of Robin van Persie, a striker who is 6ft 2in tall, has had huge implications of the damage which Man United hope to inflict through crossed balls; his replacements, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, do not have the same aerial prowess as the Dutch striker; the former has won just 33% of his headed duels this season, whilst the Mexican striker has been successful in only 15% of his aerial battles.

These are damning statistics which show that neither player is capable of leading an attack which creates chances from wide areas in the fashion which Moyes desires – yes, Welbeck has performed brilliantly in recent games, but his aerial ability just does not match up with a player who won nearly 50% of his headers last season. Whilst Moyes wishes to attack teams from wide areas, it is very difficult to do so without a player like Van Persie leading the line.

Javier Hernandez Duels Won

There are, then, a variety of reasons for the inhibited effectiveness of Man United’s wide play. It may be that, in Van Persie’s absence, Moyes must instruct his team to play more centrally than they have done so far this season; however, the lack of a dynamic central midfield presence could mean that this has worse implications than the system currently employed. This seems to be an issue behind much of what the Red Devils do – it restricts a style of play oriented around the team’s central players, whilst the reluctance of the middle men to push higher up also restricts the threat of Man United’s crosses. However, with Man United closing on Juan Mata suggests that Moyes could be changing styles.

It will be tough for Moyes to make his preferred system work, but, if he can correct some of the flaws in his operation and sign a more positive central midfielder, he could enjoy greater success.