Five reasons why Manchester United could not win the Treble this season

The season has not gone according to plan for Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester United were overwhelming favourites for the treble earlier in the season, but after a disappointing last month, the Premier League is the only trophy they’ll have to be content with this season. (Of course, this is based on the assumption that United will not suffer a meltdown similar to last season. And I would definitely give Ferguson’s team the benefit of the doubt here.)

Of course, this season has better than the last in terms of trophies won, but yet it seems rather unsatisfactory, given the fact that they signed the previous season’s top goalscorer van Persie, and boosted their attacking options manifold.

So let us try and understand what exactly went wrong for Ferguson’s boys in spite of playing sumptuous football over the course of the season:

Over-reliance on forwards

With 4 quality forwards to choose from, Ferguson surely faced a dilemma every match as to which of the four should start. Danny Welbeck’s ability to play on the wings, coupled with the disappointing form of Nani, Valencia and Young, helped him get the starting nod over Chicharito in many matches. And while Chicharito has also been sensational, van Persie has been the difference between United and City this season. It now seems that the Premier League winner was decided before the season even started, when van Persie chose the red half of Manchester instead of the opposing blue end.

However, Manchester United have been heavily reliant on the forwards, or in other words, the midfield hasn’t contributed enough in terms of goals.

An alarming stat comes into picture here.

Manchester United have scored 98 goals in all competitions so far this season, out of which 57 have been scored by their strikers. This means a whopping 58% of their goals have come from their strike quartet, which is a cause for concern. The midfield has chipped in with only 23 goals so far, which is 23% of total goals scored this season.

It is true that Michael Carrick has been in admirable form this season, and his forward passing has been top class. However, the likes of Cleverley, Nani, Young, Valencia, Anderson, and Giggs need to start getting into goalscoring positions more often, because when the forwards don’t fire, then someone from the midfield has to step up and contribute with the goals.

Paul Scholes was an absolute genius at this in his earlier days. Perfect positioning, clever runs into the box and the instincts of a poacher – he had it all. Unfortunately, no one has been able to replace his genius so far at Old Trafford.

Hence, the lack of goals from midfield is certainly something which Ferguson will have to address next season.

Wingers out of form

While Nani, Valencia and Young were tremendous last season, both in terms of goals as well as assists, they have certainly gone missing this season. Both Valencia and Young are yet to score a goal this season, while Nani has chipped in with just 3 goals yet. A comparison with their stats from last season brings out startling revelations.

In the 2011-12 season, Valencia, Young and Nani together had a combined total of 24 goals and 35 assists. In 2012-13, they have had a combined total of only 3 goals and 13 assists. A staggering drop in just one season.

It is no wonder that Evra and Rafael have performed well this season, the main reason being the poor performance of the wingers, which has led to the space being taken up by the defensive duo.

Well, if this isn’t proof enough, here is another stat – In the 2011-12 season, Manchester United made 593 crosses in the Premier League, at a rate of 15.61 per match.

In the 2012-13 season, Manchester United made only 323 crosses in the league till date, at a rate of just 10.42 per match. Enough evidence that crosses from the wings have dried up.

Ferguson has already signed Wilfried Zaha in the winter transfer window, and he might just be the spark that United need on the wings.

Constant injury problems

Like last season, Manchester United have been plagued by injury problems this term. Vidic, Fletcher, Rooney, Anderson, Nani, Jones, and the list goes on. All of them have been sidelined with injuries for a brief spell this season, and constant changes in the lineup don’t help the team’s cause either.

Currently, they have Vidic, Smalling and Evans – all three centre-backs injured. In the initial parts of the season as well, Vidic, Smalling and Jones were unavailable for most of the time due to injuries. All possible centre-back pairings have been tried by Ferguson this season, not because of loss of form or poor performances of players, but due to unavailability of players due to injury.

Last season too, Manchester United were the worst-hit team by injuries, losing players to a combined total of an astonishing 1,681 days.

Sir Alex cannot afford to keep losing players to injuries, because squad depth is the most essential requisite when you are challenging on three fronts simultaneously.

The Red Card

One moment, one decision, one colour, one card – and the castle of dreams fell flat on the ground. The dream of every Manchester United fan, the dream of a Treble, all lay in tatters. We surely thought that this was our year, that this would be the year of the fourth European title. That van Persie was the answer to our hapless European journeys over the past couple of seasons.

But fate had other cruel ideas. And fate in the form of the referee, dished out an unfair red card, as many would argue. Ferguson’s reaction, after the red card was shown, sums it up perfectly. Everyone was dumbfounded. They couldn’t believe what they had seen. Beating Real Madrid with 11 men is a huge task in itself, but now they were reduced to 10 men.

The players were affected the most, as was clearly evident from their body language. Though they had the confidence and conviction to win the game even in the last 10-15 minutes (which is something I am really proud of, as a Manchester United fan), fate intervened again in the form of Diego Lopez.

Sometimes you wonder if it just wasn’t our night. It just wasn’t meant to be. Everything was perfect until the red card, so perfect that it had to fall apart.

One can only hope that the referee is at his best during such crucial matches, where one decision can change the course of the season for teams.

Reactive, instead of proactive

The number of times Manchester United have gone down and then come back to win matches this season is really remarkable. The never-say-die attitude has shone right through this season.

But Manchester United have now made it a habit – to go down and then come back to win it. Arrogance is good, but only to a good measure. Aston Villa, Newcastle, Braga, Liverpool, Reading, Southampton, the list is never ending. Why always react after going down? Where is the intensity until then? Where is the desire to win until then?

The mentality has to change and Ferguson knows this. It is not always easy to make comebacks time and again, and it is high time the team realised it.

**

On a positive note, the younger players in the team have gained valuable experience this season and have grown a lot. The likes of Rafael, Evans, Cleverley, Hernandez, and Welbeck have shown maturity beyond their years, and this will only hold them in good stead for the coming seasons.

Kagawa is slowly finding his feet in the Premier League, and Ferguson has assured that he will play up to his full potential next season.

England U21s’ exciting winger Wilfried Zaha has been snapped up by Ferguson, and he will be eager to strut his stuff at the Theatre of Dreams next season.

All in all, the next season promises to be an exciting one for the Red Devils, just like this one was. Whether they will live up to their promise and expectations, only time will tell.