Manchester United welcome midfield duo to end three match losing streak

Darren Fletcher

Mired by the absence of several key figures from the starting lineup owing to all sorts of injuries, Manchester United manager David Moyes was given a glimmer of hope after the unlikely arrival of Darren Fletcher from a long term injury. The Scottish international made his return to top flight football for the club on 15^th December and played for the final twenty minutes in the 3-0 victory for the Red Devils. And just two days later, the 29-year-old made a definitive statement by saying “I want to help us win to bring back the success we are used to”.

With Darren Fletcher nursing a long term illness, Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to try umpteen combinations in that area of the park and despite being a success in the initial parts of their career; both Anderson and Tom Cleverley have failed to make any significant contribution to the team in the near past. The problem continued despite the change of manager at the club and whilst David Moyes splurged a hefty sum on Maruone Fellaini, the Belgian midfielder has been unlucky with injuries during his six month stint at Old Trafford.

Tonight’s outing against Swansea City was a proof of the fact that United badly need a quality central midfielder to formulate their playing style to perfection. Tom Cleverley made a blistering start to his career but I seriously cannot recall the last time I saw him make a decent forward pass that didn’t get intercepted midway by the opposing defender. Half of the passes that Cleverley makes are either to the player nearest to him or inconsequential. With Michael Carrick willing to lie back and assist the defenders in their job, the onus lies on the 23 year old former academy player to run at opposing defences and deliver key passes or spray the ball around to the wingers since United have historically been a team that believes in wing play.

Image courtesy: Squawka.com

Image Courtesy: Squawka.com

From Cleverley’s Heat Map against Cardiff City, the game in which Fellaini started as the holding midfielder, it is evident that he has failed to run deep into the opposing half to produce any sort of threat whatsoever. While Darren Fletcher could be seen in Swansea’s half yesterday, supporting the front line by providing a channel for the ball to flow through.

Player Name	Appearances	Assist	Key Passes/game	Avg. Passes
Yaya Toure	19	3	1.2	75.1
Aaron Ramsey	17 (1)	6	1.4	70.1
David Silva	11	5	4.1	72.6
Gareth Barry	16	3	1.4	70.3
Tom Cleverley	14 (2)	0	0.4	57.9

(Source: www.whoscored.com)

From the above table, it is clear that Tom Cleverley has failed to match the standards that the midfielders of top teams in the league have performed.

Speaking of the other midfielder, Anderson has been completely shunned from David Moyes’ plans. There has been no news of injury to the Brazilian and yet we see the likes of Zaha and Lingard been given a chance to at least warm the bench ahead of Anderson. The former Porto man will surely be offloaded as soon as a suitable offer comes on the table.

So that leaves United with Carrick and Fletcher as the only two fit specialist midfielders apart from Tom Cleverley. Phil Jones has repeatedly been asked to fill the void but the promising England international has been on the injury table for the last couple of weeks that saw United lose three games in a row for the first time in more than a decade. Wayne Rooney was shifted into the central midfield area against Tottenham just after Eriksen’s goal in the 66^th minute that doubled their lead. And from the 67^th minute to end whistle, United looked a different outfit altogether, keeping possession of the ball and creating numerous chances only for the attackers to disappoint.

Image Courtesy: Squawka.com

The point is that the decision makers at Old Trafford need to realize the importance that this position holds in dictating the play and buy accordingly in the transfer window. United have been linked with all sorts of players for every position on the pitch imaginable but in my humble opinion, one quality central midfielder is all that is needed in addition to timely recovery of the Robin-Wayne partnership!

Speaking of Robin-Wayne partnership, much has been said about David Moyes and his performance at the club since taking over from Sir Alex (whose presence in the stands pressurizes the hell out of Moyes, as per numerous newspapers and count-hungry websites). My two cents on the on-going discussion: take two of the best strikers out from any premier league side (Aguero and Negredo from City, Luis Suarez from Liverpool, Giroud from Arsenal) and think whether the sides would be able to perform to the level they are performing right now? It’s a mark of a great man not to make excuses and Moyes is yet to make an excuse about the unavailability of several of his key players (RvP, Rooney, Jones, Young, Nani, Fellaini etc.) in his interviews. Rather the manager has always praised his players after every performance. And in my opinion, United have not been that bad. The side have created 3-4 good chances in every game and I’m sure the presence of Robin van Persie in those situations would have seen a very different premier league table altogether.

To the #MoyesOut brigade: The people chanting their lungs and hearts out in freezing cold weather on their 3^rd outing in 7 days do not care what s**t you type sitting in the comfort of your room.

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