Manchester United: Skeletons in the closet exposed

David Moyes: Facing the music

Almost the same date on two consecutive years, two different teams, but the same result exposing the same deficiencies.

The 29^th of September, 2012 – Jan Vertonghen cantered unchallenged almost 40 yards through the middle of the United team and then past the central defence before scoring to put his team ahead. Gareth Bale repeated the trick to score in the same half with a devastating burst of pace that left Rio Ferdinand trailing hopelessly in his wake as Tottenham Hotspurs ended their win less streak at Old Trafford stretching back to 1989.

Circa to the present, the 28^th of September, 2013 – unheralded West Bromwich Albion won for the first time at Old Trafford since 1978 with a performance which at times, harrowingly for United supporters, mirrored that of a year ago. Morgan Amalfitano could scarcely have believed the sight of goal in front of him when he swatted past Rio Ferdinand and dummied and chipped De Gea skilfully for West Brom’s first goal.

This tactic was repeated several more times by the Midlands outfit to dangerous effect in the second half, as the United midfield was cut open effortlessly by powerful direct running at pace aimed right at the creaking legs of Ferdinand.

Rio Ferdinand, as with the game last year, was especially culpable for the extreme vulnerability at the heart of United’s defence as he was time and again short of his man both aerially and on the turn, but the blame equally lies with the central midfield for the minimal protection they afforded. The problem continued even after the introduction of Fellaini, who was bought to solve just this weakness, but has been ineffectual in his last two displays.

Carrick, normally a slow starter, does not seem to have carried on from his excellent form of last year, causing the midfield to look even more ragged.

This is not to belittle West Bromwich Albion’s display, which was full of desire, verve and endeavour. They started and ended the game resolutely defending in numbers, which sandwiched many counter-attacking moves which resulted in both the goals they scored. But if United’s 4-1 defeat to Man City last week was more alarming as compared to the 6-1 loss a couple of years ago, this defeat has amplified the effects of the 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham a year ago, as it has laid bare the skeletons in their closet against much inferior opponents than the current high flying Londoners.

It has to be abundantly clear to David Moyes now that the ‘Old Guard’ of Ferdinand and Vidic cannot be trusted with the primary responsibilities any more. Rio Ferdinand, especially has looked out of his depth this season and his loss of pace has been embarrassingly highlighted in the last two games. The time has perhaps come for Moyes to be ruthless with the veteran defender and in that case, it could be the beginning of the end for Ferdinand’s storied career at Old Trafford.

But there is an equally ominous sign that has appeared in United’s attacking play under the new regime – the team has not scored domestically from open play in the last 6 games, since the opening day rout of Swansea. This is a shocking statistic for a club with the attacking history of Manchester United and opens up questions about their approach play.

Rio Ferdinand: Time up for the big man?

How does a forward line comprising the likes of Rooney, Van Persie, Kagawa, Nani and Chicharito fail to create enough chances of note for six games running is a mystery which must surely lie at the doorstep of the new manager. It has partly to do with preferring out of form players like Young and Valencia in the wide positions, but also the conservative flat structure in which the team is playing.

David Moyes has to address the rigidity in his system whereby vertical link-ups are not happening between the midfield and attack. He might point to the failed transfer window where he could not find the all-action midfielder to fill the void, but that is not an excuse for such a substantial lack of threat.

There have been times this season when the Manchester United setup has resembled Roy Hodgson’s England; such has been the fluidity in movement or the lack of it. To rectify this, David Moyes need look no further than last week’s drubbing at the hands of City, who were an example for how to make a 4-4-2 work spectacularly as Sergio Aguero dropped deep repeatedly to initiate attacks and Samir Nasri cut inside to add numbers centrally.

Interestingly, the game against Tottenham, where this discussion started, may contain the answer Manchester United are looking for. Wayne Rooney’s introduction for Ryan Giggs at half-time changed the complexion of the game as the attacking triangle of Van Persie, Rooney and Kagawa aided by the width of Nani and scheming of Scholes behind them pummelled Tottenham deep into their own half.

The interchanges in position between the attacking quartet could easily have led to more than the two goals they scored and the 35 minutes for which the system was in place before Kagawa was substituted for Welbeck may have pointers on how to effectively use these players together in attack.

The deficiencies, which the team had been grappling with for the last couple of years have been public knowledge but now that the glue which bound together the disparate weaknesses has finally retired, United’s mentality which allowed them to win games without particularly impressing seems to have disappeared leaving them with nowhere to hide.

Maybe Ferguson’s plea to the Old Trafford support after his last home game to stay behind the new manager through thick and thin contained much more foreboding than the normal passing of the mantle speech. David Moyes may have ended up with more problems on his plate than he had bargained for but most of them are not of his making and he will have to be backed by the supporters and the board till he is able to turn it around.