Manchester United: The future of the wings

Remembering the likes of Ryan Giggs, George Best, Billy Meredith and recently even Cristiano Ronaldo as they ran down the wings, turning defenders and striking brilliant free kicks, will never fail to bring a smile to a Manchester United supporter. Without doubt, the wings have played a massive part in the success of Manchester United over the years.

But seeing crosses go flying into the stands, and the opposition winning the ball on the by-line because of a failed attempt at a nutmeg by the wingers in the recently-concluded season, I was left wondering if the once-feared wings of Manchester United will ever be the same again.

The responsibility of attacking down the flanks has now fallen to Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Nani ever since Ronaldo left for Real Madrid and Ryan Giggs adopted a more central role to reduce his workload owing to his age. These three made a bright start in their positions. Nani was widely considered as the next Ronaldo owing to the fact that he mirrored Ronaldo in many aspects of his game, such as his lightning pace and little tricks. Antonio Valencia, when signed in 2009 from Wigan, was one of the most promising wingers in the world. Ashley Young, who joined United in 2011, was widely touted to form a partnership with Wayne Rooney which would terrorize Europe.

So the question is why, despite having such highly talented wingers, is Manchester United no longer considered a team with strong wings? The obvious answer is that somewhere down the line, these three lost their focus and, compounded with injuries which sidelined them for months, has led to a decline in form.

There is no doubt that Nani is highly talented and was in great form a couple of years ago. But ever since Ronaldo left, he has been trying to match up to his reputation and has started imitating his game style. Now Ronaldo had a lot of tricks in his armoury and also has a lot of pace; Nani, on the other hand, is a good crosser and not bad when it comes to flying down the wings, but lacks the finesse of Ronaldo. So, in the past season or two, we have often seen him trying to outfox the defenders but he has, more often than not, ended up giving the ball away. Also, it cannot be denied that Nani is a bit selfish when it comes to playing in the opposition box.

The same problem has been afflicting Valencia. The 2011-12 season was a superb one for the Ecuadorian, and was even voted the Manchester United Player of the Year. But his loss of form in the recently-concluded season was nothing short of bewildering. The confidence and power that he exuded in his previous years at the club seems to have disappeared. His crossing ability has also declined, and a noticeable trend in his performances in the past season was his over-dependence on Rafael to back him up when confronted with a defender rather than taking him on with his incredible speed and power.

Ashley Young, on the other hand, has been undone by injuries. A promising start to his career at the club was undermined this year by a similar problem that Valencia has when up against a defender; in this case, needing Patrice Evra to back him up. One may make the excuse that he missed a large part of the season due to repeated injuries, but frankly, in the games that he did play in, his performances were dismal.

Obviously, another burning question that has to be asked is: what can be done to rectify this problem? One solution could be to bring in another winger, notably Ronaldo or Gareth Bale, though the latter seems unlikely. When there is a lot of competition for a single spot in the side, players are spurred on to perform as well as possible so as to grab that spot. Not to mention that a certain Wilfried Zaha will most definitely be fighting for a place in the side.

But largely, it all boils down to keeping faith in these three. However, according to rumours, Nani could well be on his way out of the club, and not surprisingly, judging by his unhappiness at not being played regularly in the past season and also his lackadaisical attitude in recent times. But Young and Valencia are definitely indispensable to the squad, and maybe all they need to recover their old form is a bit more self-confidence and maintaining their focus.