Manchester United’s uninspiring win over Crystal Palace at the weekend served up some food for thought for Louis Van Gaal and fans of this great club.
The fact that United,which fielded a front four that is worth approximately 180 million Euros, struggled to create openings in the match is a real concern.It had to take a combination of a deflected effort from substitute Juan Mata and poor goalkeeping for United to finally make a breakthrough.
United’s recent displays can be mainly attributed to the latest tweaking of the team by the gaffer.This recent change in formation has enabled the team to put in some solid defensive performances.Paradoxically, it has also greatly reduced the attacking prowess of the team.This attacking department, which a few weeks ago was the strongest part of the team has being blunted. In the past three weeks, the team has only being able to find the net on two occasions,this weekend against Palace and the injury time equaliser against Chelsea which came from a set-piece.Under the diamond formation, which was employed after the transfer window shut, United used to find the net on a regular basis but the team also put up unconvincing defensive displays,evidenced in the horror show against Leicester City. Van Gaal noted at the time that the team struggled in the final 30 minutes of matches and for that matter there was a need to change the shape of the team.
Thus for the third time this season came a new formation, the 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 formation. This formation basically employs two wingers on both flanks with a deep lying striker playing off another center forward. This has resulted in Robin Van Persie,the teams deep lying striker being isolated upfront in most games and has also contributed to his below par performances in recent times.It must be noted however, that Van Persies is not the same player as he was two seasons ago, where he virtually carried the team to the title.The hunger is virtually not there again.
Di Maria who has being deployed in the left flanks,has also witnessed a downgrade in his performances.Even though playing on the wings is not new to the Argentine,he seems to excel in the center of the field where he played last season for Madrid. Contrast to his early performances for the red devils where he seemed to be at the center of everything good for the team, he has struggled to impose himself in recent games and this has had an overall effect on the team as whole. His numbers in the game against Crystal Place,where he made 2 key passes and attempted 12 crosses with 0 percent accuracy,speaks volumes of his recent struggles.
Adnan Januzaj who was expected to build on the huge success of his breakout season, has being a pale shadow of himself and has been disappointing to say the least.
The diamond formation worked for the team in an attacking sense because unlike this current system, the team had two strikers up top and this gave the opposing defense plenty of headache but it also left our defense short and anytime the other team were on the attack,they seemed certain to score.
Considering the gaffer’s knack for changing things when they are not working,it is a sure fire bet that he would be willing to try out other options to achieve the balance that we all seek in the team.
Source: DSG
