Predictable United struggling to adapt to new system

Call it 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 (a more convoluted name for essentially the same formation) Sir Alex Ferguson may need to reconsider the system and personnel he deploys if his Manchester United side are going to have anything more than a passing interest come the business end of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur’s win at Old Trafford on Saturday, their first since 1989, only confirmed what many are starting to suspect. This United side is struggling to function with five in midfield.

Going into the game Andre Villas-Boas wouldn’t have needed to study hours and hours of video to work out how to beat United. It has been evident for a while.

At the Etihad in April a five-man United midfield laboured to the extent that had the game been over 180 minutes they still would have failed to create a goal-scoring chance. That meek surrender angered many United fans, who were as confused then as they are now about the employment of a system that renders their side impotent in attack while affording minimal protect to a fragile back-four.

And while the players might have changed over the summer, the recruitment of Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie has done little to solve the problem.

At Goodison on the opening day they struggled to create any real chances of note and continued to look vulnerable in defence. The result, a battering at the hands of a Mourane Fellaini inspired Everton.

They got lucky at Southampton, with a combination of factors, including a second-half switch to 4-4-2, the introduction of Paul Scholes and clinical Robin Van Persie finishing coupled with naive defending on the part of the hosts helping to avert disaster.

Galatasaray out-passed and outplayed them in the Champions League, denied only by errant finishing and dubious refereeing. Then just over a week ago United were second best for long periods against a Liverpool side that played 51 of 90 minutes with ten-men following the sending off of Jonjo Shelvey.

So what exactly is going wrong? Sitting in the press box before the home-game against Fulham (another far from convincing display) one journalist told me that United could not afford to be caught using two forwards or playing 4-4-2 against any of Europe’s or the Premier League’s top sides. His view was and still remains that playing two up front would leave United’s midfield over-run and undermanned.

After watching two distinctly different 45 minutes of football over the weekend I would contend that United can ill afford not to return to what they know best.

Playing with a five-man midfield produced just one 20-yard shot via the boot of Nani in a miserable first period and with Carrick and Scholes drawn ever further forward to support a light-weight Kagawa, isolated Van Persie and a wastefully lethargic Giggs, Tottenham were able to capitalise and use the pace and power of Dembele and Bale to great effect and lay the foundations to their success.

Around ten years ago Sir Alex broke with tradition and opted for a midfield quintet in a bid to shore up his defence and make them more unpredictable in Europe.

Back then the Keane-Scholes axis was supplemented by the mercurial Juan Sebastian Veron, however despite the undoubted talents of that particular triumvirate it failed to necessitate the spark and solidity that Ferguson had hoped for.

A ten point title winning margin in 2000-01 turned to a ten point deficit in 01-02, with United trailing home behind Arsenal and Liverpool. The same season they also suffered the ignominy of an away goals defeat to an average Bayer Leverkusen side at the semi-final stage of the Champions League.

And 02-03 looked to be running along the same lines, that is until Laurent Blanc and Veron both picked up injuries that tellingly ruled them out for a significant chunk of the title run-in post Christmas. Without that duo, Ferguson switched back to a tried and tested team and formation. Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer were used as foils to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Ferguson’s men collected 51 points from a possible 57 to storm past Chelsea, Newcastle and Arsenal to yet another title.

Of course it’s easy to blame tactics, formations and individuals for poor performances but while Sir Alex would likely not admit it, but for those injuries United wouldn’t have come anywhere near winning the league that year. Many fans believe that but for those timely (or untimely – I suppose it depends on your particular allegiance) crocks Veron and Blanc would have continued to have been picked partly out of blind faith and due to the stubbornness of the manager to admit a failing on his part – i.e. in tactics and team selection.

So fast forward just over a decade and here we are again, except the midfield line-up is nowhere near as impressive. The consistent failing of this season has been predictability and defensive insecurity, the exact issues playing five across midfield is meant to eradicate.

The predictability of:

• Scholes, Carrick et al having to try and force the ball through congested areas of the pitch to try and find Kagawa or Van Persie.
• Van Persie & Kagawa being hopelessly outnumbered and isolated when they receive the ball in the final third.
• United being unable to stretch and get in behind teams.
• The central midfielders pushing on to try and add their weight & other options to the outnumbered Van Persie & Kagawa.
• Having redundant wingers who often pick up possession in dead areas or once their opponents are set behind the ball.
• The restrictions it places upon United to counter quickly by effectively only having one forward option to play through.
• The open spaces it leaves behind the central midfielders for players to run into and get at the back-four.

Time will tell if tradition or Wayne Rooney come riding into the rescue but most fans will hope that it doesn’t take too many more inept performances or any injuries before Sir Alex considers, that it might just be time for a change.