From The By Line : Change Players or Change Philosophy?

Author : Johan Du Plessis 

Happy New Year and thankfully, a happy, winning start to the year for Manchester United.

With the start of the new year comes the start of mid-season transfer window where there are very, very seldom significant transfers however, with United in 5^th place and already 9 points behind league leaders, Arsenal, it is only to be expected that the press will go absolutely mad with transfer speculation. It is the perfect opportunity for journalists to speculate and conjure up new rumours which seem to be so farfetched that you cannot help but believe it.

But do United have to bring in new players, and if so, who do they let go?

Should United believe that dipping a toe into the market is required, they have limited options available. Players that could be facing the chop are:

Mata – Against Swansea he was again only a peripheral figure, contributing very little and outshone by Young who was playing as a wing back.

Carrick – A United legend on his last legs.

Players that could return to the Reserve Team (simply because they are not good enough)

Borthwick-Jackson, Taunzebe, Powell, Goss, Keane and Rashford

If United retains Mata and Carrick, but they let the above players return to the Reserves, they still have 24 players in their squad. (25 if you count outcast Valdes)

So no need to delve into the market just yet however, remove the injured players – Rojo, Shaw and Valencia – and you start wondering if maybe it would not be such a bad idea to test the waters.

The players that have been strongly linked with United are:

PLAYER	TEAM	POSITION	MATCHES	GOALS	PASS %	CHANCES CREATED
Mane	Southampton	Winger	20	3	83%	27
Anderson	Lazio	Cen. Mid	17	4	68%	12
Pato	Sao Paolo	Cen. Forward	33	10	73%	38
Gundogan	Dortmund	Cen. Defender	17	0	88%	17
Guedes	Benfica	Winger	0	0	0	0
Marquinhos	PSG	Cen. Defender	12	0	94%	0

None of these potential transfers make me particularly excited about seeing them in a United shirt and it is worrying when we look at players who had mediocre seasons at best, and still “hoping” to sign them.

The only encouraging aspect from this transfer speculation is the positions they play, but then again, how true are these rumours. We are short in defense and the injuries had been devastating to our title hopes to say the least. Valencia was just starting to become a competent Right Back and Shaw started like a house on fire. Rojo made a much needed return to Centre Back and we looked solid… and then it was all gone and we were left with playing Young and Blind. Young, to his credit has been a mini revelation at Right back and it is worrying that he too has now picked up a knock. Blind… well Blind is filling a hole that cannot be filled by anyone else but if Shaw was fit, it would be difficult to see Blind getting a place in the starting XI.

Fact is that United’s historical success is largely due to the talent that came through the ranks at United. Young players who give up their console times to practice real footfall in the hopes of dawning a United shirt one day and walk onto the grass in the Theatre of Dreams with 70 000 fans singing their name.

The positive spin on LVG being at United is that he believes in the future of the youth players. He understands the philosophy and importance of bleeding youngsters. Yes, he did send Wilson and Blackett out on loan, but he did not sell them, and the idea was for them to get playing time because he feared that they will not get that at United. With players like Wilson, Blackett, Varela, Tuanzebe, Borthwick Jackson, Martial, Depay & McNair waiting in the wings, praying for the opportunity to prove their worth, why buy more players?

The biggest problem at United is not the players but rather the way they are asked to play. In LVG’s first season, United only had to stop the leaks and therefor LVG’s possession based philosophy rewarded us with a Top 4 position. The Bundesliga is perfect for this type of football as is La Liga, though over the last 5 seasons it has changed to a more flamboyant style of football. With the tremendous commercial pressure LVG has to absorb at United it is no surprise that he would revert to what he knows best but the BPL is a different league all together. It is a league of risk vs reward, no risk, no reward. With the new, fairer, distribution of TV revenue, teams now have extra motivation to play expansive and entertaining football and every Club has to adapt to this new era in the BPL. LVG has to change his philosophy.

Early signs, based purely on the last two games vs Chelsea and Swansea, is that LVG has indeed changed his philosophy and allowed the team to play with more freedom. Despite the fact that United played against two teams struggling with form and internal politics, the signs are promising for United fans.

Rooney looks relaxed and confident playing as a striker, not surprising, and Martial looks a bigger threat on the left than anyone else in the current squad. Young playing at wing back reminds me of Evra in his prime. Herrera at 10 is a perfect fit. Not only does he continuously draw 2 players whenever the ball comes to him, but he is also not afraid to throw a boot at it like a young Scholes. Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin make a really good combination but unless one of them decides to become more attacking, they will still not deliver the kind of football United fans want to see. We only need one holding midfielder.

This leads me to wonder whether it would not be worth reverting back to a 4 4 2 formation? With the players we have in the squad, we should be able to mount a serious challenge for Top 4 IF we utilise the players correctly.

	DE GEA
YOUNG	SMALLING		JONES	DARMIAN
	HERRERA		SCHNEIDERLIN
LINGARD				DEPAY
	ROONEY	MARTIAL

If you look at the composition of this team, it is more attacking than any selection we have seen all season, with a mix of experience and youth. Most importantly, it is a team filled with goal threats. Lingard, Rooney, Martial, Depay and Herrera are all goal hungry players – much like a team of 2007/08 – Ronaldo, Rooney, Saha, Giggs, Scholes.

We cannot recreate teams from years ago, but we can definitely emulate them in terms of balance, flair and skill. Ronaldo is the one player from that selection that you cannot emulate from the squad you have available, neither can anyone else, but the rest certainly can be emulated and if Lingard gets a proper run in the team, I think he can develop into a very good player for United.

It will also allow for a change in philosophy. The current 4-2-3-1 formation encourages possession play suffocating the mid field in order to dominate play. It is easily countered by teams which sit back and tend to counter. United will always be under pressure to score and the opposition know that they will be able to create opportunities to score on the counter.

When you play a 4-4-2 formation, you lure the teams out of their half, you encourage them to play and that creates opportunities for both sides to score. The difference is that the pressure is transferred to the opposition because countering gaps are less and if you push out, you risk an interception that could lead to a goal. 

This is the United way.

United always had two strikers in the box, with Giggs and Ronaldo on the wings firing laser guided missiles into the box. Scholes sat just outside the box waiting to pounce on any volley that called his name, and should the ball be played out, you had Carrick ready to put in back to either one of the wings or straight through the middle. He was in turned backed up by a solid back four who was encourage to push up occasionally because the  midfield pinned the opposition in their half and the wings simply bombarded to goal box with crosses. Simple and very effective.

A change in philosophy will not only return entertainment to the Theatre of Dreams but also save United huge amounts of transfer fees and encourage youth, the young players on the cusp of stardom, to join United’s youth academy.

When you bring youth players through the system, give them enough game time, exposure and encouragement, you create a team that plays for the badge, plays for the fans and are desperate for success because there is no desire to play for any other club. The good youngsters will stay for 5-8 years, while the great ones will retire at your club.

The current squad has the opportunity to emulate the United of old. There is no doubt about it. Will the team go through a transition phase, of course it will, but the difference is this: When the current squad is fulfilled United will once again be a dominant force for many seasons to come, while the opposition will continue to look for replacements every season.

And while they will be spending huge amounts of money trying to buy fame and success, United will continue to build a heritage and a legacy of United legends.