The dust has settled a little and I think now is a good time to reflect on the first couple of Manchester United games and what we’ve seen.
1. We look more capable of both controlling games and creating higher quality chances.
We’ve shown in spells that we can control games better, we’ve tired at points and there have been lapses in concentration, but we have had far more control over the games so far than we showed last season. While we have actually used patterns of play to carve out opportunities. Unfortunately, we haven’t taken advantage of those enough, with players looking slightly off the pace and not quite yet all on the same wavelength.
2. Defensively there are still concerns. While the individual errors are to be expected early in the season as players get back up to full fitness and match sharpness, there still seems to be a question of balance in our centre back partnerships.
Both Maguire and Martinez are front foot defenders whose first instinct is to step out and try to win the ball. That is why they have never worked as a partnership and both players play their worst football for us when they are paired together. When either of them have been paired with Varane (a natural sweeper CB) they have both looked much better.
With Varane gone the only natural sweeper CB in our squad appears to be Evans. Yoro could develop into that player, but he is very inexperienced and will need to develop his reading of the game. MdL is naturally a front foot defender, he prefers to engage the opposition rather than protect the space.
Whether we can get a balanced CB partnership this season probably depends on whether MdL can adapt his game. I think he could, he does have the schooling from Ajax to have the knowledge to be able to adapt his game. But it will take time and practice. The sooner him and Martinez can play regularly together the more chance we have of making that adaptation work.
3. Amad has been good in spells, but needs to become a more consistent and rounded threat. He needs to build up his link play with his teammates.
4. Rashford has continued to struggle despite showing a little more effort. Unfortunately, I think he really needs a quality LB behind him to solidify that flank and offer an overlapping threat to drag the opposition away from him and give him a little more space.
5. Mount has shown that he can be a very useful player, his pressing from the front has been excellent, and that off the ball work is a big part of why we have looked more threatening in attack. More selfless players working for the team and less players looking to put their own name up in lights.
6. Garnacho had been very effective off the bench, which still looks like his best role currently. The issue is that if Rashford’s form doesn’t pick up then he might have to become the starter on the left. Although maybe a role off the bench against tiring players might give Rashford the chances to get a few goals and bring his confidence up.
7. Casemiro continues to play much better than last season, although like Eriksen started to show last season, he seems to become less effective after 60-70 minutes. The sooner we can bring in Ugarte the better.
8. Mainoo has been really good in a more withdrawn role, intelligent in winning the ball back and keeping the ball moving well. However, to get the best out of him we need to remove the shackles and allow him more freedom to get forward.
9. Mazraoui has made a really good start to his United career. Hopefully, he can stay injury free and we will have an excellent player.
10. Dalot has shown both his quality and importance to the team. Playing out of position at LB he has been really good both with and without the ball. A couple of defensive lapses (or maybe just still finding his bearings on the opposite side of the pitch), but he has been really good defensively, made a vital clearance off the line against Brighton, and also created chances in attack. That first time cross with his weaker left foot for Amad was absolutely delicious and deserved to be an assist.
Overall, I think it’s been a reasonable start to the season. We’ve shown promise and with a little more time to get players up to speed and in sync with eachother I think we will perform much better this season.
Getting Ugarte in will be important, but it won’t fix all the gaps in the squad. We will still need a couple of players for the left hand side of defence, as well as a midfielder who can control the tempo of a game with their passing.
While we could arguably do with another wide player, even if Amad and Garnacho continue to improve and Rashford returns to form, if one or more of them doesn’t improve in terms of consistency, then we definitely need a top level wide player. But those are problems to be solved next summer.
Written by Shappy August 26 2024 13:36:08
