MU has lacked fighting in the middle of the middle for many years, and coach Ruben Amorim needs to prioritize this problem if he wants to revive the team.
The way we talk about football today has changed a lot, with tactical elements and analytical data that plays a central role. However, simple truths still exist that when told by those who have the peak experience, we are forced to listen. Therefore, when Graeme Souness emphasized that “which team comes to the ball first will win”, we should pay attention to the concepts such as “mixed pressing”, “ball control value” or “action to create opportunities”.
And those who are expected to be the first to touch the ball are central midfielders. Although there are many factors in the field, MU has long not been owned by such players is part of the big reason why they decline for a long time.
This does not see Ruben Amorim. After the 0-0 friendly draw with Leeds last weekend, he admitted: “The distance between our routes is sometimes too big. We lack speed, especially in the middle of the yard, and you can feel that gaining control of the ball becomes very difficult.”
In fact, this issue has appeared before Amorim for more than a decade – a surprising thing in a club used to be the roof of illustrious midfield. The “Busby Babes” generation has a trio of Jackie Blanchflower, Duncan Edwards and Eddie Colman in the middle. The 1960s had Nobby Stiles, Paddy Crerand and Bobby Charlton. Under the Alex Ferguson, the smooth transferred team from Bryan Robson to Paul Ince and Roy Keane – who then kicked with Paul Scholes, and the two wings were David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, both comfortable in the middle.
Everything began to change after the Glazer took over MU in 2005. Being bound by the debt and interest burden, Ferguson shifted priority to defenses and uplines. The Premier League and Champions League championships in 2007/08 season have legendary defense and attack, but the midfield is useful, still a weak link. This was thoroughly exploited by Barca in the two Champions League finals, when the superiority in the middle helps Blaugrana squeeze MU's attack and put pressure on the defense.
After that, Ferguson seemed to see the midfielder minimalist – true “player in the middle of the pitch”. Since the Owen Hargreaves deal in 2007 until he retired in 2013, Ferguson only bought one more person in the middle of the yard: Nick Powell – who even favored the role of a household. Instead, he stores strikers and winger with many different styles to decide the close matches. In the last season under the Sir Alex era, MU won up to 16 matches in the Premier League with only one goal.
12 years later, MU has signed a contract with all kinds of midfielders, with rather rates from … humor, including: Marouane Fellaini, Angel Di Maria, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Fred, Bruno Fernandes, Donny Van De Beek, Christian Erik, Christian EriK, Christian EriK, Christian EriKs, Christian Casemiro, Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte, not to mention Marcel Sabitzer and Sofyan Amrabat on the loan. Until now, only Fernandes can be considered successful.
Pure expertise, or as Arsene Wenger is called “footballistically”, the midfielder is the biggest weakness of MU.
Even the collective under Ole Gunnar Solskjær – considered the best in the “post -Ferguson post -era” – is just a good counterattack, not able to control the game.
It was when he tried to turn the team into a more active team, everything began to collapse: Hau Euro 2020, the defense was unstable, and the middle line was not enough to protect. Matic and Pogba were at that time lacking speed and desire for disputes. If the money spent on Harry Maguire is used to buy Declan Rice, maybe everything is different. But the fact is that the defense is drilled, the attack is hungry – all because MU cannot control the midfield.
There are many ways to solve this problem. Pep Guardiola not only used midfield midfielder, but also pushed them down to the defense or attacked. Jurgen Klopp uses muscular players to overwhelm the enemy physically, while the creative part is assigned to the full -backs. But once Klopp changed when he brought back to Thiago Alcantara, that balance also disappeared.
And it has never returned completely. Liverpool's championship last season is mostly from the performance of Mohamed Salah. Their 41 goals are the highest number with a champion since MU 2012/13. In the European arena, PSG has exploited the shortage of the quality of the midfield of The Reds, prominent in the location of the shuttle (Box-to-Box). Although Liverpool has spent strongly and reasonably this summer, the fact that they have not really improved the middle line is still an opportunity for the rest.
MU cannot be so risky.
Under Amorim, they started to be a collective that did not know how to create opportunities, and now becoming a team “just missed the opportunity” … considered to be progressive. Therefore, the priority of increasing the fire this summer is reasonable, and it has somewhat resolved with the appearance of Maheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. But now, midfield needs to be absolutely priority.
This does not mean that the new striker that Amorim wants is not necessary. But the market is lacking in options, while his system only uses two midfielders in the middle of the yard – where most other teams use three people, making the shortage even more pronounced. This is also the problem that Ferguson had to solve when British clubs returned to the European arena: The first time was before Bayern in 2001, then before Milan in 2007 with a narrow and extremely mischievous midfield.
Today, when the physical level of the player explodes, things are even more difficult. Although Amorim's tactical model uses defenders, Wing-back or winged strikers to create an overload of numbers in the middle, he still needs a central midfielder “body monster”. This becomes more and more necessary when Amorim decided to let Fernandes – a persistent person but not a shuttle – kicked in the No. 8 role, not the number 10. Casemiro was no longer suitable, and Ugarte – a short -term plan replaced by PSG with Joao Neves much more class – the lack of temperament, quality and bravery.
If MU buys the midfielder, they will improve more than finding only a striker. Even Ronaldo Nazario at the peak will be difficult if playing in a team that cannot control the ball. Meanwhile, names like Joshua Zirkzee, Rasmus Hojlund or Chido Obi have shown potential. With the creative posterior route and a system that knows how to press the opponent, they will have many opportunities to score goals and develop. That's what Ugarte or the current version of Casemiro cannot bring.
Therefore, the midfield – the heart of the team – needs to be Amorim's only priority now. MU cannot split the budget and then fall into the scene “There are people but no one is good enough” in both positions. They need to focus all their efforts to find the right midfielder, and only to take into account the next step.
Even without a striker, MU may not be perfect, but without a central midfielder to win the ball before the opponent, the Red Devils will forever dive on the bottom.
