Do Manchester United Need Tweaking or a Complete Overhaul?
Monday night's defeat to Arsenal was painful for Manchester United, and it leaves their season precariously balanced. The best-case scenario is now a third or fourth-place finish—with the latter looking more likely—and a total absence of silverware.
This is not what Louis van Gaal would have envisioned as United swept all before them in pre-season. His infamous initial proclamation that he should be judged after three months was never sensible given the size of the rebuilding project on his hands. Three months in, the judgement would not have been altogether favourable.
Seven months in, it still is not.
And yet, it remains my assertion that United need tweaking more than they need a dramatic overhaul. Of course, this depends slightly on your definition of "dramatic" as United could probably benefit with four or five top-quality additions to the squad, and they would probably benefit from the departure of two or three players.
However, that is nowhere near as much change as there has been recently. This season, in many ways, is the product of a dramatic overhaul. Of the 18 players selected in the matchday squad for Sir Alex Ferguson's last game in charge of United, only eight remain on the club's current playing staff.
All-bar-one of them remained during David Moyes' single season in charge, thus the scale of the transition between last season and this is clear. With six signings, and the introduction to the first-team squad of two youth-team graduates, Van Gaal's United has a very different composition to the side Ferguson, or even Moyes, left.
On Monday night, only five of the starting XI and three of the seven substitutes had been managed by Sir Alex.
If the second half on Monday night shone the spotlight on what was still wrong at United, the first half was a decent demonstration that the team as it currently stands may be starting to gel under Van Gaal's stewardship. As it had been against Sunderland and Newcastle, United's passing was crisp and (mostly) effective.
Chances were created, and Wayne Rooney's equaliser was the result of a gorgeous cross from Angel Di Maria. It was the kind of goal that United fans may have visualised when Di Maria arrived at the club, albeit it has been a relative rarity.
Arsenal's first goal came as a result of some poor defending, and staggeringly sloppy marking from Antonio Valencia. Their second came from a poor Valencia pass—although Phil Jones put pressure on the Ecuadorian, giving him the ball in awkward circumstances.
Valencia's being preferred to Rafael at right-back is hard to countenance from my own perspective, and that position would seem ripe for tweaking. As is the centre-back position, where uncertain form and injury have combined to deny Van Gaal any kind of reliable partnership.
Further forward, the midfield probably needs an addition, as Michael Carrick's powers wane with age. There is also the sense that the lack of a true box-to-box player is hampering some of Van Gaal's tactical choices. When Carrick replaced Ander Herrera at half-time on Monday, the distance between midfield and attack seemed to widen, and United lost impetus.
Up front, assuming that Radamel Falcao's stay will not be extended, and that Robin van Persie never recovers his best form, United will need to add options to Wayne Rooney and James Wilson.
Thus the need to add four or five players to the squad—a right-back, a commanding centre-back, a box-to-box midfielder and a striker.
There is not a pressing need to clear out the kind of numbers that left the club last summer, but there are certainly some players who United would benefit from upgrading. None of Marouane Fellaini, Jonny Evans nor Valencia have done enough this season to warrant their long-term places in the squad without considerably improving their performances.
It has taken longer than Van Gaal appeared to expect but the players do seem to be executing better on the style of play he wants of them. Some extra cutting-edge and defensive solidity added to the possession-based play that has been his focus would go a long way.
There is enough talent in the squad that a complete overhaul is not required. With the right tweaks, Van Gaal could still find a winning formula.
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