Daley Blind Injury Could Mean More Adventurous Manchester United
Injury sustained to Daley Blind while on international duty with the Netherlands will disappoint Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal but could prompt a more adventurous style of play from his side.
The 24-year-old midfielder lasted just 20 minutes of the Dutchmen's 6-0 European Championships 2016 qualification victory over Latvia on Sunday before limping off with a "suspected medial ligament injury," per BBC Sport.
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Although initially feared to be a potentially season-ending injury, Blind's lay-off looks set to be for "at least a month," according to Mark Ogden of The Telegraph.
"Daley Blind now injured as well? Quite extraordinary injury list #mufc racking up. De Gea/Blind particularly bad ones to lose.
— Adam Crafton (@AdamCrafton_) November 16, 2014"
Blind's injury adds to an increasingly stuffy treatment room, with David de Gea, Michael Carrick, Marcos Rojo, Radamel Falcao, Phil Jones, Rafael da Silva, Jonny Evans, Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard also currently ruled out.
With the Oranje midfielder's reserved passing style arguably hampering Van Gaal's attacking style of late, however, injury to Blind may inspire a shift in fortunes for United.
Daley Blind
Unfortunately, the most salient note fixed to Blind's injury is that the 24-year-old has been one of United's most consistent performers so far this season.
Operating generally at the base of a midfield diamond, Blind has contributed ably in the defensive third, with an average of 2.9 tackles and 2.6 interceptions per game from eight Premier League appearances, per WhoScored.com.
Furthermore, the Dutchman has proved his versatility by filling in as a makeshift centre-back in lieu of Jones, Evans and Rojo.
Losing Blind will see Van Gaal have to tinker with his back line once more and will hamper any stability within a United side currently struggling.
Last Saturday's 1-0 victory at home to Crystal Palace was the side's first in four games.
Per David Anderson of the Daily Mirror, Juan Mata felt "an explosion of joy," after scoring the winner in that game but continued that "there is still a lot to do in order to get where we want to."
Part of that is in a lack of creativity from Blind, according to former United captain and Sky Sports analyst Gary Neville, via Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, who claimed the midfielder "has got to start looking up more and playing forward."
Refreshingly, Jack Wilson of the Daily Star quotes Blind in agreement: "I think I am a player who keeps the ball and helps the rest of the team. I'm somebody who tries to play the easy pass instead of the difficult option, but it's also there [in this area of my game] that I have to improve myself."
It is hard to deny that United have been devoid of creative influence throughout their recent poor run—the side had scored just six goals in their last five league games—and losing Blind may actually prove the catalyst to an upturn in this area.
In order to adapt without the Dutchman, Van Gaal must survey his threadbare squad.
Potential Replacements
Perhaps the most stylistically similar player available for Van Gaal to select from in replacing Blind is vice-captain Darren Fletcher.
Fletcher is an experienced defensive midfielder, able to recycle possession astutely as well as break up play when the opposition are building.
However, utilising Fletcher would ideally be a temporary measure for the 63-year-old as a waning force arguably unable to compete at the level Van Gaal will be expecting.
More appropriately, Van Gaal could plump to reintroduce the recently exiled Ander Herrera or redeploy a rejuvenated Marouane Fellaini in his former position.
Fellaini was also in action on Sunday night as Belgium played out a stalemate at home to Chris Coleman's Wales side, and he performed to his typically physical standard.
The lofty midfielder has operated in a defensive midfield position before, namely under David Moyes at Everton.
However, Fellaini is undoubtedly more effective as an auxiliary target man or a supporting midfielder—alongside international partner Axel Witsel, the Belgian is a formidable force.
Herrera, a £28.5 million summer signing from Athletic Bilbao, has sat out the past three Premier League games and hasn't featured under Van Gaal since the manager replaced him at half-time against West Bromwich Albion in October.
Furthermore, according to fichajes.net (h/t Metro), the midfielder could even face a fight for his United future with "a host of teams across Europe" entertaining a £19 million January bid.
As Bleacher Report's Matt Jones attests, however, "Herrera is a footballer who ticks all the boxes when it comes to the requisite demands Van Gaal historically places on his players."
Jones continues: "He's industrious, dynamic, classy in possession, and perhaps most importantly of all, he's versatile." In this testimony lie several qualities that can also be attributed to Blind.
So far this season in five Premier League appearances, Herrera has scored two goals and made one assist; last season for Bilbao, "only Cesc Fabregas gave more through balls" than the midfielder in La Liga, claimed Guillem Balague for The Telegraph.
Clearly, the Spaniard would add a verve and urgency to United's midfield.
A Blessing in Disguise?
Utilising Herrera in this deep-lying role would require somewhat of a change in formation from the United manager, however, with the Spaniard a less physical player than Blind.
At the base of a midfield diamond, Herrera would need to be disciplined in his defensive work, dropping between the two centre-backs and breaking up play but also equally as comfortable in dictating play.
With an average of 2.8 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game, Herrera doesn't shirk his responsibilities but is still a lightweight option when compared to Blind.
In Blind's absence, Herrera would need to be supported by a diligent midfield partner able to do the dirty work.
As mentioned above, Fellaini could prove the perfect foil here.
While this would be a significant tactical switch by Van Gaal at this juncture, the Dutchman isn't averse to change and has adjusted his system more than once already this season.
Matt Lawton of the Daily Mail quotes the manager, post-Palace, on his formation changes: "I'm looking for the balance and when you see the last four matches, we have had more balance because we haven't conceded many goals. But we don't score so much. With the other system we scored a lot of goals."
The resulting system could see United creating chances more freely again, and with the devastating attacking trio of Angel Di Maria, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie all remaining clear of the physio's grasp, the Red Devils may be up and running once more.
Herrera would surely embrace the opportunity to come back in from the cold and could have Blind's injury to thank for this.
Losing Daley Blind at this most vulnerable of times will be a blow to Louis van Gaal, but the Manchester United boss may see his side's attacking charges flourish as a result.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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