What Is Manchester United's Best Starting XI Right Now?
Manchester United have finally clicked under Louis van Gaal. It has taken a little longer than originally promised, but Van Gaal has found a formation and selection which has produced three fine performances on the bounce.
The Red Devils are, in fact, on a run of five wins in the league, and while the first two of those were on the scrappy side, the following three have ranged from the professional and effective (versus Aston Villa), to the downright impressive (most of the games against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool).
With those performances in the bag, it seems reasonable to use Van Gaal's current 4-3-3 as the formation for the current best XI.
It is indicative of some of this season's surprising performances that only five of the 11 players I predicted may form United's best XI back in September 2014 make it into this XI, and one of those is playing in a different position.
David De Gea
1 of 11
The first name on the team sheet and the easiest selection of them all.
David De Gea is, of course, United's No. 1.
He has played every minute of every competitive game this season. In spite of an error against Aston Villa—and potentially an error against Liverpool, although the shot took a slight deflection on its way past him—De Gea has been vital for United.
Liverpool and Everton at home stand out as his best performances; he is the obvious choice here.
Antonio Valencia
2 of 11
Antonio Valencia earns the nod over Rafael Da Silva because he has clearly done almost everything his manager has asked of him. It would appear Van Gaal values his style of right-back play over the Brazilian's.
As a fan, Valencia's caution in possession is one of his most frustrating qualities. There are times when it seems like the right option is to gamble and take on the opposition full-back, but Valencia will cut back and play a simple pass inside.
Given Van Gaal has set his side up to dominate possession, though, it is easy to imagine that he values Valencia's ability to ensure his side keeps the ball. The Ecuadorian's 89.2 pass-completion percentage is the eighth-best of any player in the Premier League this season (excluding players who have made fewer than 15 appearances).
He has also improved defensively, making more tackles per game than any other United player on average.
There have been mistakes, notably against Arsenal in the FA Cup recently, but Valencia is too good a fit for Van Gaal's system to drop for now.
Chris Smalling
3 of 11
The last derby seems a long time ago, and thus Chris Smalling's dismissal at the Etihad back in November feels like a distant memory. Since his return from the ensuing suspension, Smalling might just have been United's most consistent centre-back.
Although United's back line came in for a lot of criticism earlier in the season, they have, as a collective, been fairly mean about conceding goals. Only Chelsea and Southampton have let in fewer in this season's Premier League campaign.
Of late, Smalling has been almost ever present in the heart of that defence. He was absent with illness from the win against Aston Villa on Saturday, but he had started the previous five games in a row.
Smalling has been good in possession—successful with 88.5 percent of his passes—and his positioning has also been excellent. He has generally kept a calm head, too, since that infamous red card against Manchester City.
All in all, he has just done enough to get the nod ahead of Phil Jones—who was a close second in the candidates for this role, thanks to his all action style.
Smalling gets the nod, thanks to his relative calmness and use of the ball when United are in possession.
Marcos Rojo
4 of 11
Marcos Rojo is remarkably calm under pressure. Almost too calm, on occasion. His faith in his own ability on the ball means he is able to withstand a great deal of pressure from onrushing attackers when in possession. Watching from the stands, this generates significant anxiety.
More often than not, though, it works out for the Argentinian, who is enjoying a fine first season at Old Trafford.
Rojo is a Nemanja Vidic-esque defender. Brave, aerially strong and a leader at the back, as was evidenced by the way he guided Paddy McNair through his first-team debut against Everton. He and Smalling make a fine pairing, complementing each others' styles, to form the centre-back partnership in this XI.
Daley Blind
5 of 11
There is a good deal of competition for the left-back berth at United at the moment. Luke Shaw seemed the obvious first choice given his good performances for Southampton last season, but injury has meant he has had a difficult first campaign at Old Trafford.
Over the season, Daley Blind has more often played as a holding midfielder, but in the past three games, he has been outstanding at left-back. His reading of the game enables him to compensate for his relative lack of pace—and is one of the reasons he has made an average of 3.5 interceptions per game in the Premier League.
That is the best in the United squad, and the third-highest in the league as a whole.
He has also used his ability on the ball to great effect from left-back, combining with Marouane Fellaini and Ashley Young to overload defences. His current form gets him in the side ahead of Shaw.
Michael Carrick
6 of 11
With Blind at left-back, Michael Carrick is really the only option as the anchor man in midfield.
Positional discipline has been a key part of Van Gaal's recent 4-3-3. Carrick has been playing centrally, with Fellaini ahead of him to the left and Ander Herrera ahead of him to the right. They stick fairly rigidly to their positions, but Carrick is given licence to cover the width of the pitch.
The heatmaps, from Saturday's game against Villa, courtesy of Squawka.com for Carrick, Fellaini and Herrera clearly demonstrate this.
Herrera and Fellaini look to have carefully designed geographical parameters on the pitch, but Carrick is given license, presumably because Van Gaal trusts him.
Carrick's experience and reading of the game are his biggest strengths, in addition, of course, to his fine, consistent passing.
When he is replaced, it would be nice to see a player with similar qualities but with additional physical presence arrive in his stead. Carrick makes fewer tackles than United's other midfielders, and given that he is played in a more withdrawn position, that occasionally causes problems as opposition midfielders can overpower the Englishman.
For now, though, the good clearly outweighs the bad, and he is the first choice for the holding midfield function.
Ander Herrera
7 of 11
Ander Herrera has been superb of late and is the certain choice for the inside-right midfield role in which Van Gaal is using him.
His two-goal man-of-the-match turn against Villa on Saturday was worth the price of admission on its own.
He is a fine all-round midfielder, who has provided tackles, pressing and willingness to work in addition to his superb passing and goals. As well as his goals on Saturday, he completed 95.9 percent of his 98 passes, had the second-most touches of any United player, provided a key pass and made two tackles.
His form is such that he is nailed on for a place in United's current best XI.
Marouane Fellaini
8 of 11
Judging by feedback on social media and in the comments below the article, my belief that Fellaini is not United's long-term answer in this position is somewhat unpopular.
Whatever his long-term future, for now he is clearly doing an effective and useful job. He was less impressive against Villa than he had been in his two previous games, but his form throughout the season makes it hard to argue that he does not belong in the current best XI.
His physical presence, superb chest control and recent goalscoring form means he would be hard to displace from the current line-up. There is not a tailor-made replacement for him in the inside-left midfield role he is currently fulfilling.
Wayne Rooney
9 of 11
Since Wayne Rooney returned to United's attack, his side have won five league games in a row.
Rooney has scored four goals in those games, including an absolute peach against Villa, and was also on the score sheet against Arsenal in the FA Cup. Whether or not Robin van Persie is fit to play in the derby, there can be little doubt that Rooney should retain his centre-forward berth.
Rooney's presence up front is a good accompaniment to the movement and interplay that is happening around him, and it is clear that—with the Liverpool game excepted—he is thriving upfront in the current system.
It really would be difficult to argue that any of United's other forwards deserve to usurp the club captain in this position.
Juan Mata
10 of 11
"Who's the greatest player in the Premier League?" asks the song. While "it's you Juan, Juan, Juan" may not actually be the empirically correct answer, his form over the past few weeks makes him part of the conversation.
His friendship with Herrera is translating to superb performances on the pitch, as the two of them have combined on United's right. Herrera scored the goals against Villa, but Mata scored them against Liverpool, including, of course, the stunning flying volley pictured above.
That Van Gaal has found a system which works at the same time as he has found a way to get the best out of Mata is probably no coincidence. Between his ability to score and create goals, Mata has been one of the league's most dangerous players ever since his arrival in England.
Back in form, and crucial to his side once again, Mata is showing his class. No current best-United XI would be complete without him.
Angel Di Maria
11 of 11
It is remarkable that this is not a completely trivial decision, but, in truth, leaving out Ashley Young for Angel Di Maria currently feels like a gamble.
It also feels somewhat unfair on Young, who has been in much better form than anyone would have predicted at the start of the season.
However, you simply cannot leave a player of Di Maria's quality out of the starting XI for too long. Assuming that the glimpse of promise Di Maria showed at the end of the Villa game is an indicator of an improvement in his form, then it may be time to consider reintroducing the Argentinian to the first team.
And, in the current system, it is Young that is the best candidate to be replaced. Not because he has done much wrong but because it is in his position that Di Maria can best fit into the side without disrupting the balance which has been so hard won.
"El Fideo's" 10 assists in the league this season have been crucial to United. His creativity is why he gets the nod ahead of the hardworking Young.
All statistics per WhoScored.com.
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