Red Rants |
- “Time for Cleverley to kick on,” says Scholes
- Time for a radical change at United?
- United in no rush over Rooney’s contract
| “Time for Cleverley to kick on,” says Scholes Posted: 03 Dec 2013 04:16 AM PST
Scholesy’s statement echoes the thought of the large majority of Reds, who have grown frustrated at Cleverley’s inability to control game and failure to build on the promising signs he had shown when first arriving on the scene a couple of years ago, after graduating from the youth ranks.
"Tom has been there quite a few years now and has done okay,” Scholes told Eurosport UK at the premiere of The Class of '92. "But it’s time Tom kicked on. He does play a lot of games and he is a quality player. That is emphasised when he gets in the England squad. Now it's time he went on to the next level at Manchester United." After Scholes retired for a second time at the end of last season, United have become even more reliant on Michael Carrick and with the Geordie midfielder out injured, David Moyes has turned to Ryan Giggs’ experience and Phil Jones’ dynamism to do the job in midfield, with neither Cleverley nor summer arrival Marouane Fellaini convincing in the role. With Giggs unable to play two games in a week and Jones a converted centre-back, United have struggled enormously in the middle of the park and Cleverley has come under a lot of criticism for his sub-par performances. Scholes, however, remains confident that Moyes will strengthen his squad in January if he feels he needs to. "If the manager feels like he needs to go out and buy someone in January then I'm sure that's what he'll do," explained Scholesy. "There's obviously been a lot of talk, especially because United aren't doing as well as we'd all hoped, but it's not my place to say whether he should go out and buy another midfielder. "Adnan (Januzaj) has obviously broken through this year and has got great talent. He’s a really gifted lad and if he gets his head down and works hard then he’ll have a great career in the game." |
| Time for a radical change at United? Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:05 AM PST
Wednesday’s superb performance against Leverkusen highlighted how big a difference Shinj Kagawa can make when deployed in his favoured number 10 role but, given the injuries that sidelined Robin Van Persie and Michael Carrick, the formation Moyes adopted in Germany was borne out of necessity rather than conviction.
Furthermore, the same system – albeit with slightly different personnel – struggled to hit the same heights against Tottenham on Sunday when, amid some slick passing and neat interchanges between Kagawa, Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney, United were denied the acres of space in midfield they had been allowed against Leverkusen. United’s conundrum isn’t easily solvable, for while any manager should always try to maximise his team’s strength – particularly when, as is the case with United, such strengths are few and far between – they always asked to field not just the most logical of line-ups, but also the one that can produce results and, lest we forget this is entertainment business, play good football. Robin Van Persie is arguably United’s only world class player alongside Wayne Rooney – at least the vintage we have witnessed since the start of the season – and together they form a formidable partnership but, as we know all too well, deploying both of them forces Kagawa out wide, where the Japanese is nowhere near as effective, nor threatening as he is when he’s played through the middle – even though he failed to impress in said position on Sunday. Considering that the midfield props itself on Carrick, the 40-year-old Ryan Giggs and a centre-back-cum-central-midfielder in Phil Jones, the aforementioned blank is likely to remain always too short, unless United spend in January – about as likely an event as a waking up to find Santa Claus in your living room on Christmas day – or they radically change system and ditch a defender. Before you dismiss the notion of adopting a 3-5-2 formation as the ramblings of a clueless moron who’s spent too much time playing FIFA and Football Manager, allow me to buy sometime for myself by saying that I’m not suggesting that a change in formation would work or be easy/feasible. However, considering the squad at Moyes’ disposal is far from world class, it’d be tempting to see him playing it to its strengths, without having to oust a quality player in favour of another. Whether it’s in its Carrick-Cleverley, Carrick-Fellaini or Cleverley-Jones configuration United’s midfield struggles enormously against the majority of opponent, for the pairs that guarantee passing options (no prizes for guessing which is the recurrent name in these duos) struggle to sustain physical challenges, while the more dynamic combinations are dramatically limited from a technical point of view. A lack of options in the middle means that United’s widemen are either starved of supplies or are fed the ball with such systematic regularity that they’re immediately double-teamed and dispossessed – that’s also partly due to their chronic inability to beat their man, but we’ll leave this for another time. United’s back four isn’t protected well enough either, for the players forming the central midfield duo are either too busy trying to cover for each other’s errors – more often than not when Cleverley is one of the two – not suited to tackle or engaging in other activities – which, presumably, is why £27m were poured into Everton’s coffers for Fellaini. Based on that, dropping a defender seems as logical as playing without a goalkeeper. However, were Moyes to pick a 3-5-2 formation, it’d allow him to select Kagawa in his preferred role, which would partly relieve the midfield of creative duties, thus, theoretically at least, allow one between Cleverley, Jones or Fellaini to focus on shielding the back three. Furthermore, as much as we all love Patrice Evra, it’s undeniable that his defensive game is no longer up to scratch, in fact it hasn’t been so for a couple of seasons, but he remains a reasonably good option going forward, and the same can be said about Antonio Valencia and Rafael on the other flank – Nani and Januzaj would be valid options too, although wing-backs are probably a safer option than traditional wingers. Rooney and Van Persie with Kagawa in the hole would prove to be a headache for the overwhelming majority of defences across the country, not to mention that having more attacking players on the pitch would increase the passing options for Carrick, as well as ensure United keep a higher line instead of dropping deep – which has already costed us four points against Southampton and Cardiff. The romantics dreaming of the days United played 4-4-2 are, quite frankly, stuck in the past, for the a formation including two banks of four is simply no longer sustainable in modern football – certainly not with the tragically poor midfield that has hampered United for years – while the 3-5-2 in enjoying something of a renaissance, with plenty of European teams adopting it as their preferred option. Awful as it sounds, even Liverpool have successfully switched to such system under Brendan Rodgers and with good results so far, so surely we can afford a gamble for a game or two? |
| United in no rush over Rooney’s contract Posted: 02 Dec 2013 09:03 AM PST
After a turbulent summer during which Rooney seemed close to leave Old Trafford, before United turned down two offers from Chelsea, the 28-year-old has performed in inspired fashion for the Reds, returning to the form he last enjoyed three seasons ago when he almost single-handedly carried United to the title.
Moyes, however, said the club are in no rush to open negotiations, despite Rooney’s contract is set to expire in 18 months and, based on current form at least, he isn’t likely to be short of options and offers. “When will we talk to him about the contract? I don’t really know,” said Moyes. “I think we are fine. We are just moving on from the summer. It will be done in good course. “The appropriate people will talk when the time is right.” Rooney was outstanding at White Hart Lane on Sunday as he twice drew United level and looked, as he has done all season, like his old-self, the sort of footballer who’s not distracted by off-field antics, but simply enjoys his football. Moyes was full of praise for the United striker, who has now netted 12 goals and assisted 10 in 21 games in all competitions this season. “You will see him score a lot of great goals. But that (his first) was more of a sniff at goal, a mix-up in the box and he was on the end of it,” said Moyes. “His performances have been great and he’s worked incredibly hard. And he deserves the rewards he is getting.” Rooney’s brace, however, could only earn United a point, which saw them slipping nine points behind league leaders Arsenal and Rooney himself admitted United must turn draws into wins if they’re to retain their Premier League crown. “We didn’t start the game too well. We gave away a sloppy goal on the edge of the box with the free-kick and made it difficult for ourselves,” said the United striker. “Thankfully, we got back into it and played some decent stuff. The lads did well, but then they hit us with the goal – it was a great strike by Sandro. “We had to regroup and go again. We got the goal quite early on and I think 2-2 was a fair result. “I’m confident and playing well but that’s down to my team-mates. “I’m just trying to do my job and help us to be successful. We’re on a good run but need to try and turn some draws into wins. “Spurs away is a difficult game but a point is probably a good result. It’s the other games where we need to turn those points into three, that will make a massive difference.” |
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