Team Focus: Are Manchester United the Most Underwhelming Team in the Premier League?
“It does not give me any pleasure to say that at the moment I am struggling to watch Louis van Gaal’s team with any great enjoyment. They beat Burnley on Wednesday night but it was Burnley who had by far the best of the first half. At times, United’s football is miserable.” Paul Scholes’ recent no-holds-barred assessment of the current state of Manchester United in his column for the Independent was damning, to say the least.
The former United midfielder quite accurately bemoaned the overwhelmingly pedestrian nature of the team’s play under Van Gaal, claiming too few risks are being taken by the players. He asserted that in his playing days he would be dropped if he stopped playing passes that had an element of risk, and that the team were now no longer adhering to the traditions the club had come to be famed for. Remember the lightning quick counter-attacks led by the likes of Ryan Giggs or Cristiano Ronaldo? Remember wondergoals scored by Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney? Remember the excitement that used to surround games at Old Trafford? Anything resembling the times of old now seem to be lost in the past.
United did indeed beat Burnley in their last Premier League game and Scholes was spot on in his assessment. The away side were, as has occurred far too commonly for United fans in the last 2 years, the better side at Old Trafford. They attacked with verve, intensity and innovation, while the hosts and former Premier League champions remained uninspiring, relying on two Chris Smalling headers from set-pieces and a Robin van Persie penalty to come away 3-1 victors. At Preston on Monday night, their only chance of note in the first half came from an Ángel di Maria free-kick, and only did they come out of themselves and start playing any of the kind of risk-taking passes that Scholes misses so much after going a goal behind. They again won by three goals to one, but neither of their first two goals were particularly well crafted, and the third was again a penalty. It spoke volumes that the biggest talking point was, after a cup scare and what was on paper a resounding comeback, whether or not Rooney had dived to win that spot-kick.
Rooney’s goal was his first in over 15 hours of football. It was only his fourth shot on target of the year (with the other 3 all coming at home to Cambridge United). It was only the fourth goal of the calendar year scored by Rooney, Falcao or Van Persie. The word miserable does seem a tad harsh on the face of it, but it is hard to deny that United have become decidedly dull. Could it be that they have become the least entertaining team in the Premier League, relative to their riches?
Watching Aston Villa extend their woeful scoring record is about as painfully boring as watching paint dry, and Paul Lambert managed something quite extraordinary in turning an exciting, young squad into a stagnant, ageing group of players functioning at odds with each other. They do not work effectively as a team and are in serious need of direction, with the lowest WhoScored rating in the Premier League this season (6.77).
On the basis of a second half in which three goals were scored and Villa played a more direct game with significantly more purpose about them, Tim Sherwood could well be the man to, at the very least, turn the club into a more attractive prospect for fans. For all the criticism there was of him in his time at Spurs for a lack of tactical acumen that saw him include Christian Eriksen in a two-man central midfield, one thing that can’t be denied is that he made Spurs markedly more exciting. While Villa certainly give United a run for their money in the Premier League’s boredom stakes, the ambition lacking from their game in recent weeks is at least slightly more expected than in a team of the talent available to Louis van Gaal.
As alluded to by Sam Allardyce after the teams’ draw at Upton Park, United are playing the most long balls in the Premier League (78.4), though that in itself does not necessarily make their play aimless or boring. They are, however, succeeding with 84.7% of their passes, the second highest pass accuracy of all top flight teams (just 0.1% behind City) and are sending the lowest proportion of their passes forwards (29.7%). The stats back up Scholes’ assertion that United are playing too many safe passes.
They have the second-highest share of the ball (59.2% possession) but rank 11th for dribble attempts (18.1 per game) and 9th for chances created (9.6 per game). The regimented style of play that Van Gaal promotes has made some of his players remarkably more withdrawn. Di María, for example, the best creator in Europe last season with 17 assists, has become increasingly inhibited in his play (though injury has played a part). After creating 31 chances in his first 10 league appearances for United (3.1 per game), he has set up just 6 in the following 7 games (0.9 per game).
It was no secret that United players feared the wrath of Sir Alex Ferguson during his time there, but as Scholes suggested, it was for the right reasons: they did not want to upset the manager by playing too safe. Under Van Gaal, however, playing passes that can concede possession are more likely to upset him, and the consequence is that they are passing the ball to death around the back four and in deep midfield positions, worried about what might happen if they stray from their manager’s instructions. They have thus become the dullest Manchester United side in recent memory and relative to their resources; it is fair to call them the most underwhelming team in Premier League at present.
Do you think United are the most underwhelming team in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments below
i am a tottenham fan and i am glad we didnt get him i cant see them improving under Van Gaal
Without question. They're painful to watch this season! Despite LvG being able to call on Di Maria, Herrera, Falcao, RvP, Rooney, Mata, Januzaj - they're just...boring.
Hallo, Where could I get the statistics of percentage of passes played forward for other European teams? Whoscored does not provide this as far as I know.
Given how big the club is (top 4 in the world) and how much they spent on transfers (biggest spender in the world, by quite some margin) they are hugely underwhelming and even point´s wise they are not much better than they were under Moyes, but Moyes wasn´t given almost €200M spending spree. The criticism will only get bigger if they continue to play like this, even if they win the domestic cup. Results are important, but in a big club like United, the style of play is just as important.
that stat on percentage of passes played forward being the lowest in the league is quite incredible, especially when you think they have Di Maria, Rooney, Mata. For key passes per game those three rank 13th, 39th and 40th respectively. not sure if its a case of them needing to be given licence to take more risks with their passing or that the fluidity in their play isn't there. still, united rank 2nd in the league for shots per goal ratio. if they could fashion a few more chances per game (10th at the moment), they could really take off.
@DFox Nice analysis. One of the few reasons that attribute to the players' low key passes per game are their lack of confidence, thus limiting their willingness to supply risky passes forward. If you look at the players' skills individually, they are actually one of the best passers in the league, if not the world. Many players in Man Utd at the moment have the tendency to play sideways or backward passes. Their lack of confidence also mean they don't want to risk taking on opponents.
Louis Van LongBall
mediocre team that is
I think Van Gaal is doing the same thing as he did with the Dutch Squad last World Cup; Trying to get as much as possible out of an unbalanced team with mediocre players in crucial positions. Look at all other squads Van Gaal has trained. Bayern, Barcelona, AZ, Ajax etc. all played attacking, dominating football with a lot of pressure. However, this United will not be able to cope defensively because they lack tactical knowledge in that area. Smalling, Jones etc are English defenders. Powerful, strong in the air, but abysmal in some passing and game-reading areas. Blind is a very good addition to help evolve United into a typical Van Gaal team, but is still fairly young and inexperienced on the top level. Give Van Gaal this year to build his team and he will make sure United will be a force to reckon with next year, titlerace and Champions League.
really @DutchDelight ? i think van gaal is a mediocre manager not his players dutchdelight...are you livin on this planet ? united a mediocre team with mediocre players, this is outrageous, they have the most expensive squad in the leauge, and yet you are talking rubbish ????louis van gaal was a good manager in the past, his time has gone...i mean lets be serious, if burnley plays better at old traford better than united, then it means we have a problem.united play nothing, there is no improvement in their game since he took over in last summer. I THINK VAN GAAL SHOULD LEAVE!!!
@Anonymus let's not forget that despite people saying Burnley played better at Old Trafford, MANCHESTER UNITED did win 3-1, perhaps the performance wasn't as bad as many make out. Scoring 3 goals when you are not playing well isn't easy.
@DutchDelight mediocre players in key positions is just completely wrong! Midfield and attack easily good enough to be playing better football!
@spuds Very true! Maybe not the best way to phrase it, but what Van Gaal usually wants is a passing game starting from defence, with good positional play. In the back 4 you will need two wingbacks and one of the two center-backs to be able to play a passing game, change positions and overlap, in collaboration with the midfield. This is what I meant with mediocre players in key positions. I just don't see Smalling, Jones, Rafael, Shaw be able to play that kind of game. Of course, up front United have pure class, but they can't play their game because the backline is uncapable to play the sort of game Van Gaal would like to see; which results in the long ball approach, which is awful to watch.
@DutchDelight well then he should be more versatile. How do you think Sam Allardyce or Alan Pardew, for example, feels about someone complaining at the quality available to LVG? They both have far worse players and I'm sure would relish the opportunity to have a go with Utd's players
I agree with spuds on this one. Man U have plenty of quality players: RvP, Rooney, Falcao, di Maria, Januzaj, Mata, etc. Most teams would kill to have just one of those players. They should be playing more attractive football.