With the transfer window now closed there are plenty of new faces around the United squad, and some very expensive ones at that. With the arrivals of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, Louis Van Gaal has added arguably two of the best players on the planet to his team with last seasons Champions League Final man of the match in Di Maria and possibly the best out and out number 9 around at the moment in Falcao.
Signing players of this ilk is obviously fantastic and I feel first of all I have an apology to make to a certain Ed Woodward. After his interview during pre-season stating he was tired of seeing all the best players going to Madrid and Barcelona, and that we had plenty of money to spend, I was sceptical about his ability to pull deals off, especially with the Arturo Vidal saga rumbling on and on. However his “watch this space” comment really was credible (even though we had to wait until 1:30am on Transfer Deadline Day to see Falcao) as he brought in two superb signings. So Ed, this is to you… I’m sorry (Although you did overpay for Di Maria and let “dat guy” Danny Welbeck go to Arsenal!!)
However, and this is where the issue lies, have United simply tried to paint over the cracks by bringing in these to marquee signings, as in all seriousness the main problems, i.e. defence haven’t been addressed fully. This is where, in my mind, the title for this post comes from. Have United become the new Real Madrid / Galacticos in that we have an embarrassment of riches up top with the likes of Falcao, Mata, RVP, Di Maria, Rooney and Januzaj but are still lacking a leader who can marshall the defence and terrify opposition stikers, much like Vidic used to do in his pomp, and the answer to that is no.
There are two Real Madrid sides which spring to mind here, the current squad and the team from the early 2000’s; the first Galactico side. The latter of the two sides contained the attacking prowess of Ronaldo (original!), Raul, Figo, Zidane, Beckham and Guti who at the time were some of the best players around with Zidane being the worlds most expensive player when he signed from Juventus for £50m. However as good as they were going forward the weakness was at the back with players including Ivan Helguera, Jonathan Woodgate, Raul Bravo, Francisco Pavon and Roberto Carlos. Carlos? I hear you say, however from a defensive point of view he really wasn’t that good!
During a period of 6 years from 2000 – 2006 this team, with all its attacking talent only managed to win two major trophies; the Champions League (THAT Zidane goal) and La Liga. In a period where Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia were the top sides in Spain, 1 league title in 6 years simply wasn’t good enough. In 4 of these seasons Los Blancos unsurprisingly outscored their rivals but at the other end were leaking goals and conceded almost as many as they scored; on one occasion conceding 27 more goals than eventual champions Valencia.
Moving on to the current crop of Galacticos and yes I know they won la Decima in swashbuckling fashion last season, but their league form was poor, finishing third behind Barca and city rivals Atletico. My issue with the current team is more looking forward than back and Saturdays 4-2 defeat to Real Sociedad showed some alarming issues at the back for Real and some that could continue throughout the season. Being 2-0 ahead many would have been forgiven for switching channels at the inevitability of another Real Madrid win, especially as Sociedad had lost their opening fixture against Liga new boys and minnows Eibar however this wasn’t the case. A back four of Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos and Carvajal shows alarming similarities to that of the team perviously mentioned. Marcelo was hopeless during the World Cup and has been on the decline for several seasons, Pepe… well it’s Pepe does anyone rate this guy!? Carvajal is good but not great and is prone to a lapse in concentration as well as being especially fond of a forward run. Ramos, for me, is the only real defender in this back line who can actually defend and as we all know he is partial to the odd red card here and there.
So how does this tie back to United? At the end of the day this is a United website and not a Real Madrid one! Firstly when comparing all three of these sides we see a huge amount of talent going forward and to add to the list already mentioned we can add Gareth Bale, Cristiano, James, Benzema, Modric, Jese, Chicharito and Toni Kroos. Going forward, United should cause any defence issues but when under the cosh themselves I fear we may have issues. Smalling hasn’t looked assured in the back three at all this season and Tyler Blackett is still learning his trade and although has been impressive so far will still need time to bed in. Phil Jones has stepped up and has been arguably United’s best player at the back so far. Argentine Marcos Rojo is to come into the side should he ever get a work permit and will hopefully bring some grit and tough tackles. Out wide Luke Shaw has already shown his prowess as a left full back and has the ability to get forward. On the right there are still issues as unless Rafael can curb his Sergio Ramos esq desire to see red United will be forced to play Valencia, who does have experience there, but really isn’t a full back. The arrival of Daley Blind in central defensive midfield should also help provide some much needed cover in front of the back three as well as giving Ander Herrera some more creative freedom but is it enough?
All in all, what I am trying to say to United fans is let’s be prepared for some mesmerising play going forward (once they all gel!) as I expect Falcao to score bags of goals with Di Maria, Mata and Rooney providing assists however when under pressure ourselves, we could ship a few in return. I for one hope I am wrong and LVG can galvanise them into a water tight unit and the new look Galacticos of Manchester can put United back in their rightful place; top of the league.
9 replies on “Manchester Galacticos? ”
Playing in 4-4-2 diamond will be gr8!
Degea
rafael,jones,rojo,shaw/blackett
herrera/mata,blind,di maria
rooney
rvp,falcao
LVG has never said that our problems, and the weaknesses of the squad he inherited, would be resolved in one transfer window. I, and most United supporters I talk to, have been crying out for quality midfield players for the last five seasons. For all Fergie’s achievements, the real “papering over the cracks” was done by his ability to make certain players over-perform; LVG has made a good start by getting rid of several players on good contracts who thought one decent half-hour every six games was acceptable.
Hopefully, van Gaal will continue to weed out the under-performers, work-shy, confidence-shy, and lazy, and to add quality to the squad, until it is sufficiently robust to compete not only in the Premier League, but in also in Europe, where even Sir Alex failed to get enough out of them in later seasons.
Unfortunately, our success over all these years has attracted supporters who think we have a divine right to win, and who can’t remember the days when we were a long way off being even second best! If they go the way of Nani and co, it won’t be a bad thing!
Keep the Faith!
Playing d 4-4-2 4mation nd d diamond wll b cool de gae. Val/raf jones rojo shaw/blackett herrera blind di maria mata rooney falcao/rvp
you called it
Just to point out that our much maligned defence has conceded only three goals in three Premier League games. Whilst it hasn’t looked to be in command, it’s done the job. The real problem has been at the other end, only two scored, time to put that straight.
Wonderful post.am really impressed with this post you are right on point.but “everyman” saying our defence is not that bad I don’t won’t to agree with u having in mind that we are yet to play any strong team with sharp attack.besides no big deal with what van gal is doing moyes would hv done better with d same amount of money afterall moyes managed to survive with d old team whereas van gal is yet to win a competitive game with d old team.I think @ this I can say david moyes was better
I think our defence will come good, you have to bare in mind we haven’t played our ‘best’ defensive unit yet nor have we played with the same 3 at the back.
Smalling got injured in a game, Evans just returned from injury, Blackett still learning, Rafael/Shaw both injured and Rojo just received his permit.
on top of that our potentially first 3 choice centre midfilders have been injured or just joined (blind)
All i’m saying is judge the defence when we have most of them fit not when it’s makeshift (eg playing Young, Lingard (as wing backs), Blackett or M Keane)
Judge it when the likes of Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Evans or even Blind make the 3 and wing backs are Shaw, Rafeal or Blind
Also throwing something else out there- I think Carrick will be suited as one of the back 3.
here are my reasons;
1. his played centre back before
2. he has the cover of another 2 if he messes up
3. he can read the game
4. he is comfortable with the ball and can pass it (Evans & Smalling can’t)
going to just mention them but i do think we need a player at the back who is good on the ball, if the other teams back off and lets our back 3 keep the ball, we won’t hurt anyone as they can’t do anything with it other then hoof it long
I really don’t get what the fuss about the defense is..When you have deficient midfield of Fletcher,Cleverley,Fellaini and so on you defence will always be in danger..The ease at which the opposition get into our defense lies with the awfulness of the midfield because our midfield could not keep possession and could not pressure the defense.The defenders kept hoofing the ball only to give it back to the opposition.I lost count the number of times Fletcher gives the ball to the opposition.That was where the trouble lied.If you can’t keep the ball you can’t expect your defense to be clearing the mess all the time.Evra although experienced shipped in so many goals that Ferge had to buy Buttner to make him step.Despite Rio and Vidic being solid they were also guilty for countless mistakes which ended up in the team going into Fergie Time.Now that we are close to having a solid midfield the defense can now relax knowing they can be assured protection.Any defender in the Top 4 will never feel safe with Cleverly and Fletcher infront of them.Lets not make it as bad as it looks.Last season our problem was in our build up because the players upfront were not up for it.This season we were seeing the same thing, and hopefully our new signings will breathe life into our attacking buildup.Despite having a shaky defense, we need an attack that the opposition will fear.Nobody fears Valencia,Young,Cleverley and Fletcher.Now teams will be very careful when they attack us.
We now have a great sqad. but we can sell young and valencia
De Gea-Rafael,Jones,Carrick,Rojo,Shaw-Herrera,Blind,Di maria-Rooney,Persie. with falcao,mata,januzai/lingard/pereira,fletcher,Evans,Smaling,Amos
selection i based on:
-smalling and evans can fill in for jones,carrick,rojo.
-carrick have great passing ability, have played in defence before.
-he can take blind position if blind is inj.
-jones can take rafael position and rojo can take shaw position, if inj.lingard can take rafael pos and james can take shaw pos.
-if blind is inj, carrick or fletcher can take his place.
-if herrera and/or di maria is inj. lindgard,januzai and pereira can take their places.
-rooney and van persie. rooney a litle behind persie or mata a litle behind falcao. mata behind persie if rooney is inj and rooney behind falcao.
-gives us a god lineup with 1st team players fighting for positions and young grown ups man utd talents like james,blackett,lingard,januzai,pereira,wilson.
its would looke like this:
…………………………….rooney/mata……..persie/falcao/wilson
.di maria/januzai/pereria….blind/carrick/fletcher……..herrera/lindgard/pereira
shaw/rojo/james…………………………………………..rafael/jones/lingard
………..rojo/evans,blackett…carrick/evans……jones/smalling
……………………………………………de gea
a team for many years to come and i dont think we need new players for a while, maybe strootman.