How can a team that eased to a twentieth Premier League crown with consummate ease last season be floundering in mid-table mediocrity?
For the fans slumping out of Old Trafford shortly after two o’clock on Saturday this was the question reverberating around the terraces…minus a few expletives.
The Red Devils slipped to their fifth league defeat of the season against a resurgent Newcastle team; leaving the champions with the same number of losses that they amassed in their entire previous campaign and gazing longingly to the Premier League summit.
Despite Moyes boasting the title is still within sight, few of the Manchester United faithful (and even fewer of their staunch rivals) would share his vision.
Rather than quibbling over where Manchester United will finally emerge at the end of this transitional and turbulent campaign, that time may well be better spent trying to decipher how they’ve come to find themselves in such a tumultuous predicament.
While some may lazily raise an accusatory finger of blame towards the new man in the Old Trafford hot-seat (whatever finger that may be) it is somewhat unfair and unjust to settle for this conclusion.
Despite Manchester United seemingly cantering to the title last season, emerging victorious over their ‘noisy neighbours’ by 11 points, there were unmistakable cracks appearing that needed to be addressed in the summer.
With just a casual glance at Moyes’ frantic transfer antics over the summer months it is clear that Manchester United desperately needed a midfield partner to compliment Michael Carrick’s masterful performances.
After failing to land Thiago, Fabregas and Herrera, the Scot eventually settled for the bullish Belgian, Marouane Fellaini who has struggled to settle in among the upper echelons of professional football.
There was a popular, somewhat self deprecating joke that swilled around Old Trafford last season upon hearing the team news for the upcoming match.
“Who’s in midfield?”
“Carrick and Anderson”
“Carrick will be taking an extra sip of Lucozade about now then”
This quip would also easily work should Carrick have been paired with Cleverley in United’s engine room.
The translation of this joke? Manchester United’s midfield simply isn’t good enough. Moyes can’t be faulted for that, even if the finger of blame does fall on him for deducing that Marouane Fellaini was the answer to this problem.
With this in mind, when the news emerged that Carrick would be missing from action for around 4-6 weeks with an achilles gripe, United fans were rightly concerned.
Sadly while Lucozade may provide a world-class talent like Carrick with an added boost to assist him with carrying an extra passenger in United’s midfield, there is no magic elixir to give someone an extra boost of talent.
If there was I would be making a rather large investment of the potion in preparation for my Sunday league outings.
Since the England international has begun his stint on the sidelines, United have failed to win any of their four league encounters and their midfield has lacked creativity, pace and vision.
Moyes again can’t be faulted for not trying all possible combinations to recreate this magic.
While Giggs still operates at a different class to his United counterparts, he can only be used sparingly in Manchester United’s pursuit of the title. Shinji Kagawa excels in European competition but, amid the bruising and battling nature of the Premier League, he cuts an ineffective figure in the middle of midfield.
Jones is a tremendous battler and ball winner for United but, compared with the likes of Ozil, Hazard, Gerrard and Silva, Moyes can never consider him the creative spark that United are crying out for.
Anderson and Cleverley look completely out of their depth in a team full of champions and, if their performances do not pick up in the second half of the season, could find themselves heading out the Old Trafford door at the end of the season.
In light of this, it becomes slightly easier to pick the bones out of United’s troubled escapades in the Premier League as of late. Without Michael Carrick acting as conductor in the Manchester United orchestra, the United forwards look void of direction and supply.
Moyes will no doubt be counting down the days until the reliable England international returns to the fray. Until he does, there may be a few more sleepless nights and uneasy questions for the Scot to face.
Image courtesy of Saadick Dhansay, with thanks
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