What should Manchester United aim for in 2015?
As the new-year has hit and we’ve hit the half-way point of the season, it’s a fair point to analyse the season so far.
Manchester United have been enjoying a better season this term compared to last year. The Red Devils sit in third spot in the league while they have progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup, something they failed to do last year. A disappointing display in the Capital One Cup 2nd round against MK Dons saw the Reds humbled 4-0 at Stadium:MK in the most humiliating performance of the year.
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Louis Van Gaal suggested after the Tottenham match that his team is improving and will be at its best in 2015. The Dutchman insisted that the players are gelling well into his philosophy.
"“We can see 2015 with open eyes. We shall continue with our process and maybe showing attractive matches and hopefully also with a fantastic result at the end of the season and a good location in the table.We are still in a process. Everyone can see we are improving every week in spite of a lot of injuries and that is because of the philosophy.”"
Manchester United are likely to achieve their target of qualifying for Champions League next term. Despite a shaky start to the year, Van Gaal’s men are now on an eleven game unbeaten run in all competitions. Six straight wins including away wins against Arsenal and Southampton saw the Reds soar to 3rd. They look well placed to reach the Champions League spots, so what are the hopes for the rest of the season?
Easing of injuries:
Manchester United are having a terrible season in terms of injuries. The club have already suffered 54 injuries this term with Luke Shaw and Rafael the latest casualties from the Yeovil Town match. But now the injuries are easing up with midfielders Daley Blind, Maraoune Fellaini and Angel Di Maria returning. Defensively, United are out with only one first-team central defender in Marcos Rojo but Van Gaal has recently stated that he is also on the mend.With Van Gaal understanding the injury patterns,he would bring changes to his training sessions to avoid more injuries in second half of season.
Stable starting Eleven:
Along with 25 different defensive combinations, Manchester United have fielded the same starting eleven in back to back games just once this season. The defence has overshadowed the fact that the midfield and strike force has been tinkered a lot, but with midfielders and strikers back we could see a regular starting team for the first time since the days of Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney in attack week in, week out.
Goals:
Radamel Falcao was back to complete fitness over the festive period and has started the last five games in succession. The Colombian showed glimpses of his killer movement along the lines in last few matches and grabbed himself two goals. This is a welcome sign for United and if El Tigre can hit top form there could be goals galore. Robin Van Persie has been quiet this season despite being the leading goalscorer for the team in the Premier League. The Dutchman could also step up by seeing the competition from Falcao and Wayne Rooney, as he did when he was on the verges of being dropped by Van Gaal. Though the latter has been generally used as midfielder by Van Gaal, Rooney could return to the striker position once midfielders are back to fitness.
FA Cup charge:
Manchester United should take FA cup more seriously than any other team in the league. The club are not in Europe this season and were knocked out of the Capital One Cup after an embarrassing loss to MK Dons back in August. The Red Devils trail Chelsea and Manchester City by nine points in the league thus realistically the FA cup is their only chance at silverware this season. With Darren Fletcher the only player who has won FA Cup with United in the current squad, the players will be eager to change that.