Swansea 2-1 Manchester United: Takeaways
Credit: Wales Online
Swansea were looking to do the double over Manchester United; having beaten the Red Devils in Louis van Gaal’s first game in charge way back at the start of the season.
They did just that, scoring twice through Gomis and Ki-Sung Yeung; with Herrera making a rare start and inevitably getting Manchester United’s only goal. United dominated the second half but could not do anything to pull the game back.
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Although it was not the result they were looking for, it must be pointed out that this is only United’s second league defeat since November at the hands of Manchester City, with Southampton the only other.
Let’s look at some talking points:
1) Robin van Persie – past his peak?
Formerly one of the Premier League’s best strikers; and a key member of the title-winning squad in 2012/13 – the Dutch striker has looked steadily worse since. This is surprising given his magnificent World Cup display for the Netherlands. For club he has been very different.
In the game against Swansea he had a total of 7 shots but only 1 of those was on target. His first touch was poor and looked slow in all areas of his game. Nothing like the player he once was.
There has been some speculation over his future at United and if this game is anything to go by it doesn’t look like he will be around for long. In addition, it makes the case for playing James Wilson stronger and removes some of the pressure off of Falcao’s shoulders who has been the main target for criticism all season.
It would be unfair to judge van Persie on one performance alone so hopefully it was simply a one off really bad day at the office and he will be back to himself sooner rather than later. The possibility of him being past his peak is still something to think about however.
2) Long Ball United
The game-plan of getting the ball up to Fellaini was seemingly the only plan that United had for much of the game and unfortunately it just didn’t pay off.
Philosophy has been the buzz word all season – is the long ball to Fellaini the philosophy van Gaal was talking about?
For all the Belgians strengths – he can be very slow and disruptive to the flow of the game. It would have made more sense to bring Mata on instead of keeping Fellaini out there but this was not an option van Gaal decided to take; instead taking off the slightly more effective Di Maria to bring Mata on.
The game needed pace and good crosses; hence why Young and Valencia were on and it was up to Herrera to build play’s from the middle of the park. Rooney playing as a forward helped Herrera play a better role in the game.
3) McNair – too much too soon?
A standout performer for most of the season, his performance today signalled the need to remain realistic with him.
The defensive rookie was taken off at half-time for the second time this season and Valencia was put on in his place. This raised questions in relation to van Persie who lasted the full 90 minutes despite a poor performance whereas McNair only saw out the first 45.
He failed to mark Gomis, who saw two headers go close in the first half. He wasn’t the only defensive player to have a bad game but it did highlight his naivety and show he is still raw and will take time to develop.
Other Takes:
– Rooney started as a striker, which looks set to be the case from now on opening the door for more Herrera starts.
– On the whole it was an improved performance compared to the displays in recent weeks. The argument stands that United conceded against the run of play and for most of the game were the better team.
– Another decent display from Luke Shaw, who has come a long way since signing in the summer.