Manchester United: Full-backs must step up for the team
Manchester United made it 3 wins out of 3 just before the international break but there was still proof of areas the team can improve in, particularly the full-backs.
It’s certainly hard to criticise a Manchester United team who’ve scored 10 goals and conceded none in 3 games and is top of the table but surely Mourinho wouldn’t think it’s all rainbows and sunshine either.
The Red Devils have been impressive in regards to how they’ve taken teams apart so far but there are some concerns as well. Although the team did manage to remain patient in the end, they also did show signs of inexperience and frustration in the games against West Ham, Swansea and Leicester.
Teams are always going to set up to defend against Manchester United so it is the players task to break them down. One way to break stubborn opposition down is to use width and a lot of it. Now due to the club’s lack of out and out wingers, it’s up to the full-backs to provide the width that is so obviously missing in the team.
Mourinho hasn’t targeted a winger for his final signing of the summer without reason and should he have the opportunity to pounce on one, he surely will. Either way, that’s a different issue entirely. Against Leicester there was a shocking delivery from out wide, mostly provided by full-backs.
The Manchester United players crossed 39 times at the weekend, only managing to complete 9 crosses. Accuracy is clearly the issue but it’s also promising that 2 of those 9 crosses were key passes and 1 cross was an assist from the corner spot. This shows the need to improve in this regard because it can devastate teams who sit deep and compact.
Old Trafford will just have to accept that the club’s wide men aren’t strong at crossing and are more adept at cutting inside and finishing off chances. This is fine, while it can improve it is fine and can be dangerous in it’s own right. The main issue is full-back’s failing to find their teammates in key moments of the game.
Against Leicester, the Manchester United midfielders would work their way around the pitch, testing the opposition’s backline, switching the ball from side to side until finally either Valencia or Blind would be free to put a good ball into the box with at least four players to aim at, only to let everyone down with their inaccuracies.
Manchester United’s play became too one-dimensional and suddenly Leicester knew that any delivery from out wide would be harmless. This was particularly frustrating when the whole team would build up a huge amount of pressure on the Foxes only for it all to come tumbling down by an overhit cross.
Next: Manchester United: Title contenders or pretenders?
The ability to put the ball into the box from out wide is a serious and dangerous skill that seems to have been forgotten by many in the modern game but United will need their full-backs in particular to improve vastly in this department. Should they do so, there’s no stopping the Red Devils, not even 10 men behind the ball.