Since Louis Van Gaal took his seat at the helm of Manchester United, many media outlets and fans alike have questioned when Kevin Strootman will be following the footsteps of Daley Blind, and following ex-Netherlands coach to the Theatre of Dreams, with many presuming it would have been the summer transfer window, or this January transfer window. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that this addition will not be taking place any time soon, with both Strootman himself, manager and owner of Roma all insisting he will be staying with the Italian outfit. Because of this scenario, you have to question whether Strootman is really worth the wait, and what does he have what our current midfielders do not?
Starting with compatriot Daley Blind, the very technical and versatile defensive midfielder and full back offers a lot to our game, with the accuracy and preciseness of his long and short range passing, his ability to defend and keep possession under pressure, surely cannot go unnoticed. Blind, like many of our players still has a lot of time under his belt, where he will be able to gain a vast amount of experience, and maybe become one of our most reliable players we’ve ever had, similar to Michael Carrick, and who knows, we may even be looking at Michael Carrick’s replacement with this eagle-eyed midfielder. We saw Blind open his account for the Red Devils on the 20th of October away to West Brom, where he slotted the ball into the net very calmly and precisely, and hopefully there will be many more goals to come from the 24 year old.
We then move onto the unsung hero, just about the most reliable player you can set your eyes on, and he goes by the name of Michael Carrick. It was the 31st July 2006 when we signed one of the most reliable and most committed players around, for £18.6m from Tottenham Hotspur, and what a steal he turned out to be. Granted, he isn’t the most prolific midfielders when it comes to goal scoring, but his range of passing and the calmness he brings to our games is essential to our style of play, retaining the ball and attempting to push forward. He is one of those players who you won’t particularly notice on the pitch, however he is one of the most missed players when he isn’t on the pitch, leaving a huge gulf in midfield and leaving United with no range of passing being sprayed to the forwards from midfield. Again, I wouldn’t be too keen on Strootman taking Carrick’s place in the starting eleven.
Another midfielder United have who, for some bizarre reason is struggling to get game time, is Ander Herrera, and what a maestro he is. This players has it all, passing, shooting, tackling, dribbling, I would love to see Jamie Carragher try and scrutinise this player, I think Gary Neville would shut up shop if he attempted to. Back to Herrera, who the Spanish deem to be the replacement of Xavi, has had short game time, but when he does come on he offers a huge impact our team, who seem to be struggling at some games. An example of this, would be the FA cup game against Cambridge, everybody wanted Herrera to come on, and when he did, he failed to disgruntle the fans’ desire to have him on the pitch at all times, in fact, he proved to everybody why we purchased him. His relaxed style of play, with quick bursts of speed is enough to have any fan of football drooling at the TV screen. He can have a shot at goal from 30 yards out and find the target, score a fantastic half volley like he did against Yeovil, or even produce a majestic pass which is able to seek one of our many world class stars up front. He will track back and put in a full-hearted sliding tackle to take both the ball and player, which look at his baby-face, you wouldn’t expect. I would take Herrera over Strootman in the blink of an eye, the complete epitome of a Spanish footballer.
Finally, how can we forget, the first thing astronauts see from space, the Belgian brick-wall himself, Marouane Fellaini, who has overcome his mountainous uphill battle he faced at the start of the season, and proved, rather ironically, that this sort of player was everything we needed under the reign of David Moyes, a midfielder with authority and strength, who can grab the odd crucial goal when it is needed most, and completely change his style of play, depending on what the opposition is doing. Proving that he can both attack and defend when he is needed to, under Louis Van Gaal, we have a completely different and a lot more valuable Fellaini in our hands, which is something I did not think I would have been saying at the end of last season.
So there you have it, why I don’t deem Strootman essential, or by any means worth the time or effort, considering we would have wasted a complete season in trying to purchase him, if we were to make a move for him in the summer. I believe our midfield is strong enough and offers a certain degree of versatility, for both attacking and defending. So I would urge Van Gaal and Woodward, to solely focus on our very mediocre defence, and purchase reinforcements in that area, rather than sharing the focus in midfield, which we are not particularly desperate for.
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