Manchester United face a visit from their rivals Arsenal this Sunday, as we take a look at how United have moved on since their FA Cup exit at the hands of the Gunners.
Manchester United came into the FA Cup quarter-final tie in March looking to stamp their authority on the competition by beating last year’s winners. Things didn’t go as planned, and Arsenal walked away victorious with Manchester United’s old-boy Danny Welbeck scoring the winner, against his former side to add salt to the wounds.
The defeat put Manchester United in limbo, they had lost their chance at winning a trophy this season and were just three points clear in fourth place with games against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City on the horizon. Pundits and fans alike were doubting if United had the quality to see the season through, and ultimately finish in the top four. Since then however, a lot has changed for Manchester United, who look and play like a different team than what they were in March, disproving a lot of doubts that were had about them.
Over the past two months Louis van Gaal has really refined the team’s playstyle – a process in which he described as his players are becoming “conscious capable”. The match leading up to the FA Cup tie saw United scrape a 1-0 win over struggling Newcastle, a win which only occurred due to a fatal Tim Krul error, which led to an Ashley Young tap-in. Since the Arsenal match, van Gaal has transformed United into a fresh team who are hell-bent on silencing their doubters.
The change in playing style goes hand-in-hand with the changes in personnel. Juan Mata replaced the suspended and out-of-form Angel Di Maria on the right, as Daley Blind dropped to left-back to accommodate Michael Carrick’s return to defensive midfield. It was a change that surprised us all in how well it worked out, United’s neat interplay down the flanks with Mata, Ander Herrera, Antonio Valencia and Young, while Marouane Fellaini and Blind saw a new dynamic in United’s play, with faster balls played into the channels allowing United to progress up the field with a more direct and aggressive intention.
Carrick also provided the passing assurance and positional assurance that Blind can lack. Mata’s inclusion brought assurance and accuracy on the right and playing as a false-winger made him difficult to pick up, whilst Young continued to grow in confidence, not-afraid to beat his man, consistently delivering crosses for Fellaini and Wayne Rooney to knock-home. This new team dominated their oppositions comfortably beating Tottenham, dismantling Liverpool and dominating Aston Villa, showing that there was a clear shift in confidence and hunger in the United players after the Arsenal defeat. United’s dominance yet continued as they eased to victory over the local rivals Manchester City coming from a goal-down to win 4-2. Fellaini’s presence, Carrick’s control and the outnumbering of opposition on the wings led to a team many now felt could finish second.
The Manchester City win was thought to be the first of a strong end to the season, but injuries hindered the team as they have seemed to do since the start of the season. Carrick, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Blind all picked up injuries after the City game, which meant van Gaal was forced to change his winning formula for their visit to Stamford Bridge. The game against Chelsea was positive, with United dominating possession and passes, but failing to have the cutting edge needed to beat the well-organised defensive structure that the hosts had. Chelsea won the game by a solitary goal, but van Gaal emphasised his admiration of United’s play, stating “it was our best game of the season”.
What was thought to be an attacking blip, turned into something of more concern when United were undone by Everton 3-0, and as van Gaal stated it was clear from the start that they simply wanted to win more, players look tired and despite dominating possession they failed to create anything truly clear-cut. Doubts were then turned to genuine fear when United lost the following week to West Brom, the first time United lost 3 games in a row since the 1997-8 campaign. It followed the trend of the other two games with United having 80% possession and failing to score as West Brom took the lead via a freak free-kick deflection. West Brom were however also in debt to their fantastic goalkeeper Boaz Myhill who stopped Robin van Persie’s spot-kick and made another tremendous save to keep the Dutchman and the substitute Di Maria out from long-range.
Despite these defeats, van Gaal remained adamant that his team weren’t going backwards, United had successfully created numerous opportunities against a team with eleven-men behind the ball and with their new style of possession orientated football teams are more likely to do that. The solution to this requires new signings – a possession based game needs dynamic, clever players who can dismantle the opposition’s organisation at the back. Mata and Young are often too predictable, whilst Fellaini can be drowned out of games by being man-marked. United’s run of three games without scoring has highlighted the need for new signings in the attacking third and a midfielder who can replace the ever-important presence of Carrick in the long-term and actions are already being taken with the prospective signing of Memphis Depay, and the growing rumours of Ilkay Gundogan, it is clear van Gaal has set out his plans for the summer, to take United’s progress to the next level.
Arsenal will visit Old Trafford on Sunday and be faced with a new team. Van Gaal has successfully drilled possession play into these players and with constant defensive improvements United are difficult to break down and are increasingly confident in their attacking play. Despite Carrick’s absence, Herrera’s reinvention into one of the most dynamic midfielders in the league and Fellaini’s aerial and physical dominance in both attack and defence, Arsenal will most likely need to adopt a more defensive approach to disallow Mata, Herrera and Fellaini the freedom to roam and pick their pass. Van Gaal said prior to the FA Cup match that the winner of the game would go on to finish the season strongly and despite Manchester United’s loss they have shown leaps and bounds of improvement and with Swansea undoing Arsenal on Monday, this tie could be a decider in the third place.
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