The club's performances have hit rock bottom
They quite often say-"you can't be poor than poorer" ,but it seems like David Moyes' much criticized side has proved this quote wrong.Their performances have ,all of a sudden hit rock bottom following three consecutive 2-1 losses to Tottenham ,Swansea and the latest being Sunderland,who handed them a bitter lesson of underestimating them.And it's due to these disappointing results that doubts have been begun to be casted over David Moyes' abilities as a manager .The Scotsman has been believed to be at fault in the defeats United have suffered but it's not just him who should be blamed for these vanquishes.
The high pressing tactics which United played with have vanished for long and the solitary thing which they lack right now in the field is creativity.After capturing the facilities of Marouane Fellaini from his former club Everton at the eleventh hour of the transfer window,he gave the fans something of a so-called "lift-up".But the performances the 26 year old Belgian was expected to deliver never materialized and his injury prone times meant something worse for the Reds of Manchester.Moreover,the likes of Tom Cleverley ,Shinji Kagawa and Nani were also not giving away the required parcels of creativity which is needed to mount a serious title challenge.So,the responsibility dropped to Wayne Rooney ,who did a rather commendable job everywhere on the pitch to hide the absences of Robin van Persie ,Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher.He took the onus of delivering the scintillating long balls towards the right flank controlled by Antonio Valencia,who had to deliver quality crossed down the middle.Then,the news regarding injuries faced by Phil Jones and Ashley Young broke out and it did not help United in their pursuit of a top 4 finish.
And another reason which emerges as a factor for the downfall is that David Moyes has failed to find out what his first team actually is.Let's forget about injuries and suspensions right now,because even in the absences of both of these things,he has continuously rotated his first team.And this has evolved some miscommunications among fellow team members and the triangle passes which United used to string together under Sir Alex have become extinct.Link up play has deteriorated and the players have lost some self-belief and that's the main reason why United have not been able to score late in games.The last time they scored late in a game under Moyes was in a friendly game against Cerezo Osaka,when Wilfy Zaha had tapped in the equalizer.Another aftermath of squad-rotation has been that United have some part of the resilient attitude they possessed.They go down in a match but never come back ,except in some cases when United had defeated Hull,Sunderland and Stoke fittingly.The shoulders droop and the body languages suggest that the players have given in.
Not only this,but David Moyes has also not realized the fruit of changing formations regularly.He has trodden upon many types of formations ranging from 4-4-1-1,4-4-2,4-2-3-1.But even after trying out loads of these adjustments,the Red Devils have failed to settle into a single one.
People have also been stating that David Moyes has been putting too much faith in 18 year old Adnan Januzaj.But I think,he has done a rather courageous job in placing his faith in him and it is seemingly paying off. He has impressed me from his first appearance against Singha All Stars and is continuing to do so.He has been an integral part of the United side, which should be somewhat ashamed about the fact an 18 year old is carrying the weight of the team in the absence of Rooney.
But as mentioned earlier,David Moyes is not the only culprit of the status quo. United's transfer tactics have not been up to scratch .Especially, the role of Ed Woodward has been increasingly questioned under the current circumstances .
When Barcelona told United quite clearly that Cesc Fabregas is worth 40€ million,it was believed to be a decision fair and square.But,despite of Barca telling United openly,Ed Woodward did not spend well enough to land the 26 year old Spaniard.An offer in the region of 40 million could have been enough to tempt them but Ed Woodward showed signs of poor business abilities.Both bids which stood out rejected were well below the required sum and that led to the talks being broken.
Along with Woodward and Moyes,the players are also culprits for the disappointments.The likes of Tom Cleverley and Shinji Kagawa have been the biggest dismays thus far and even Ashley Young has also not been of top quality.United needed players who could deliver quality long balls towards the flanks or up front but Tom Cleverley has only been able to string passes close to him.His average pass length has been only 17 metres ,which is too less when compared to Carrick's 20 metres. Kagawa ,Young and Nani have been slow and sluggish on the flanks,paving way for Januzaj.Rio Ferdinand has become rather easy to go past these days and I think time has come for United to offload him.
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