Manchester United end of season squad review – English Premier League (Part 2)
Following our review of Manchester United’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Defence-c38904 and their performance in the 2010-2011 Premier League season, it is now time to take a look at the Red Devil’s midfield department...
Midfield
Whilst Manchester United’s midfield was good enough to win them the English Premier League, their men in the middle were not good enough to put Barcelona through some anxious times in the UEFA Champions League final on 28th
May, 2011 at Wembley stadium. Before the 2010-2011 season kicked off in August of 2010, experts were pointing towards United’s midfield as their Achilles heel.
Many said that the likes of Michael Carrick and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Ferguson. Since Manchester United won the
2010-2011 Premier League title, critics have eased off a bit but others have stepped up their efforts to point out the deficiencies in United’s engine room. These critics are right to a large extent.
It was evident in the UEFA Champions League final that Manchester United craved two things in their midfield region. Firstly, an out and out attacking midfielder and secondly a defensive enforcer. Barcelona ran rings around Manchester
United’s two man midfield of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 three man midfield, Giggs really looked tired and out of sorts against the Spanish champions.
In the end, a 3-1 loss typified United’s performance at Wembley. Sir Alex Ferguson will be well aware of the troubles that plague his midfield area. He has tired playing Michael Carrick as a defensive midfielder but that hasn’t
worked as the Englishman is more of a deep lying playmaker rather than a tackler. The veteran Scotsman has also used Ryan Giggs as Manchester United’s attacking midfielder but that backfired against quality opposition in shape of Barcelona.
Against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707 was misfiring
upfront for the Blues. However, the Red Devils’ midfield’s weaknesses were highlighted by their defeat to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 at the Emirates stadium in the dying weeks of the Premier League season.
As a result, Manchester United have already been linked to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 but Modric has been giving out
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rafael-c30339 Van der Vaart at White Hart Lane.
Moreover, Manchester United’s need for a defensive midfielder has been further compounded by the exit of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Owen-Hargreaves-c28918 as the chronically injured Englishman was not offered a renewed contract by the Red Devils.
Ferguson is thought to be a fan of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 but it still remains to be seen whether the 2006 World Cup winning Italian midfielder will be keen on a move away from his home town club. All in all, Manchester United
need to reinforce their midfield whether it is through their F.A Cup winning http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/U-17-Youth-team-c40787 or through new summer transfer window singings is something that Sir Alex has to decide on sooner or later.
In the next version of this featured series, we shall take a look at Manchester United's attack and the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 and Dimitar Berbatov's performances in the 2010-2011 Premier League season...
Tags: