Taking a look at Manchester United’s midfield problems – English Premier League (Part 2)
Building on what was elaborated in the first part of this article about Manchester United’s midfield issues, the transfer targets that have been so far touted up in the media have not played in a two man midfield at their own respective clubs or even at the international level. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wesley-Sneijder-c36799, the most prominent name linked with United in the summer transfer window of 2011 is a perfect example of this paradox.
Sneijder has almost always played a three man midfield in a 4-3-3 formation or just behind the striker as the trequartista in a 4-2-3-1 formation. For Holland, he has played in the 4-2-3-1 formation, something that is alien to Manchester United’s style of play. For his club side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan, Sneijder played in a 4-5-1 formation under Jose Mourinho. It is a widely recognized belief that Sneijder is incapable of playing in a 4-4-2 system with another central midfielder as the Dutchman has neither the defensive discipline nor the legs to perform in a two-man central midfield.
For http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360, the case is a bit different more or less the same. At Arsenal, Nasri has played out wide as Cesc Fabregas has been preferred to the Frenchman in the middle of the park. Arsene Wenger did use Nasri in a central midfield role in the 2010-2011 Premier League campaign when Fabregas was out injured and curiously enough this new offensive midfielder’s position brought the best out of the French playmaker.
However http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luka-Modric-c22857 will make sense for Manchester United. Modric has played in a two man central midfield for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League as well as the UEFA Champions League.
Perhaps physically weaker than both Sneijder and Nasri, the Croatian playmaker has been a constant performer in a two man midfield for Redknapp’s team and that is something that might appeal to United’s experienced manager. Looking at Manchester United’s historical midfield partnerships it is safe to conclude that Ferguson went with a hard-man plus a playmaker combo during the 1990s. This trend was abandoned in the late 2000s when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282 arrived at Manchester United.
The Englishman lined up alongside Paul Scholes for United’s run to the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA Champions League as well as their win in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final. However this more continental combo has failed against Barcelona of late. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Real-c30728 Madrid, they will need to abandon the two-man midfield trend or hope that they don’t meet either of the Spanish giants in Europe’s premier club cup competition.
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