With mere hours to kick off, United enter their home date with the Hammers with injury concerns growing. Not yet at current Arsenal levels we saw a year ago, United will enter tomorrow’s match without the services of Rooney, Rojo, Jones, and Herrera. The good news is Lingard appears to be ready to join the team after a brief absence; whether or not he makes his way into van Gaal’s starting XI isn’t certain.
Depending on who you ask, Rooney’s injury is of concern. What initially seemed to be minor and precautionary away to Leicester has said to have “gotten worse”. At this point, it is all but assured he’ll not only miss tomorrow’s (today’s) match, but their pivotal away tie to Wolfsburg.
Adding to the issues in the back is Rojo’s injury during training. Having done this myself – which eventually required surgery, a shoulder separation could very well see him miss some time. What’s concerning is I immediately worried it was the same shoulder he separated last season against City… Unfortunately, I was correct. It could be the sign of something nagging and, if so, it will only get worse. I was in the same boat. If it were to progress toward that end, it could spell doom to his season and even threaten to keep him off the starting XI by the time of the 2016/17 season’s opening games.
Given Rooney’s form, he’ll be less missed than the latter when evaluating our options in the back. And that’s not me being a cynic on the Rooney “issue”. It’s just the truth for now. On the other hand, when you go into this season with a real need for a quality centre-half to add depth and a voice to the back line with a need for a full back to play on the right – it’s concerning when you get your fullback and decide an inexperienced Daley Blind will fill the role with an already injured Rojo. Now add Shaw’s injury, Jones and his inevitability to be injured, with Rojo again… It reeks of crisis in the making. It very well could be that van Gaal lines up with a back four of Darmian, Smalling, McNair, and Blind… With no surprises should Young land at right back.
Simply stated, not good enough if the ultimate goal is to challenge for the League and make noise in Champions League. It’s nice to see their defensive record topping the league; but, the fact is that it’s looked entirely average against the better clubs thus far not suffering from injury issues. City can’t be counted. Arsenal demolished them. Liverpool were in poor form. And their Champions League campaign thus far leaves much to be desired. A loss next week could see them land in Europa.
I’ve said it numerous times and will say it again, United need help in the back and it needs to happen this winter if their position in the table is to be the basis for a run at the title.
This doesn’t imply that nothing is needed up top. They do. I really want to see United acquire a winger with pace who is adept on the right. It’s the missing piece up top. At present, I think United are too predictable in their attack and having options out wide on both sides would open the opposition more for making runs and giving space in the middle to drive forward. At present, they lack that player until Januzaj returns – should he be better suited there. Then I’m reminded his loan to BvB hasn’t been a fairy tale, whatever the motivation there, and he’d have to step it up to be that improvement they need there.
You might be thinking what about Lingard? If you are, and yes he’s played there, he’s naturally better on the left. And I’m not sold on him for right now. He’s made strides, but not the kinds which make him the player United are missing. He’s good enough to push Memphis for starts and friendly competition brings out the best in players when fighting for those minutes… But even that isn’t entirely working.
Then there’s Mata… At times brilliant, at others good enough. I really think he’s lost in van Gaal’s system. He doesn’t fit the bill of the winger van Gaal needs in his set up. He lacks pace to really attack out wide. Mata’s instinct is more about running at the net with poise, seeking opportunities for probing forward passes or short crosses. It plays into the hands of the opposition who prefer to sit back in a compact setup and look for chances to counter United with speed. In any event, I almost wonder if he’d be better suited to the ten spot. But then you have an equally lost Fellaini.
Despite all that, I see United pulling out three points from West Ham. They’re missing some key players in Payet and Sakho, so their attack will find the going tougher – even if against United’s piecemeal back line. Their form of late has dipped, having fallen to 8th on the table without a win in four league matches (0-2-2) and have allowed 21 goals thus far, which is tied with Leicester for most of the top half clubs.
United will undoubtedly control much of the ball and, with West Ham’s depleted attack, should be more willing to push forward to drive home the advantage of possession with attempts on goal. As long as they can play disciplined defensively – specifically maintaining organization when West Ham counters and not giving away free kicks around the goal (where Carroll, for example, can be clinical), there’s no reason to expect anything but a win.
Enjoy the match.
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