West Brom’s victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford recently was a collective failure of the Red Devils. Jose Mourinho as well as his entire team were substandard in every way. Hence, it might be unfair to single out anyone. However, what’s important here is to identify key areas where the team has regressed and advanced lately, particularly in terms of its fullbacks.
Nothing denying that Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young are two of the most reliable players of the team, excellent in their defensive abilities, however, their best instincts have been suppressed for quite some time now, and this contributed to the 1-0 loss against West Brom.
It’s not something that Mourinho can be blamed about, as this issue was there even before his arrival. And it has worsened so much that even the novice punters have a fair chance to win if they bet against these two fullbacks in the MU team.
On Ashley Young
The reality is that these two players once used to be the best crossers in the EPL, but are no longer able to consistently deliver the goods. This can be attributed to couple of important reasons. Firstly, Young has lost some speed over the years, which earlier used to allow him to get clear of the opponent before sending the ball into the box. Second, he’s right-foot player in the left wing, hence he’s not at his natural best when releasing the ball.
The cumulative and unfortunate effect of this is very evident in some MU games. They easily concede 10 to 15 yards on the left flank during several attacks, as their opponents are sure that they’d not attack the byline aggressively. You can read more on this and get all the latest MU updates here.
Although Alexis Sanchez’ addition to the team has tackled this issue to a certain extent, but Sanchez is also a right footer, and therefore hesitates while cutting inside. Here are some more reasons why Sanchez has been having a hard time at MU.
It might seem like a small concern, but it’s a thing that makes MU’s attack more predictable.
On Antonio Valencia
Valencia’s transformation has been more remarkable compared to Young’s. While the latter is perceived as a hard-working and limited full-back, Valencia has everything available to him to become a complete right back. He has both the strength and speed to unsettle anyone, and his defending abilities have improved significantly. He completes almost 90% of his passes on a fairly regular basis.
However, despite being a good player for the team, he’s been holding himself back, and that’s been evident for quite some time now. The first-half of this decade saw him supplying superb crosses to now Everton striker Wayne Rooney’s head fairly regularly, giving striker many effective assists, contributing significantly to his goals’ tally. His crossing seems far less ambitious these days. While he once used to send accurate high balls into that area, he can be seen drilling low across the box nowadays, often getting cleared by the defenders.
Mourinho doesn’t just need to spend more money on fullbacks, he must coach Valencia a little better.
The impact against West Brom
In the game against Bromwich, there were many moments when Valencia had possession from the cross field passes, and then had to face the left back, with many yards behind him. Still on every single occasion he failed to attack that space, instead waited for someone to join him. By that time both the opportunity and the gap were gone.