United were basically playing a new 11 back to back for the 1st 5 games, they we're treating it as the pre-season that they missed
From then on thanks to the tight schedule United have continued to make an avg of 4 rotations a game
Pros:
- we've not accumulated any long term injuries
- we've been able to keep a fresh squad
Cons:
- need more time to breed consistency w/o a fixed XI
- mins being shared around (not a big con actually)
It isn't easy to develop consistency when you have to make these many changes, but it isn't also practical to play the same 11 back to back due to the gap between games
4 games ➡️ 2 days gap
6 games ➡️ 3 days gap
The other 2 games were the 1st & one vs Castle after Intl break
This is one reason why I don't find any reason to question our XIs until after the game — only the manager and the physios know who are fit enough to play and who aren't
Finding consistency while needing to maintain this level of rotations Ole's biggest challenge this season
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#mufc's squad has 2 primary issues that need solving
1. Midfield Balance 2. Depth vs Balance
Let's take a look at each:
Before I start — this is NOT an 'excuse'
1. Mufc ARE unbalanced 2. Mufc should STILL have won yday
BOTH of these can & is true
Now let's dive in:
1. Midfield Balance
A balanced midfield should:
- dictate play
- maintain tempo
- hold def shape
- press/counter press
- create
+ Lot more
Our options
Pogba, Bruno, VDB, Matic, Fred, McT
No 3 man combo from this can do all of that
Only a 4 man mid can but 💎 has flaws (FBs)
This is bc we've many mids who offer very similar or the same thing
The diff btwn Fred/Matic/McT are evident BUT for each of them to work, you need to start one of the other two at least. Exact same case with Pogba, Bruno, VDB.
Over the last few weeks, the constant chatter has been VDB's playing time.
United have played 8 games so far and Donny has featured in 7. Only Rashford has featured in more.
Either way let's dive in & tackle this non-issue👇
One of United's biggest issue last season was the lack of creativity on the bench. Ole was criticized for not making substitutions when the game wasn't going our way.
Against Seville in the EL Semi's we didn't make a sub until the 87th min - clear sign Ole didn't trust his bench
This season, the first thing he addressed was this issue
- Donny van de Beek for £35m
Donny has primarily played as an AM at Ajax but has also featured at CM and very rarely at DM too.
But Ole didn't sign him to be a CM/DM, Ole signed him to be a back up 10 as is clear below👇
So wait, it's ok to play VDB out of position just to start him but when Pogba has to drop a little deep Ole is a clown playing him out of position?
So you do know players need to play in their best position but only as long as you can use it to criticize the manager?
Got it.
Even funnier now that Pogba is getting to play further up no one is complaining. But why is he getting to play further up? Bcs he's used as an impact sub against tired legs meaning he has less defensive workload
Almost as if the manager knows how when & where to play his players
None of this 'VDB has to start' agenda is coming from a place where they think it's a valid criticism. These fans clearly know without dropping Bruno VDB has to play out of position to start - they're not dumb. But if it means they get to bash on the manager they'll act dumb.