Manchester United are top of the league, but all is not as rosy as that simple statement may sound.
The month of November has been largely good for United, but a worrying trend of conceding first continues, and a 1-0 loss to Norwich a fortnight ago was certainly a big negative.
United appear to be cruising, without clicking into top gear, winning home games against Arsenal and QPR largely by effect of the away sides’ abjectness. So whose performances fall under ‘could do better’?
Ashley Young
Young has been largely woeful since returning from injury, but the problem United have is a distinct lack of options on the left-hand side. Ryan Giggs is rarely considered a starter in the position nowadays by Ferguson, and Nani (more later) has underwhelmed this season. Young was hooked off at half-time in the win over Aston Villa and has yet to register a goal or assist in the six club games since returning from injury. When Shinji Kagawa returns, United could adjust their formation and Young may be the odd one out.
Antonio Valencia
Valencia missed the weekend win over QPR with injury, but had been surprisingly quiet this month prior to that. United’s main threat down the right has actually come through Rafael, and when the club needed Valencia to make an impact against Norwich he was found wanting. It could be said he is struggling to live up to the expectations of the number 7 shirt, but more pertinently, he is simply out of form, when you think back to his scintillating showings from December onwards last year. Fans will be hoping he is back to his best soon.
Paul Scholes
When United came back to beat Southampton early in the season Scholes was the key man in turning the game around. Ferguson has been reluctant to over-use Scholes of late, which is perhaps wise as the club need to find other solutions if they are to improve long-term. However when the ginger-maestro has come in lately he has not been his effective self, which was shown against QPR on Saturday, taken off after 58 minutes. He was booked and will miss the next game, which should provide an opportunity for the in-form Anderson to come in.
Danny Welbeck
It’s hard not to feel for Danny Welbeck, who has seen himself slip to fourth in the pecking order. He netted for England against Sweden a couple of weeks ago, showing his goalscoring touch has not deserted him, but he has scored just the once for United in a total of 16 appearances in all competitions this season, that coming in a 4-2 home win over Stoke. He has been unfortunate too in that he has often been played wide right or left, rather than up front, with Van Persie almost impossible to dislodge from the starting line-up, but it is perhaps a role he needs to learn how to thrive in if he is to make an impact this season.
Nani
Nani has been out injured since United’s 3-1 win in Braga, but he is hard to leave out of this list. This season he has appeared frustrated and disinterested, with contract issues and transfer rumours hovering. He was also singled out for criticism in United’s cup defeat to Chelsea by his boss, and he really needs to come back a different player when he returns from injury. It says a lot about his form prior to injury that even though United are playing poorly, they do not miss him and are not especially desperate for him to return.
image: © vagueonthehow
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