Sport
Can Tielemans help stem the tide at Manchester United?
For years under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s key strengths lay in their midfield. At the turn of the century, they were the dominant force of English football, building around a quartet of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs. In the age of 4-4-2, that set up had everything; pace, crossing, guile and aggression. It was one of the main reasons success was so forthcoming at Old Trafford.
Because of Ferguson’s drive and intense mentality, the structure didn’t really change even when the personnel did. Cristiano Ronaldo replaced Beckham and Michael Carrick came in for Keane, before Scholes and Giggs were phased out of the team due to age, but success remained constant. By the end of the Scot’s reign in 2013, cracks were beginning to show; he was keeping things together. While his retirement and the poor contingency planning that have been exposed since are the main reason the Red Devils have won no Premier League titles in the ensuing nine years, or any trophies at all in the last five, it is not a coincidence that a loss of that midfield identity is also to blame.
Whether it be through David Moyes’ pursuit of Cesc Fabregas, only to sign Marouane Fellaini, Louis van Gaal bringing Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlinn or Jose Mourinho plucking Nenanja Matic from Chelsea and seeing a world record fee spent on Paul Pogba, a lot of effort has gone into finding the right balance between structure and quality, with virtually no success. Even the emergence of Scott McTominay and the arrival of Fred under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failed to yield a positive solution.
Manchester United have thrown obscene amounts of money at their playing squad to regain their position at the top; the majority of that is likely to have been spent on the midfield. Yet, Ralf Rangnick is faced with the exact same problem as his predecessors, each who had their own philosophies and therefore ideas of what the right player looks like. The result has been a mesh of different philosophies and a squad that embodied that.
Football has moved on from Ferguson’s strong quartet, three in midfield is now much more common, but with a lack of cohesion comes a lack of direction, and that has held the club back for too long.
There are, of course, many issues; poor leadership has proven costly, and recruitment has been subpar elsewhere. But nowhere else have they struggled so much as in the midfield; they lack so badly a player who can effectively combine Keane and Scholes’ roles. With four turning to three, players have to showcase different attributes, or at least each creativity, tempo and protection of the defence have to be covered. Fundamentally, when considering the gulf strictly in an ‘on-pitch’ realm, this is why United lag behind both City and Liverpool. The others’ midfields are well-oiled machines.
One player is unlikely to change that, but somebody who may provide at least some of the answers will be on the opposing side on Saturday evening. Leicester City are the visitors to Old Trafford, and although he has not been on top of his game for much of this season due to injury and potentially speculation over his future, Youri Tielemans has still proven his class. In all of Leicester’s success over the past couple of seasons, he has been the driving force; he is energetic, aggressive, physical and creative; the very definition of the complete midfielder. It was extremely fitting that he scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Chelsea last May.
With Rangnick in position as interim coach and a consultancy role set to follow, United are looking to adopt a high-pressing, high-intensity approach. That doesn’t suit Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes or Paul Pogba, but it doesn’t feel idea for McTominay or Fred either. With Pogba’s contract set to expire in the summer, there is a good opportunity to inject a new emphasis into the midfield, with a younger, more energetic option; somebody who will run and dictate play a lot more than the Frenchman, who while effective at times is also incredibly reactive, influencing games that are already swinging his way. At 24, with Premier League experience to go with his attributes, Tielemans is among the best options out there if the club are looking for players to build a foundation around.
‘Who Manchester United should sign’ articles are so common these days; they are born out of the basic view that transfer dealings will get them on the right track. That is also an incredibly common belief; arguably shared by the people who make the decisions. In reality, the situation is far more complex than that; Tielemans alone will not stem the tide, neither will a new manager. There has to be a deeper collective vision implemented; real, genuine planning has to take place. But if they want to begin the process of reinvention on the pitch, they have to start where Ferguson did, from the middle before working outwards.
