Hunger- The current Man Utd team's problem
Article by Robert Osborne
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A word so often associated with Sir Alex Ferguson is 'Hunger', and that's the problem with this current United team. The players who are hungry are constantly substituted over overlooked which is only eating away at their confidence.
The problem is a mixture between manager, staff and players. It is due to the fact that recently United have lost hugely influential people who were relentless in their quest for success. The problems started with Ferguson leaving and the meek Moyes coming in who was almost apologetic in his tenure. This problem was accentuated with the loss of players like Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra, All players who have been driven to success for many years, players bred under the tutelage of Ferguson. Van Gaal has come in and reintegrated a degree of arrogance, reminding the players that they have a duty to win and win in a way that is synonymous with the United way.
One thing he has not seemingly instilled by judging the performance is hunger, consistently. European football is dictated by technical excellence with discipline and a cool head, but English football is about passion and hunger. I am someone raised on a mixture of the Premier League with Serie A in it's pomp and La Liga. Throw in the occasional Bundesliga and Eredivsie (or thursday night south American football at 11:45) and you can see my style is dictated by a mixture of these things, and that for me is what's missing, Balance.
Rooney has passion, but his hunger to score and lead the team from the front is not as strong as once was. People will say that's ludicrous but lest we forget he was ready to leave the club because Ferguson was toying with him as a midfielder. Van Persie is someone who has declined in the past 18 months for output (but not quality) and looks uninterested in winning matches, only personal duels with defenders who keep him quiet. Di Maria is facing some difficulties with adjusting to perhaps his second choice move (we all know PSG was high on the list), personal break in, change of league, climate and team mates and currently looks inept of fighting for a victory or ghosting away from defenders, all of which are a far cry from his Benfica and Real Madrid days. Smalling and Jones are two players who seemingly were unaffected by the ridicule of celebrating at the stadium of light only to have the league snatched away by the fact that they have both regressed in all aspects of their game.
Januzaj has been heralded for his potential but is not converting that into anything other than a show pony status who fails to make the right decisions so often. All the while players like Herrera are left to sit on the bench and watch a nonchalant bunch play football in front of teams waiting to stretch them on the break. This leads me on to my point, which is actually split into 3:
- Van Gaal needs to balance his Philosophy of players 'fitting into his system' and allowing players to express themselves.
- The second part of this is picking the players that display the hunger to elevate this club back to it's status that has not been long removed.
- Finally, playing players in their best position- let Di Maria play on the wing with Herrera in the middle and Rooney up front. The front pair of RVP and Falcao are not working together, so don't continue to try.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
Subscribe to the e-Football Podcast for FREE!
A word so often associated with Sir Alex Ferguson is 'Hunger', and that's the problem with this current United team. The players who are hungry are constantly substituted over overlooked which is only eating away at their confidence.
The problem is a mixture between manager, staff and players. It is due to the fact that recently United have lost hugely influential people who were relentless in their quest for success. The problems started with Ferguson leaving and the meek Moyes coming in who was almost apologetic in his tenure. This problem was accentuated with the loss of players like Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra, All players who have been driven to success for many years, players bred under the tutelage of Ferguson. Van Gaal has come in and reintegrated a degree of arrogance, reminding the players that they have a duty to win and win in a way that is synonymous with the United way.
One thing he has not seemingly instilled by judging the performance is hunger, consistently. European football is dictated by technical excellence with discipline and a cool head, but English football is about passion and hunger. I am someone raised on a mixture of the Premier League with Serie A in it's pomp and La Liga. Throw in the occasional Bundesliga and Eredivsie (or thursday night south American football at 11:45) and you can see my style is dictated by a mixture of these things, and that for me is what's missing, Balance.
Rooney has passion, but his hunger to score and lead the team from the front is not as strong as once was. People will say that's ludicrous but lest we forget he was ready to leave the club because Ferguson was toying with him as a midfielder. Van Persie is someone who has declined in the past 18 months for output (but not quality) and looks uninterested in winning matches, only personal duels with defenders who keep him quiet. Di Maria is facing some difficulties with adjusting to perhaps his second choice move (we all know PSG was high on the list), personal break in, change of league, climate and team mates and currently looks inept of fighting for a victory or ghosting away from defenders, all of which are a far cry from his Benfica and Real Madrid days. Smalling and Jones are two players who seemingly were unaffected by the ridicule of celebrating at the stadium of light only to have the league snatched away by the fact that they have both regressed in all aspects of their game.
Januzaj has been heralded for his potential but is not converting that into anything other than a show pony status who fails to make the right decisions so often. All the while players like Herrera are left to sit on the bench and watch a nonchalant bunch play football in front of teams waiting to stretch them on the break. This leads me on to my point, which is actually split into 3:
- Van Gaal needs to balance his Philosophy of players 'fitting into his system' and allowing players to express themselves.
- The second part of this is picking the players that display the hunger to elevate this club back to it's status that has not been long removed.
- Finally, playing players in their best position- let Di Maria play on the wing with Herrera in the middle and Rooney up front. The front pair of RVP and Falcao are not working together, so don't continue to try.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
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