Manchester United are clearly lacking creativity and a final ball right now. They held onto possession well against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. But, in truth, Chelsea didn’t need much of the ball as they were in front from the 12th minute of the game.
But, for all their possession, Manchester United lacked a ruthlessness – that killer instinct which we have for so long associated with this club. In fact, all season, Manchester United have played in front of the opposition defence and found it increasingly hard to get behind it with any regularity or speed.
They need an attacking midfield playmaker of top quality. But against Chelsea they had one sitting on the bench. Shinji Kagawa played brilliantly against Swansea City last weekend. He was moved from the left hand side, into the number 10 spot, in the second half and he ran the show. We were confident that, because of this display, David Moyes would play him in the same position against Chelsea. But not a bit of it.
Adnan Januzaj played in the hole and Moyes instead opted for Ashley Young on the left. It didn’t work. Manchester United has no final ball to speak of and Petr Cech was rarely troubled.
It seems very strange to us that, despite lacking creativity so patently, Kagawa sits on the bench for big games. Surely he is exactly what Manchester United needed on Sunday – someone to open up the opposition defence. With Rooney and RvP injured, Kagawa would walk straight into our first eleven every time.
But the Manchester United boss doesn’t seem to favour him in the big games.
United fans, would you like to see the Japan international start more often?