When I was watching the match against Arsenal, I was very annoyed with how we were frequently playing long balls forward to Fellaini in the second half and rarely building up attacks through the middle. I'm not going to consider Herrera's substitution in this discussion; instead, I will focus on his recent reliance on Fellaini high up the pitch.
Before, when we mostly played with 3 at the back, we played with 1 defensive midfielder and 2 box-to-box midfielders. Even then, our box-to-box midfielders weren't really taking risks and trying to create chances through the middle. Instead, they would move the ball forward and out to the wing backs to put crosses into the box, have one of our defenders run up with the ball and then play it out wide, or play a long ball forward as our midfielders would push up too far to receive a pass. Given that we relied on our wingers to create chances, our forwards needed to be good enough in the box to score goals. Whilst Falcao did score a few headers this season, he's mainly been poor in the box. Likewise with van Persie. For this reason, he plays Fellaini up ahead as he's been better in the box than those two. With Fellaini on the pitch, we are more threatening out wide, thus allowing us to stretch the opposition and create openings in the middle that, for some reason, we cannot exploit because our central midfielders aren't allowed to take risks! I believe that, if van Persie and Falcao weren't so poor going forward, then we wouldn't have needed Fellaini higher up the pitch.
The long balls we've often played when we were behind seems to be more down to the players looking for an easy way out. Yes, it's our Plan B when we can't really build up, but our players seem to pursue that option too often, particularly when we fall behind. I'm sure that he sees this happen as well, so instead of having 2 up front all of the time, why doesn't he instruct Rooney to drop deeper when Fellaini pushes up? That can offer us more balance, and our midfielders will have a passing option in the middle. We've been very reliant on Herrera moving the ball forward in the past few matches as Fellaini wouldn't do this, and when he left the pitch against Arsenal, van Gaal didn't adjust us properly. If he wants to play 4 defensive players in the team with Fellaini and Rooney up front, why doesn't he allow the wingers to cut in and receive the ball in the "hole"? Our full backs can push up and provide the width, and our wingers can receive the ball in space and add an extra level of variety in our game. If our wingers are to stay out wide and stretch the opposition, we need someone in the middle to move the ball forward, whether that's a proper #10 or a central midfielder like Herrera. I cannot imagine van Gaal preventing us from having an option through the middle when building up attacks.
Before, when we mostly played with 3 at the back, we played with 1 defensive midfielder and 2 box-to-box midfielders. Even then, our box-to-box midfielders weren't really taking risks and trying to create chances through the middle. Instead, they would move the ball forward and out to the wing backs to put crosses into the box, have one of our defenders run up with the ball and then play it out wide, or play a long ball forward as our midfielders would push up too far to receive a pass. Given that we relied on our wingers to create chances, our forwards needed to be good enough in the box to score goals. Whilst Falcao did score a few headers this season, he's mainly been poor in the box. Likewise with van Persie. For this reason, he plays Fellaini up ahead as he's been better in the box than those two. With Fellaini on the pitch, we are more threatening out wide, thus allowing us to stretch the opposition and create openings in the middle that, for some reason, we cannot exploit because our central midfielders aren't allowed to take risks! I believe that, if van Persie and Falcao weren't so poor going forward, then we wouldn't have needed Fellaini higher up the pitch.
The long balls we've often played when we were behind seems to be more down to the players looking for an easy way out. Yes, it's our Plan B when we can't really build up, but our players seem to pursue that option too often, particularly when we fall behind. I'm sure that he sees this happen as well, so instead of having 2 up front all of the time, why doesn't he instruct Rooney to drop deeper when Fellaini pushes up? That can offer us more balance, and our midfielders will have a passing option in the middle. We've been very reliant on Herrera moving the ball forward in the past few matches as Fellaini wouldn't do this, and when he left the pitch against Arsenal, van Gaal didn't adjust us properly. If he wants to play 4 defensive players in the team with Fellaini and Rooney up front, why doesn't he allow the wingers to cut in and receive the ball in the "hole"? Our full backs can push up and provide the width, and our wingers can receive the ball in space and add an extra level of variety in our game. If our wingers are to stay out wide and stretch the opposition, we need someone in the middle to move the ball forward, whether that's a proper #10 or a central midfielder like Herrera. I cannot imagine van Gaal preventing us from having an option through the middle when building up attacks.
