Since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, some may argue
even before, the Manchester United defense has seemed to slowly declined. Rio
Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra were all loyal servants to the red
devils, and arguably created the best back four (in their prime) that United
have ever seen. Although their defending didn't look to good last year either,
the United back line has looked awful in this campaign when facing any attack.
With the transfer window coming up in January, what centre back pairing should
accompany Rafael and Shaw on either flank, until the next window?
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| Manchester United [Image from Flickr by: Paul] |
Out of the ten Premier League games this season, Tyler
Blackett and Marcos Rojo have played the most games (seven and six
respectively) although they've never actually started as a pair. With the Louis
van Gaal philosophy of players having to play on the side of their dominant
foot, it doesn't look like it'll happen anytime soon either. Rojo was also the
only centre back that was purchased by van Gaal this season, so his inclusion
in the team can be seen to be based on that but also on merit.
It can be said that a major (if not the most important) part
of being a defender, is making tackles. Phil Jones has won the most tackles
with 10 compared to his central defensive partners (Rojo on 8, Smalling has won
5, Blackett has 4 and McNair is yet to record a successful tackle). In terms of
getting stuck in and winning the ball the 22 year old, Jones, comes out on top,
which is a common theme in other comparisons.
Furthermore, the 24 year old Argentine Marcos Rojo leads the
line in terms of interceptions with 23 (Jones 20, Blackett 15, Smalling 9 and
McNair 4) but is also the dirtiest players after committing 8 fouls and losing
out on a massive 17 tackles. Louis van Gaal himself has said that calming Rojo
down is something that he must do quickly, in order to stop Rojo producing more
of these negative stats.
Chris Smalling (24) has come under fire in recent years, no
more so than after his 'stupid' sending off in the Manchester Derby this
season. But the Englishman seems to be the most composed on the ball with a passing
accuracy of 90%, and isn't afraid to put himself in front of a shot supported
by his 3 blocks, which is on par with Jones who is also on 3. It can be argued
that prior to his sending off, Smalling has looked a different player under
LVG. He hasn't been a stand out performer of any sorts, but he did look a lot
more assured on the ball in comparison to recent seasons and the statistics
support this.
With the van Gaal philosophy now being implemented on the 13
time Premier League champions, it is unlikely that two right (or left) footed
players will start at the heart of the defense alongside each other. Patrick
McNair, although bottom of nearly all of the comparative stats, has arguably
looked the best out of all of them and is only 19. United have been hampered
with injuries at the back, and this may be a major reason as to why they've
already shipped 14 goals this season (5 of which coming away at Leicester).
Statistically and maybe even performance wise, the most likely pairing we're
set to see is Phil Jones alongside Marcos Rojo. A world class centre back
(maybe two) is still required for the Old Trafford faithful, but until then
these lot will have to do.
Article contributed by: Kevin Santos
Twitter: @kevin5996
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