Who Will Be United’s Go-To Forward?
Victories without elan. Wins without panache. United less United and more Chelsea - grinding and verging on the dull.
United’s start to the new season has been bedevilled by talk of what has gone wrong with the team’s attack. It was not supposed to be like this. Anderson, Tevez and Nani were bought to give the team more punch and not to be prime suspects in a front six tragedy.
The injury to Rooney has not helped. The suspension of Ronaldo and the tinkering with the midfield formation have withered United as an attacking force too. It has come to something when Louis Saha is once again ‘Mr Irreplaceable’ and talk is renewed of United needing a goalscorer and living in the shadow of Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
The mood is not helped by Sir Alex’s startling but frank admission that he still doesn’t know his best side. “I don’t know what the optimum formation is because I don’t have the evidence,” Ferguson told Telegraph newspaper readers. “The blending of the team is an issue. We don’t know who can play with whom because they are all new players. But we think that they are players with ability and potential.
“At the moment we are gradually getting back towards our better form. But with players coming back from injury, we have achieved quite a bit. Four 1-0 wins are not something we are renowned for but they are victories.”
True enough. But in football’s new mood, United have good reason to get back on the goal trail. At the start of the season, AU suggested that United’s rivals would have to copy the Ferguson template of goals, goals, goals, in order to live with the champions. So far Arsenal and stuttering Liverpool have taken up that challenge with gusto. The Gunners have rattled in 15 league goals and conceded just four, whilst Liverpool have scored 11 and allowed just two goals to be registered against them. It is still early days but isn’t this the form of United last year, as the team surged towards the title?
Meanwhile, United are fourth in the league, having chalked up just four Premiership goals after six games. The defensive shut-outs are encouraging but United have not yet played attacks featuring Torres, Van Persie or Adebayor. When those games and these players come around, United will need defensive iron and forward menace.
Set against these concerns is the recognition that gradually, United’s big guns are returning to the team. Rooney has recovered quickly from his foot break. Ferguson will hope he will recapture his form even more rapidly, leaving the manager with a decision upon which United’s season could rest. Who will be his ‘go-to’ forward of choice, to be used alongside Rooney. Will it be Saha or Tevez?
The press say it is a no-brainer. Saha gives the team shape and goals. The manager has spoken of the player’s qualities but also of the need to protect the Frenchman’s fragile constitution. Unkind interpretation has it that Saha will be nursed along and used sparingly. This is surely absurd. The available evidence suggests United perform better with Rooney playing behind a natural centre forward. Defending the title and negotiating the Champions League demand United’s best players take the field when they are fit and in form.
Should Fergie heed the press analysis, where would this leave Tevez? The Argentine has shown a good touch and is capable of some astute passing but he was bought to score goals and looks short of that task right now. Tevez needs a fluke, a penalty, a free-kick, one in off his backside, anything that will give him the confidence to exhibit the full range of his talents.
Tevez will hit form but it could be later rather than sooner. Certainly, he will not reveal his best without a run of games in the first team. Tevez demotion to the subs bench last week was ominous but from a form perspective, unsurprising. He spent much of the early part of last season on the sidelines as West Ham’s season collapsed. It was only when Tevez returned to the first team after New Year that the east London club’s results began to improve.
This leaves Ferguson with a dilemma. Rooney needs games to gain match fitness. Saha needs games to recover confidence and to score the goals to keep United in contention. And Tevez needs games to convince one and all that he is a player who can be central to the cause rather than an embellishment.
Sir Alex has said that he is not displeased by the fact that United have remained competitive without playing to their maximum. He is right. But United need to build up a head of steam that will power them throughout the autumn and winter. The performances will come but so too must the goals.
With beautiful symmetry, could there be a better place to start and reveal the real United than at home to Chelsea?
