MANCHESTER UNITED:TIME TO BUILD A SPINE In the last few days I have found myself studying the worlds top football teams and asking myself, why are they so successful? Manchester United’s well documented demise this season has bought a lot of media attention as to whether United should break the bank and bring some top class players into the club. However with United seemingly falling short of the top four and therefore missing out on the Champions League, questions have been asked as to whether David Moyes will be able to attract the world class talent the squad and fans crave so badly. Moyes will certainly be busy this summer, with players coming in and out of the club. However I have one concern, I worry that Moyes will feel pressured into spending big and not spending wisely. If you study some of the top teams in the world, you will find that although they have star players they have a strong foundation around them. That is something that at the moment United lack, we have the quality in the forward positions with players like Rooney, Van Persie, Mata, Januzaj, Welbeck and Hernandez. We are by no means short of star quality, we just lack the solid foundation behind these players. During Mourinho first spell as Chelsea manager, he created an extremely successful team. Mourinho was able to build a squad of physically and mentally strong players, they had match winners all over the pitch but their main quality was their solid spine in the middle of the field. Amongst all of the attacking talent Mourinho consistently fielded Cech, Terry, Lampard and Drogba. He built his empire around these players, he knew that they would consistently give him 100% and win him championships. I also looked at the Manchester City team of today and I see a similar spine, Hart, Kompany, Toure and Aguero. With these four players on the field Manchester City will always be favourites. Manchester United in the present day lack any sign of a strong core, sure they have won championships after championships, but look what happens when you take out the spine that they did have, Sir Alex Ferguson. They have been left with an array of attacking talent but no strength or fight in the team. Moyes has to be wary when he looks at signing players in the summer, he should look at some of the greatest teams and learn from them. A collection of world class players is not always enough to build a legacy. You have to create a spine, a collection of players that will fight for the team and believe in what the team is doing. With the imminent departure of Vidic, Evra and Ferdinand, United are losing strong figures in the dressing room and it is important that they get replaced. I am here with a warning to David Moyes, do not get dragged into assuming that buying all of the top attacking talent is enough to mount a challenge for the title, because it is not.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:07:54 +0000
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