Manchester United’s Midfield Blind spot
An area neglected for years will come back to bite them in the long run.
Manchester United’s three oldest outfield players are Edinson Cavani (34), Juan Mata (33) and Nemanja Matic (33).
Cavani was signed in a panic on deadline day last year, but has served a very useful role as a transitional striker role for the team. Next Summer his replacement will surely be secured, with Erling Haaland the obvious target.
But Mata and Matic were both signed as top targets in their respective windows. They were seen as new members of the team, to improve the squad and ideally to start the majority of games.
Both came from Chelsea. Mata arrived in 2014 under David Moyes and Matic in 2017 under Jose Mourinho.
With their careers now both winding down, the expectation is that neither should feature much for Man United this season.
In fact, the sight of either in a starting lineup should be seen as a signal of a dead rubber tie or a dire injury crisis.
Both have been replaced in the squad with younger, brighter talents. However, by looking at just how much game time these players get goes to show where the club’s priorities lie in improving the squad.
As an attacking midfielder, Mata has been replaced both in the transfer market and by the academy.
Academy products such as Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood have all emerged since the signing of Mata.
Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes, Daniel James, Jadon Sancho, Donny van de Beek and Paul Pogba have all been signed as players who can take up Mata’s position.
This is why Mata’s Premier League minutes have dwindled significantly since he first signed for the club.
In his four full seasons with the club before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over, Mata averaged 2,182 minutes per season, the equivalent of 24 games. He even played as many as 2,889 minutes in 2015/16 under Louis van Gaal (32.1 games worth of minutes played).
While that wasn’t quite the minutes worthy of a crucial player, he has been a presence in the side.
Though under Solskjaer, those minutes have dropped off completely. In Solskjaer’s 99 league games in charge, Mata has featured for a grand total of 1,920 minutes and has only started 23 times. He has also yet to feature, two games into the current season.
Matic’s minutes haven’t quite fallen off nearly as much. The academy hasn’t produced as many players in this defensive midfield position, with Scott McTominay the only player to breakthrough since the Serbian joined the club.
Fred is the only signing to come in, while Ander Herrera was let go on a free transfer in 2019.
Pogba has played in that role alongside a second midfielder in a double pivot, but he has emerged as a much greater threat in his preferred position on the left wing and should now only be seen as an option in that position.
This has left only these three players available in those two positions in front of the defence.
Matic’s minutes have declined but not to the destitute levels of Mata. Last season he featured 1,106 minutes over 20 games, including 12 starts. The season before he made 18 starts over 1,581 minutes.
This season he has already featured for 107 minutes, including a start in their most recent game against Southampton.
In that 1-1 draw at Saint Mary’s it was obvious that Matic is well past his best. He failed to receive several passes and was quickly outpaced by the onrushing Southampton players.
But his appearance was forced by the injury of McTominay and the complete lack of reinforcement in that area.
Fans have clamoured for van de Beek to take that position alongside one of Fred or McTominay, but that is not the Dutchman’s natural position. In the quick and aggressive Premier League, bedding in a player to a new position can be difficult and that is especially true in defensive midfield.
A new signing is desperately needed. Even in a world where McTominay and Fred, or McFred as they’re affectionately known, are the two greatest players in the world, Matic is not good enough cover for when one of them isn’t available.
On top of that, McFred are in fact not the two greatest midfielders in the world and have clear deficiencies. While their partnership has worked, they both lack the meaningful ball progression to adequately link defence and attack.
With a week left in the window, an upgrade is still sorely needed if United are to challenge Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool for the top honours.
Otherwise it won’t just be a striker that is needed in 12 months time. The oft-neglected midfield will continue to struggle until new personnel is introduced.
