Manchester United are in a rich vein of form but those who expected this to translate into a battering of Aston Villa at the weekend were left a little frustrated.
Because, while Manchester United ultimately proved to good for their opponents on Saturday, they were left sweating until the final few minutes when Ander Herrera struck his second.
In truth this side plays better against the big boys. Why? Because, without any blistering pace in the current XI, they still struggle to break down the smaller teams, who defend in numbers and leave little space behind their defence.
It is only when they are faced with better teams, who press higher up the park, that this Manchester United vintage comes into its own. Even a month ago Manchester United were being undone by the high press – Arsenal was a case in point – because their lack of confidence meant that they were being forced into errors.
But Louis’s current selection, without pace but replete with pass masters, is now able to pass through the opposition when they come onto The Reds. United’s newfound confidence, care and composure on the ball means that they can easily find pockets of space behind opponents who play a possession game high up the park.
We saw it against Liverpool and Tottenham. Manchester United allowed opponents to come on to them in the knowledge that, when they got the ball back, players like Carrick, Herrera and Mata could find their man expertly and spring quick, decisive counters.
The lack of pace will need to be addressed in time – perhaps with the re-introdcution of Angel di Maria for starters. But this side is becoming great at using the ball. Even Fellaini is a man reborn in this system and looks, at times, to have a velvety touch, hitherto unseen by the United faithful.
Manchester United have played a possession game under Louis van Gaal. But, for most of the season they haven’t used the ball well enough. Now they appear to thrive against teams who come onto them because, despite a patent lack of pace in the side, the forward pass has become so much better, with Mata and Herrera coming into their own as regular starters.
Based on this theory Manchester United should again get a lot of joy this weekend against a side who plays high up the park and has a lot of possession. Against such sides, United’s lack of pace seems to be of little consequence. Manchester City beware.
