And we couldn’t agree more.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is a top professional and has won the biggest trophies in football. But he is currently losing his battle to be a success at Manchester United in The Premier League. A feeling that has been verbalised by Gary Lineker.
He is quoted in MEN as saying:
“He’s not good enough at the moment.
“United’s way of playing doesn’t suit him.
“Manchester Untied play boring, slow football under Louis van Gaal. With Schweinsteiger, the emphasis is on ball control too. I would let him play more freely.
“I’m sure he will improve.
“But he has a dilemma.
“He needs time to get used to the English game.
“Schweinsteiger is 31-years-old already however, so he doesn’t have much time left. The performance levels go down from the age of 30.”
Schweinsteiger has always been such a technically proficient player. But his fitness is clearly not what it was and, particularly of late, he has been charging around the park like a playground bully who doesn’t even like footy.
There is no lack of effort. But his passing is off. He plays too deep and is sometimes even more cautious than Louis van Gaal’s tactics.
When he first came to the club he looked way off match-fitness. That has since improved but his all-round game hasn’t and he has had minimal influence on this Manchester United team.
The worst part? He’s keeping Michael Carrick out of the side. Although three years the Germans’s senior, Carrick currently has far more variety and range to his game. And he looks a lot fitter to boot.
Crucial Trio – Courtesy of MUFC/GETTY
So is Louis blind to Basti’s deficiencies? Is there a degree of unwitting favouritism going on?
LvG had Schweinsteiger alongside him for Manchester United’s pre-match press conference last week, in the run up to the Wolfsburg defeat. He called Basti ‘my big friend’.
If there is some slack being given to Basti, the Manchester United fans will soon let the boss know their thoughts at Old Trafford.
And, perhaps the most poignant comment came from Pep Guardiola. When he sold Basti to United in the summer he said:
“When he does not have injury problems, I am completely convinced he will do very well at Manchester United,”
“He is a top, top player. Unfortunately, during the last three years he was never in good condition.”
We think that Carrick and Schneiderlin are Manchester United’s strongest duo and Basti’s suspension will hopefully give them two more games to prove it.
