Three right-wingers Man Utd should be considering this summer

Several times throughout the past season, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal lamented his side’s lack of a pacey right-sided attacker.

The veteran Dutch coach, despite spending around £250m on incomings during his time at Old Trafford, has been unable to recruit a suitable right-winger. It may be argued that, if used correctly, Argentinian superstar Ángel di María would have been a perfect fit to fulfil this role during his ill-fated season in Manchester – particularly as di María has excelled on the right of Paris Saint Germain’s front three since his £44m summer switch.

But alas, that wasn’t to be; through a combination of mismanagement and a lack of commitment on the player’s part, the di María experiment fell flat on its face.

Di María’s departure has seen Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard operate on United’s right-wing, both with limited success.

Mata, lacking the pace and energy of a traditional winger, is much better suited to playing centrally. And although Lingard has demonstrated a commendable work-rate, and no shortage of pace, the England under-21 international does not have the requisite technical ability to be considered a long-term solution to the Red Devils’ right-sided problem.

After a season which has seen United fall short of their primary targets, and unable to secure Champions League football for next term, van Gaal’s future at the club is uncertain. Rumours that the former Ajax boss will imminently be replaced by José Mourinho are gathering pace by the day.

But whoever is in charge at Old Trafford over the summer, the identification and introduction of a right-sided attacking player will be high up on their to-do list once the transfer window opens. Here are three players who would be a good fit.

 

Leroy Sané

Schalke 04’s 20-year-old winger Leroy Sané is destined for the top. Blessed with electric pace and a maturity beyond his tender years, the Germany international is set to take this summer’s European Championship by storm.

The son of a former Senegalese international footballer, Sané has the pedigree of one of Europe’s finest young talents. Already a key player for Schalke, the Essen-born speedster has notched nine goals in all competitions in the season just passed, and registered seven assists.

Capable of playing on either wing, or centrally as a number 10, Sané has been most effective when deployed on the right-side of Die Königsblauen’s attack.

United reportedly scouted Sané during the last game of the Bundesliga season, a 4-1 victory over Hoffenheim in which he scored.

If the Red Devils are to make a move for the coveted youngster, they will have to fight off local rivals Manchester City. The Citizens hold a long-standing interest in Sané and are expected to make an offer in excess of £30m for the youngster’s services.

Despite only having one full international cap to his name, Sané has been selected in Joachim Löwe’s provisional 27-man Germany squad for Euro 2016. A few impressive performances in France could lead to the Schalke player’s value sky-rocketing, so any suitor would be wise to move quickly and tie Sané down before the tournament begins.

Rafa Silva

Another man set to play a key role for his country at Euro 2016 is Portugal’s Rafa Silva. The 23-year-old Braga winger has had an outstanding season at club level, and is now hoping to add to his six international caps in France this summer.

Netting 12 goals in all competitions and laying on four assists, Silva helped Braga finish fourth in the Liga NOS, and reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League before being eliminated by Shakhtar Donetsk.

Lightning-quick over short distances and a strong dribbler, Silva also has the knack of making perfectly timed off-the-ball runs in behind the opposing defence. A confident finisher with a good first-touch, Silva’s ability to find space and score goals in reminiscent of Pedro in his FC Barcelona prime.

United scouts were in attendance at the Estádio Municipal several times last season to cast their eye over Silva, with the Old Trafford club believed to be weighing up a £12m offer.

Julian Brandt

Sané is not the only 20-year-old winger to have caught the eye in the Bundesliga recently. Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt has been in outstanding form over the last few months, and he too has been selected as part of Germany’s provisional Euro 2016 squad.

In an extraordinary run between 20 March and 30 April 2016, Brandt became the first player since Dieter Müller in 1976 to score in six consecutive Bundesliga games. That brought Brandt’s goal tally to 11 in all competition, along with three assists.

Manager Roger Schmidt tends to deploy Brandt on the left wing for Leverkusen, but the Bremen-born youngster regularly swaps positions with right-winger Karim Bellerabi throughout matches, as Brandt is confident with both feet.

Brandt is an excellent dribbler with exceptionally quick feet, allowing him to wriggle his way out of tight situations to create space in a way which other player wouldn’t deem possible. Having evidently developed his finishing in recent months, Brandt appears to have the coolness of a seasoned veteran, even though he only has 65 Bundesliga appearances to his name.

Brandt has yet to make his full international debut for Die Mannschaft despite eight appearances at under-21 level. This did not deter Löwe from selecting Leverkusen’s rising star as part of his provisional Germany squad though, with his end of season form being simply too good to ignore

 

Recent work published elsewhere

Here are links to some pieces that I have had published elsewhere recently.

I wrote this for FanFeud about how Dimitri Payet’s form for West Ham this season is causing a selection headache for France boss Didier Deschamps: http://www.blog.fanfeud.co.uk/dmitri-payet-is-giving-france-manager-didier-deschamps-a-selection-headache/

For uMAXit Football, I wrote about 5 tactical innovations Pep Guardiola could bring to Man City next season: http://www.umaxit.com/index.php/articles/5-tactical-innovations-pep-guardiola-could-bring-to-manchester-city

Over at FourFourTwo, I suggested a tactical switch that could bring free-flowing football back to Man Utd, and how Marcus Rashford could be best utilised: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/how-marcus-rashford-could-be-ideal-false-9-manchester-united

And finally, a long-form piece for These Football Times about the early career of José Mourinho: http://thesefootballtimes.co/2016/02/29/jose-mourinho-the-early-years/

David Alaba: the evolution of a full-back

With the news this week that David Alaba has committed his future to Bayern Munich until 2021, let’s take a look at how, under Pep Guardiola’s guidance, the Austrian has revolutionised the role of a full-back.

A product of Bayern’s youth system, Alaba spent the majority of his formative years as a midfielder within the academy set-up. Indeed, in recent months, Alaba has played a key role in his country’s qualification for the up-coming European Championships as centre-midfielder for the Austrian national side. But it was at Left-back that Alaba broke into the first-team at the Allianz Arena.

Under the leadership of Dutch tactician Louis van Gaal, Alaba was given his head in senior football with Bayern as part of the rear-guard. Manchester United fans will be well aware of van Gaal’s penchant for slotting midfielders into the full-back positions (Anthony Valencia and Ashley Young have both been utilised at full-back during the former Ajax coach’s tenure). However, the decision to convert Alaba into a defender — whether by luck or judgment — over time, has proved inspired.

Since returning from a loan spell with Hoffenheim in 2011, Alaba has established himself as a first-team regular with Bayern. His combination of skill, pace, athleticism and defensive instincts has earned him the reputation of being the best left-back in the world.

But when Pep Guardiola became Bayern manager in 2013, he saw the potential for more in Alaba.

Guardiola found space for Alaba within his system that would allow the Austrian to take up a central attacking-midfield position whenever Bayern were in possession. Recognising the influence that Alaba could exert on his team’s attacking movements, Guardiola wanted his left-back to double as central spearhead in the final third, where he could wreak havoc on the opposition’s defence.

Having had the privilege of attending Bayern’s recent 5-0 drubbing of Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena, I will use this match as a case study to illustrate how Alaba’s role within the team has evolved into much more than that of a conventional full-back.

Bayern lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with a starting XI of Manuel Neuer, Alaba, Joshua Kimmich, Mehdi Benatia, captain Philipp Lahm, Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcântara, Mario Götze, Franck Ribéry, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Müller. This would be the shape that the German champions would revert to whenever they lost possession, but with the ball, the fluidity of Guardiola’s side was in full effect

Without the ball – 4-3-3

When in possession, Bayern morphed into a 2-3-5 shape. Kimmich and Benatia would hold the fort at the back, with Alonso positioned in front of them in central midfield. Götze, who began the game just to the right of Alonso, pushed right up into an inside-forward position, slotting in between Müller and Coman, while Lahm moved up into the midfield space which Götze had vacated.

With the ball – Alaba left-midfield, Thiago inside-forward

On the left-side things got even more interesting. Similar to Lahm, Alaba was tasked with occupying an advanced positon whenever his side were in possession of the ball. But the position which Alaba was to take up, depended entirely on the movements of his teammates directly ahead of him.

Thiago, it seemed, had two options: he could either hold his position in midfield, to the left of Alonso; or push up into an inside-forward position to the left of Müller — just as Götze had done on the other side.

Depending on which option Thiago plumped for, Alaba would take up the other: if Thiago went forward, Alaba moved into midfield; if Thiago stayed put, Alaba raced from left-back all the way up to inside-forward.

With the ball – Thiago left-midfield, Alaba inside-forward

Furthermore, Alaba would also have to take into consideration Ribery’s position. The Frenchman, who started on the left wing, had licence to roam infield to occupy the inside forward spot if he so wished. If the mood had taken Ribery and he decided to saunter centrally, Alaba would have to re-calibrate and move out to left-wing.

This sort of move is drilled into Bayern’s players on the training field. Right at the beginning of his time in charge, Guardiola demanded that the main pitch at Säbener Strasse, Bayern’s training ground,  should be divided up into five vertical lanes. The former Barcelona coach drummed into his players that no two men should occupy the same lane at any one time. Thus when Ribery decides to switch to the inside lane, Alaba must move outside.

With the ball – Alaba left-wing, Ribery inside-forward

The tactics employed by Guardiola overwhelmed the Bremen defence. It finished 5-0 and it could’ve been more. The away side were unable to cope with the sheer number of Bayern players committed to attack. Whenever Bayern surrendered possession, they immediately initiated the six-second press demanded by their manager, while reverting back to their more solid 4-3-3 shape. Like clockwork.

So Alaba, nominally the left full-back, operated in as many as four different positions in this match alone – he has even filled in at centre-back of late, due to a defensive injury crisis. The fluidity with which he was able to do so is a testament to the manager and his coaching methods. The ease and poise with which he was able to perform in each differing role, is a testament to just how much Alaba has evolved as a player. A Jack of all trades, and master of every single one.