At Lass, a midfielder who would improve United (Video)
It is all well and good for the red half of Manchester, United have won again, sit 6 points clear of their blue rivals at the top of the league and it is all looking rosy at Old Trafford.
No! It’s not! A 3-1 home win over a struggling Sunderland side should be more than a formality, for a team that is always among the front runners domestically and in Europe, and it was but the acclaim for players should come after the big games that are becoming as much as a difficulty as keeping a clean sheet.
2 out of 3 seasons, 2009 and 2011, United have reached the final of the Champions League but both times have been completely outplayed, utterly dominated and demolished by Barcelona and their, now so famous, ‘tiki-taka’ style.
The problem, to me, is obvious, there is a lack of bite and tenacity in the Manchester United midfield. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are of course high on the list of club legends but both are way too old to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and make the side tick. As for Michael Carrick, a player I am not a fan of, he may look a class act in home games against lesser opponents but when the tough gets going the fact he is a slug in midfield is highlighted by the rings run around him by higher quality players.
The obvious answer to the problem for Sir Alex Ferguson, Claude Makelélé, but oh yes he’s retired, in that case it has to be former Chelsea, Arsenal, Portsmouth and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra.
While warming the bench for Spanish giants Real Madrid French international Diarra was regularly linked with a move to Manchester United.
Now at mega-rich Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala the Diarra ship looks to have sailed and Manchester United have missed out on an experienced defensive midfielder with the physicality, versatility and ball control that the squad craves.
Sam Jewell
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