Age imbalance is killing Manchester United

Many of Manchester United’s troubles this season can be traced to their over reliance on both very young and very old players

Experts say that the strongest economies are built on the backs of the middle class. So too, are high quality football teams built on players in their primes. Unfortunately for Manchester United, they rely far too much on players who are in the advent or twilight of their careers.

Many pundits have offered a variety of theories on why Manchester United has struggled this season. You look up and down the team sheet and you read off quality names. It’s a fair question to ask how they’ve been so average with so much individual quality on the roster.

The question of why they’ve struggled so mightily has admittedly vexed me all season. I’ve bounced around numerous ideas with fellow colleagues ranging from bad management to bad luck. However, the more I examine their roster the more obvious the explanation becomes to me. They simply don’t have enough key players who are in the prime of their careers. Instead, the roster is riddled with infants and old men (at least in terms of their footballing). I can best illustrate this point to you by breaking up the squad into its position groups.

The Strikers

The two number nines that Louis Van Gaal employs most often are Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney. Martial is a dynamic attacker with a brilliant future in front of him and in truth, he’s been pretty good for United this season. He is just 20 years old though. He’s got a lot to learn about the Premier League and football in general. It’s safe to say that his best days are still well ahead of him.

In contrast, the other option, Rooney is entering the twilight of his career. When you watch him toil out on the pitch it’s almost as if you can see Father Time reaching out and sapping his ability away. 30 isn’t old for most of us, but in football miles it’s right on up there. Rooney is especially old given how early his career began. There are simply a lot of miles on his football odometer.

Van Gaal is forced to continually choose between a 20-year-old and a 30-year-old to play up top. He’d be much better off if he had a striker to choose from whose age was squarely in the middle. He doesn’t have a striker option in the prime of his career. That’s at the very least a strange handicap for a club like Manchester United.

The Attacking Midfield

I will admit that Van Gaal does have several options to deploy in the attacking midfield who are in the prime of their careers. However, he still is forced to rely significantly on youth if he wants to put out the most dynamic lineup he can.

His prime-options are made up of Juan Mata (who to be fair plays like a player quite a bit older than 27) and Ander Herrera. Neither of them has been in particularly good form though, sporting Whoscored.com player ratings of 6.83 and 6.80 respectively. They’ve been adequate choices, but certainly not spectacular.

The majority of Van Gaal’s other options are well short of their prime playing ages. Memphis Depay, who is only 21, has been a total disaster on the season. His troubles have been well-documented everywhere so I won’t bother to rehash his ineptitude here. Let’s just say he’s been bad and move on from there.

Otherwise they have the option to deploy Jesse Lingard in one of the wide roles. I believe he’s got the potential to be a world-class player but he’s certainly not at that level as of yet. At 23 years of age who would really expect him to be?

The one other option they’ve chosen to deploy late falls into the older player category. Ashley Young, 30, has had some nice moments as of late but isn’t the player he once was.

It’s not quite as apparent in the attacking midfield as it is in other positions, but United is still tormented by being forced to rely on players at both ends of the experience/age spectrum.

The Defensive Midfield

Perhaps nowhere on the pitch is the conflict between old and young players more apparent than in Van Gaal’s defensive midfield selections. Early in the season Van Gaal mystified many, myself included, by pairing Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger together. Neither of these two players is close to their prime.

In fact, both have been pretty poor on the season. Carrick has looked borderline playable as his mobility has all but abandoned him and Schweinsteiger hasn’t been much better. Their respective Whoscored.com player ratings of 6.55 and 6.81 are far from the marks you’d expect from a United double-pivot.

The Defense

The United defense may lack star power, but they’ve been the best performing of all the position groups at Old Trafford this year. For the most part, they’ve started Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind. Each of those players is either 25 or 26 years of age.

There’s no coincidence that the best performing position group has been the group that starts the most players in the prime of their careers. Again, it hasn’t been spectacular but their player ratings illustrate their solid displays.

The Conclusion

If Manchester United wants to see their performances improve, they’ll need to spend January investing in players who are actually in the prime of their careers. Sprinkling in youthful starlets and experienced veterans into the side is great, but the majority of your talent needs to be at an age where they can play at their highest level. Failure to invest in prime-aged players has cost Manchester United dearly this season.

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