Manchester United tactics: Is van Gaal deploying his attackers correctly?

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: Wayne Rooney (R) of Manchester United celebrates scoring his team's second goal with his team mate Anthony Martial (L) during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Swansea City at Old Trafford on January 2, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: Wayne Rooney (R) of Manchester United celebrates scoring his team's second goal with his team mate Anthony Martial (L) during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Swansea City at Old Trafford on January 2, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal claims he’s locked in Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata in their correct attacking positions

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was quite pleased with his attacking tactics after his club’s 3-0 thrashing of Stoke. In fact, he was so pleased that he told the press he’s entirely settled which positions his three high-profile attackers should occupy.

In the post game press conference, van Gaal was quoted as saying that he was “not changing” the positioning of Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial or Juan Mata given their current run of form. That means that Rooney will be the striker, Mata will play the central attacking role and Martial will be deployed out on the left for the foreseeable future.

Those tactics are likely to thrill Rooney and Mata, while young Martial will be less pleased with being played out of his preferred striker spot. In some ways this is perfect tactics on behalf of van Gaal, but it’s far from perfection.

More from Playing for 90

First, for Rooney it really isn’t ideal to trot him out as a lone striker at this point in his career. He’s capable of effectively fielding the position upon occasion, but on the year, he’s been less than stellar as a number nine.

In fact, his Whoscored.com as a number 10 is actually slightly better than his score as a centre forward. In terms of just Rooney’s play, United would be better off slotting him in as a central attacking midfielder and letting another player (such as Martial) play as a true number nine. Still, the difference for Rooney’s performance between the two positions is minor enough to make van Gaal’s choice entirely logical.

Surprisingly, playing Mata in his preferred number 10 role actually doesn’t make sense based on his performances this season. In his seven appearances playing behind the striker, he’s managed to provide  one assist and zero goals. In contrast, when deployed as a right-sided attacking midfielder, he’s knocked in five goals and four assists in 18 appearances.

If van Gaal were really basing his starting 11 on performance Mata not make it on the pitch at all. If he did, he certainly wouldn’t be starting in the number 10 role.

More from Manchester United

Another curious observation, is that while Martial prefers being played as a striker, he’s actually been much more productive as a wide attacker this season.

His Whoscored.com rating when he starts as a left-sided attacking midfielder is a sterling 7.66. This far exceed his rather pedestrian mark of 6.81 as a centre forward. He’s actually scored the same number of goals (3) and assists (2) at each position, but has played twice as many matches at striker. The French starlet may prefer to play as a striker, but he’s much more productive when played as an attacking midfielder.

The statistics show that van Gaal is making defensible choices as it relates to his three best attackers, but they also show a significant hole in the United roster. The fact is that none of these three players flourish as a stand alone striker is a significant issue.

Related Story: Age imbalance is hurting Manchester United

The data illustrates that Ed Woodward and company really needed to go out and purchase a forward in the January transfer window. Instead, they are left with an aged Rooney and an inexperienced Martial to try to shoulder the gigantic burden of being Manchester United’s first-choice centre forward.