Manchester United season review: Attacking midfielders
By Josh McSwain
As United’s offense struggled this past season, this unit is largely to blame. The lack of depth scoring was the main cause of United’s sluggish offense.
Anthony Martial
The young Frenchman led United in goals two years ago with 11 in the Premier League but struggled this past season under Jose Mourinho. Part of that was personal things going on in his life but on the pitch he just looked lost.
Playing out on the wing is not his ideal place–his passing numbers were among the lowest on the team and his crosses need work. He and Marcus Rashford are both natural center forwards that were forced to play on the wing. His lack of defense also hinders his ability to play as a midfielder.
He still made some plays last year as he scored five goals and racked up six assists in all competitions. There have been some rumors about him being sold and honestly, he may be better off to leave and make a fresh start as well as get in a position that would be better for him.
Juan Mata
After a few games Mata was put in Wayne Rooney’s number ten position and looked really good there. The Spaniard showed his versatility as well as he went out onto the right wing and played fairly well out there as well.
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In 19 Premier League appearances he scored six goals and got three assists. He is an excellent passer, arguably the best on the team. His completion percentage in the Premier League was close to 90%.
His third season at United was arguably his best and it sets him up well for this coming season. I think he will be a regular starter at the ten as long as the 4-2-3-1 continues to be implemented by Mourinho.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The former Bundesliga player struggled at the start of the season with an injury, and just never got it going in the Premier League. However, in the Europa League he dominated. In ten Europa League appearances he scored six goals, while only scoring four goals in 15 Premier League appearances.
I certainly had higher expectations for him this past season. However, I will give him a pass simply due to the injury and it can be rough to adjust to a new league. It also helped that he scored United’s best goal of the season when he pulled off the scorpion kick in a win over Sunderland:
Wayne Rooney
Rooney is a United legend and one of the best English players to ever play. He has many United highlights, but had lost a step and only saw action in the Premier League sparingly. Still, he saved the day against Stoke to salvage a point as he took over the all-time United goals record in dramatic fashion.
Ever since his 17 goals in the 2013-14 campaign, his goals have been declining. He was moved from striker back to the ten position under Louis Van Gaal and then after a few games there to start this past season he was replaced by Juan Mata and it seemed to boost the offense.
Jesse Lingard
When watching Lingard it seems like he’s either doing something spectacular or completely invisible. Most of his action has come in competitions outside of the Premier League such as the FA Cup (where he scored the competition winning goal in 2016), but he got some good Premier League action early on in the season and his pace allowed him to work well with Martial and Marcus Rashford.
Next: Season review: Goalkeepers
He may not ever be much more than a squad player at United though. It would not surprise me if he were to leave at some point in the near future. But his versatility makes him a useful player for lesser competitions. It may allow him to produce more highlights like the one against Palace in the FA Cup final.