Louis van Gaal was at pains this week to highlight that his philosophy will take time to bear fruit: “I give my players a lot of information, I load their brains a lot, and it takes time to adapt.” On the evidence of Manchester United’s performance over the weekend, he’s not wrong.
United were both ponderous and nervy in possession, as though they no longer knew how to play. Every pass was laboured, every attack mechanical: you could see the brains whirring each time a player received the ball.
Their cumbersome play ensured Sunderland were defensively set every time van Gaal’s side initiated an attack. There was no space in behind Sunderland’s defense to exploit, nor any player with the pace, ingenuity or confidence to do so. Almost every pass was sideways or backwards, seemingly delivered after an existential debate had taken place inside the player’s head
It was the home team who had by far the better start, showing hunger and fight in front of a noisy partisan crowd. In the first five minutes they forced United’s two make-shift Wing Backs – Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young – into a pair of mistakes, neither looking comfortable in defensive situations. Lee Cattermole and Jack Rodwell, making his home debut for Sunderland, were tenacious in central midfield, while Will Buckley started brightly down the right.
But it was United, completely against the run of play, who opened the scoring on 17 minutes. Valencia made himself a yard of space on the right and drilled a low cross that found Juan Mata two yards from goal. While the finish was the simplest of tap-ins, the Spaniard’s movement to drift in behind Sebastian Larsson was exquisite. Unfortunately for United, that was the only ball of menace played all afternoon.
Sunderland’s equaliser was arguably as much against the run of play as United’s opener, the away team enjoying a spell of possession, albeit without threat, after they went ahead. It was Rodwell who scored it, meeting Larsson’s corner with a technically perfect downward header that gave David De Gea little chance. It was no less than they deserved.
The second half delivered little worthy of comment: this was a game of few clear-cut chances and even less entertainment. There were only 15 attempts on goal all match; only Southampton and West Brom’s 0-0 bore-fest produced fewer in the EPL this weekend.
Gus Poyet and Sunderland will be satisfied enough with a point from what, 12 months ago at least, would have been considered a difficult fixture. Poyet has the Wearsiders well organized and playing with heart, and they deserved their point. If they can find a little more potency in attack they should finish the season comfortably mid-table.
As after last weekend, van Gaal still needs to use the transfer window to strengthen and add both quality and depth. The Dutchman introduced yet another young, unexperienced player today when he brought on 21-year old Michael Keane for he injured Chris Smalling, who joins the ever-lengthening list of United players currently languishing on the physio’s table. Winger Adnan Januzaj – a second half substitute for Darren Fletcher – played the last 30 minutes as a deep-lying midfielder: these are make-shift times in the red half of Manchester.
United play MK Dons mid-week in the second round of the League Cup. In days gone by, Sir Alex Ferguson used the tournament to rest his first-team personnel and give promising younger players a chance. If van Gaal intends to do the same, he’ll have to field the under-16s.
