By Jonathan Gault
David Moyes has had a rough go of it so far in his first
season as Manchester United manager, and it didn’t get much worse than halftime
of United’s game at Sunderland on Saturday. Entering the game, Sunderland still
didn’t have a permanent manager after sacking Paolo Di Canio on Sept. 22 and
sat bottom of the Premier League with just one point from six games. And yet
they led the champions by a 1-0 scoreline thanks to Craig Gardner’s goal in the
fifth minute. Worse, United had been outplayed even with star striker Robin van
Persie making his first Premier League start since Sept. 14.
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| Andrew Orchard/WhatCulture.com |
Everything changed in the second half, however, as Adnan
Januzaj struck twice in a six-minute span to give the Red Devils a
come-from-behind 2-1 win and push them to ninth in the Premier League table. An
18-year-old making his first Premier League start, Januzaj was an unlikely
figure to emerge as the savior of United’s season. But both of his goals were
well taken, the first a calm finish from a Patrice Evra cross and the second a
wonderful volley after John O’Shea couldn’t deal with Nani’s cross. Even before
those goals, Januzaj looked United’s best player, with fellow midfielders Nani,
Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley struggling to create chances. That’s been a
problem recently for the Red Devils, especially with van Persie missing time
due to injury. Wayne Rooney still created some chances for himself up front,
but without the midfield creating chances, United were forced to rely mainly
upon individual moments of brilliance – such as Rooney’s free kick against West
Brom last weekend – as their main source of goals.
Turning that midfield into a consistent attacking threat is
possible if Januzaj can play close to the level he displayed today or if new
signing Marouane Fellaini can recapture his form from his last few seasons at
Everton. The more pressing concern at the moment is the United defense, which
suddenly looks very old. Sunderland could have easily been 2-0 up at halftime
if goalkeeper David De Gea hadn’t made a wonder save off Emanuele Giaccherini’s
header late in the first half. Giaccherini made a great play on the ball, but
he was completely unmarked – which is unacceptable for the United defense. Evra
is 32, Nemanja Vidic will be 32 by the end of October and Rio Ferdinand (who
didn’t play on Saturday) turns 35 next month. Those three have been the
backbone of United’s recent success, but behind them are question marks such as
Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Man U. did receive a boost with Rafael’s return
on Saturday, and he’s another attacking threat that can push forward from the
back.
But if I’m David Moyes, I’m thinking that the international
break could not come at a better time. He’ll two weeks to reassess things, and
when United does return to Premier League play, the schedule is fairly
forgiving: home to surprise Southampton, home to Stoke and away at Fulham. The
Red Devils will expect to win all three of those games, and they will need to:
a massive game with league leaders Arsenal
looms at Old Trafford on Nov. 10.
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