Those around the training ground at Manchester United noticed how quickly Bastian Schweinsteiger took to the club when he arrived in the summer. The World Cup winner and Germany captain felt comfortable almost instantly, and his manner and body language continue to leave scant doubt at the training complex that he views himself as one of Louis van Gaal’s main men.
Given a CV that also includes winning the Champions League, eight Bundesliga titles and 113 caps, the Schweinsteiger strut is hardly a surprise. What does bemuse is the thought process that led Van Gaal to send out Schweinsteiger alongside Michael Carrick against the dizzying pinball wizards that are Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal, on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium.
The folly of the selection required only 19 minutes to be shown. By then United were 3-0 down and Arsenal were threatening to avenge their 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford of four years ago. Schweinsteiger and Carrick had been cast as statues against the slick and quick mastery of Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Theo Walcott, Mezut Özil, who scored once, and Alexis Sánchez, who got the other two.
Schweinsteiger and Carrick cannot be solely blamed for the slowness of play that affected the defence, too. But as a two-sentry midfield shield the pair’s prime job is to stymie threat before it can reach the danger areas. On this showing Van Gaal should be wary of again naming them in a starting XI to face high-class opposition.
A precis of the problem could be seen in the moment Walcott chased down Schweinsteiger, slide-tackled him, and was up to win the second ball to leave the ponderous German behind.
Schweinsteiger is 31, Carrick 34. Towards the close of last season Van Gaal hinted this could be the latter’s final one due to his creaking joints. Schweinsteiger may be three years younger but over the past four seasons at Bayern Munich injury plagued him. On the pre-season tour of the US he appeared off the pace and carrying a few pounds. The impression has been enhanced in the light-speed frenzy of the Premier League. There is a slowness in Schweinsteiger’s movement that was found out by Arsenal and will be found out again if he is not paired with a younger man such as Morgan Schneiderlin, who was an unused substitute.
Schweinsteiger’s guile and big-match brain need youthful zest (Schneiderlin is 25) or an extra moment to prosper, as the chess-like Champions League allows. Carrick can be classed the same, yet as he possess a Premier League pedigree gained from 11 years’ experience he should be first choice in the competition when available.
By the close of 90 painful minutes in north London for United and Van Gaal, Schweinsteiger and Carrick were still on the pitch. The manger’s in-game changes had been Antonio Valencia for the right-back Matteo Darmian, Marouane Fellaini for Memphis Depay (both at half-time), and James Wilson for Juan Mata.
On Monday Mata wrote on his blog: “Arsenal started with more intensity, they scored very quickly and with no time for our reaction they scored the second goal. Not even 10 minutes have passed and things were already looking very bad. A start like this from us is unacceptable – if we want to fight for big things we must learn the lesson as soon as possible.”
Carrick was more transparent, alluding to how Arsenal had punched holes through the territory he and Schweinsteiger were supposed to guard. “We just gave them a bit too much space and they played well and it came off for them,” he told MUTV. “We did too many things wrong. You could go on for ever talking about why things didn’t work, but we just didn’t start well enough, conceded the goals and gave ourselves too much to do.”
Post-defeat, Van Gaal described himself as “amazed” at how his team had lacked the will to win and had lost their shape. What was amazing was Van Gaal saying “I don’t know why it happened”, as he later offered the answer. “The problems did not start at the back, they started in midfield. Their midfield players, especially Cazorla and Özil, had too much time and space.”
So why leave Schweinsteiger and Carrick on? Why leave Schneiderlin on the bench? Why choose Schweinsteiger and Carrick in the first place?
Van Gaal can be ruthless as the close-season disposal of Robin van Persie showed. But, like all managers, he can have favourites. The misfiring Wayne Rooney is one – it is lucky for him he has “special privileges” as captain or he would surely have been dropped by now.
Schweinsteiger’s instant status as one of the loudest voices in the dressing room owes much to his medals and résumé. But it also suggests the security he feels from Van Gaal, who knows him well from his time leading Bayern.
One key question in where United’s season goes from here is how long the Schweinsteiger-Van Gaal special relationship will last.
