A lot seems to have clicked for Manchester United in the last couple of weeks. Anthony Martial does not look like a waste of money, for a start, Wayne Rooney is back among the goals and with that pair’s assistance and Manchester City’s unwilling collusion Louis van Gaal’s side reached the top of the Premier League for the first time since the Dutchman was brought in.
Van Gaal puts it down to an improved balance he has managed to achieved within the squad so that players can be rotated and the team refreshed more easily. There may be something in that, but many observers believe it has simply been a matter of the sprightly Martial finally persuading a somewhat stubborn manager that it does not make sense to have Rooney as first point of attack any more. Rooney played at No10 to Martial’s centre‑forward against Wolfsburg which, with Juan Mata and Memphis Depay either side and Marouane Fellaini on the bench in case of emergency, seemed a much more logical setup than some of the configurations Van Gaal tried earlier in the season.
Unfortunately Wolfsburg were quickly able to demonstrate they are about more than Volkswagen emissions scandals and allowing Robert Lewandowski the best nine minutes of his career. In under five minutes the Germans had taken the lead, when Max Kruse’s speed of thought and pass left Daniel Caligiuri all the time and space he needed in which to beat David de Gea. One thing Sir Alex Ferguson always used to say of Manchester United was that they never liked to do things the easy way, and for all the changes effected in the past couple of seasons that principle still seems locked into the team’s DNA.
Yet 85 minutes is a generous amount of time in which to save a game, and some of United’s most notable performances have come in adversity. If anyone can overhaul an early deficit United can, at least that always used to be the case, but the somewhat callow and inexperienced front line seemed unsure of themselves and were struggling to make an impression until an old hand brought his influence to bear.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, much more so than Rooney, appeared to recognise the script and know what the occasion demanded. Penalised early on for a reckless challenge on Kruse, the German stepped up his intensity once United had gone behind, showing ball-winning determination in the middle of the pitch and a willingness to get forward when the opportunity arose. Shooting too high at one end, then getting back to dispossess Bas Dost on the edge of the United penalty area moments later, Schweinsteiger was everywhere in the first half. It was just a pity the home side’s more youthful forward players could not immediately capitalise on the momentum the experienced midfielder was generating. Rooney could have settled United’s nerves with a sidefoot finish midway through the first half but ballooned the ball high over the bar, then Depay might have done better from a searching Mata cross than head straight at the Wolfsburg goalkeeper.
When the equaliser finally arrived Schweinsteiger was inevitably involved, calling for the ball near halfway then moving it forward to Rooney, who supplied Mata for the cross that brought the penalty. Not even a booking just before the interval reduced Schweinsteiger’s effectiveness, just a couple of minutes later he made a full‑blooded intervention on the edge of his area to win the ball from Kruse and get United moving forward again.
The one thing Schweinsteiger cannot inject into United is pace, and for all the German’s industry the tempo of the home side’s play was still slower than the crowd would have liked, particularly as Wolfsburg moved the ball around smartly when they chose to attack. Wolfsburg do not sit at the top of the Bundesliga, their recent hammering by Bayern Munich reflects their overall place in the scheme of things, and if United are currently the top team in England, as the league table suggests, then the travelling supporters could not have been all that impressed.
Schweinsteiger they know about, of course, but for almost an hour they must have wondered why he had chosen to throw in his lot with such an obvious work in progress. At least United managed to win the game and put some points on the board, thanks to Mata’s inspired improvisation, and in the context of English results in Europe this week that does count as progress. But better balanced? It is debatable whether United are bringing the best from Rooney, or even getting the best from Mata, who was arguably the most influential home player but tends to be peripheral when stationed out on the right wing.
Not perfect then, though one question was decisively answered. While Schweinsteiger may be past his absolute best, he is far from past it. United missed his control when he left the pitch. People have questioned his exact role at the club but Van Gaal signed him as a competitor for nights such as this. Schweinsteiger might just be the best competitor United have at the moment. In these parts commanding figures are not as thick on the ground as they used to be.
