The calls for Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney to be dropped have started again.
Jose Mourinho's side have lost three games in a row, the latest a 3-1 defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday.
Rooney has been the target of much of the fans' fury, with a 99 per cent of supporters voting for the 30-year-old to be dropped in a Red Issue poll.
If
Rooney doesn't start United's next Premier League game against
Leicester at Old Trafford on Saturday, Mourinho has got a lot of other
options.
So what would the United team look like without him in it?
Mata playing in the centre
Juan Mata had his best season in the Premier League playing as Chelsea's No.10. But at United, most of his time has been spent on the right wing.
He played there under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, largely because Rooney was accommodated in the middle.
Mourinho started the season with Rooney as the No.10, but switched to a more conventional 4-3-3 for games against Feyenoord and Watford.
If the United manager goes back to 4-2-3-1, without Rooney in the team, there would be room for Mata to play behind the striker.
Room for Herrera
Ander Herrera started the season in team. But since Paul Pogba arrived, he has had to make do with a place on the bench.
Mourinho
isn't going to drop Pogba after splashing out a world record fee. But
with Rooney on the bench, Herrera could come back in.
The
Spaniard could either play as the deepest midfielder, as he did in the
second half against Manchester City, or further forward.
4-4-2
Mourinho has usually steered clear of 4-4-2 but occasionally employed a midfield diamond at Porto.
It
would allow Zlatan Ibrahimovic to partner Marcus Rashford up front, as
they did in the closing stages at Hull, while also making room for Mata,
Herrera and Pogba.
It would, though, rely heavily on the
full-backs providing the width which Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw
struggled with at Watford.
City made it five out of five for the season on Sunday courtesy of a thrilling 3-1 victory over West Ham.
Fernandinho celebrating his goal with teammate Raheem Sterling
Club journalist MrJoyoung delivers six topics for discussion following the final game before the international break…
1 Cut to ribbons
Following the 1-0 win over Steaua in midweek, Pep told journalists:
“I’m finding we’re having a lot of possession in the first halves of
games but not creating enough - I don’t like that.”
You can only imagine the City boss was slightly more satisfied with this first half showing on Sunday…
The opening period against West Ham was the clearest sign yet that
Guardiola’s squad are assimilating their new coaches’ ideas and buying
into his philosophy of high intensity pressing, one or two-touch passing
and unpredictable movement in the final third.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Slaven Bilic’s side were cut to
ribbons on countless occasions in the first 45 as they struggled to cope
with the onslaught brought upon them by a City side full of
hard-running and invention – the only surprise was that the margin
between the teams was only two goals at the interval.
The move which created the first goal on seven minutes was pure
Guardiola, as the Blues appeared to tilt the pitch left and right as if
it were a foosball table made of balsa wood, unsettling the away defence
to the extent that Raheem Sterling’s run into the area went
unchallenged, allowing him to slot home the opener.
2 Strong Finish
You also have to credit the away side.
A team with less moxie would have folded under the pressure and could
have been hit for five or six but Bilic acted decisively with his
substitution at half-time and the East Londoners' caused City a few
problems after the interval.
Mikhail Antonio’s header may have been the first clear-cut chance the
Irons produced but they clearly upset the rhythm of their hosts in the
second 45.
We looked set for a nervy finale but City came on strong again in the
last 15 minutes and always looked the likeliest to score the decisive
fourth goal at this stage.
David Silva struck the post, Sterling missed a one-on-one and Samir
Nasri had a shot cleared off the line before Raheem finally ended the
Hammers’ resistance once and for all in stoppage-time. Aleks Kolarov reaction
3 Razzing It
Five games in and we’re already running out of superlatives to send Raheem’s way.
The stats speak for themselves: Four games, three assists and two goals – the England international is flying.
Guardiola refused to take any of the credit for the winger’s
scintilating form in his post-match press conference and even stated his
belief that Sterling has played “more brilliant” games as he didn’t win
the ball back as many times as he has in previous weeks.
What cannot be denied is that this was Raheem’s most effective game
of the season so far as he finished decisively on two occasions and
looked a constant menace with the ball at his feet, running at Arthur
Masuaku, drawing foul after foul.
Not just good news for City supporters but also for Sam Allardyce who included Sterling in his first England squad yesterday.
4 A Footnote
When Antonio halved the deficit after the break, you could be
forgiven for fretting that this was going to be “one of those days”.
That’s because 60 seconds earlier, the home side were unfortunate not
to have finished the game off as a contest with a decisive third goal.
Nolito spotted Aguero’s run and played him through and Kun had
rounded Adrian in the West Ham goal before he spotted the offside flag.
Replays showed that the Argentine ace was actually half a yard onside
and West Ham scored on their next attack – fortunately, this turned out
to be little more than a footnote on a day of celebration for the
majority inside the Etihad. Tunnel Cam
5 Heading Lessons
Fernandinho took to Instagram after the game to thank Fabian Delph
and Raheem Sterling for teaching him to head the ball… we’ll extend the
gratitude here too!
The Brazilian’s first strike of the season may have come from a more
rudimentary source than the first goal of the day but it was no less
thrilling on the eye.
Kevin De Bruyne’s devilish free-kick was begging to be converted and
Fernandinho did just that, thumping his header past Adrian who was never
getting close to it.
6 Decisive Substitution
It was fitting that Samir Nasri returned to the squad for the first
time this season five years to the day since his brilliant City debut
away at Spurs in 2011.
His impact here was almost as telling as he linked up with David
Silva, De Bruyne and Sterling beautifully and helped to break the West
Ham defensive lines on numerous occasions.
After an injury-hit 2015/16, Nasri looked to have that explosive
acceleration back in this cameo and showed that he can make a big
contribution this season if he decides to stick around.
Guardiola told journalists after the game that he would be happy if
Samir stays “to become part of something” but emphasised that the
decision will remain with the player – supporters will now be hoping
that the Frenchman does stay for a sixth season on the evidence of this
15 minute showing.
