On a wing and a prayer: no width no way?

On thing that has been noticeable with us in recent times is we operate best using width. Antonio Valencia’s wide play was the talk of the town last season whilst Nani’s out wide as well as cutting in became a terror for all we played against. It was something we reaped the benefits from as Rooney highlighted the partnership he struck up with Valencia was part of the reason he got so many goals last season whilst many sang Nani’s praise as it appeared the Portuguese winger had finally turned a corner.

The width we possessed made us a threat to all we played and in the Community Shield two weeks ago Chelsea learned that first hand as we ripped them apart mainly due to play coming from out wide. Once Scholes fed the wings alarm bells rang. In the first game of the season Nani and Evra caused havoc on the left wing but have we developed an over reliance?

Fans have called for a creative midfielder for ages to run things in the middle of the park and although it’s been a concern, a number of things have masked over the problem. Previously we had Ronaldo, now it’s our wide play and Rooney’s goal return but what if these things falter?

On Sunday against Fulham, Valencia was uncharacteristically quiet (as he was against Newcastle) whilst Park was ineffective on the left and although Evra did his usual job trying to bomb forward John O’Shea offered very little. Our ineffectiveness out wide impacted our play as we negated our usual advantage became quite narrow and played into Fulham’s hands as we attempted to paint a masterpiece in a congested midfield. With Scholes in a rich vein of form he attempted to pull the strings as did Berbatov but Scholes will inevitably need a rest and although he is as creative a player as we have, Berbatov is still essentially a striker.

We looked a lot more threatening when we switched Valencia and Park for Giggs and Nani as we took the lead again but those minutes when Park and Valencia were being nullified it caused concern for a lot of fans. As I watched the game ManUnitedYouth stated it would have been interesting to see Tom Cleverley in Park’s position and I agree he should have been on the field but how about in an attacking midfielder role?

Sir Alex sang his praises when he decided to keep him at the club this season so why not give him a chance?

Of course it won’t be every week that we look so ineffective out wide and with Scholes rolling back the years anything is possible from his boots but it is definitely a worry. A creative midfielder would provide a plan B and though I don’t think we need to go out and buy one we should seriously look at the introduction of one as wing play may not always work as we saw yesterday.