The case for the defence – The reason United haven’t dominated this season

The foundation of any title winning team is built firmly on the shoulders of a solid centre back pairing. From the early days of Sir Alex Ferguson‘s reign it was evident that he also shared this philosophy.

Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were the foundation for much of our early Premier League successes, while Ronny Johnsen and Jaap Stam starred in the famous treble winning side of 1999. More recently, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have forged arguably the best central defensive pairing in world football, propelling Manchester United to 3 consecutive Premier League titles and back to back Champions League finals.

That foundation has been rocked this season by the losses of both Vidic and Ferdinand for sustained periods. Vidic has played a part in 13 Premier League games this season, while England captain Ferdinand has managed just 6.

Last season saw the emergence of Jonny Evans as one of the brighter prospects in football, putting in assured performances against top class opposition and displaying maturity beyond his years. One of the reasons for his form was that he had the class and experience of either Vidic or Ferdinand beside him to show him the way and give him a sense of calmness. With both of his usual partners missing from the tem, Evans has been forced to play alongside Wes Brown, who before this season hadn’t had a sustained run in the centre of defence for over 2 years, and it shows.

On top of that, United have been unable to maintain the kind of consistency they’d like in the goalkeeping department. First choice Edwin Van der Sar has managed just 11 appearance thus far, while Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczac have mustered 8 each. For a team with title ambitions that is a major spanner in the works.

This kind of inconsistency and chopping and changing of the defence affects morale, affects consistency of performances and even affects other areas of the team. For example, without Rio Ferdinand’s calmness on the ball and ability to dribble out of defence and feed the midfielders, we’ve often resorted to pumping the ball up the pitch, often conceding possession when 6ft+ centre halves out-jump lone front man Wayne Rooney.

Our most common centre back pairing this season is Evans and Brown, and with just 9 appearances together all season it gives you an idea of the scale of the crisis we’ve been thorough and are continuing to go through. Indeed I don’t know of any other team that would be able to play their two first choice midfielders in defence and still maintain a challenge domestically and in Europe.

Take John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho out of the Chelsea defence and put Hilario in net and you’ll see a remarkably weaker team. Similarly, take Gallas, Vermaelen and Almunia from Arsenal and you’ll see the same.

Now put Michael Essien and Frank Lampard in Chelsea’s defence and Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song in Arsenal’s. I think you see what I’m getting at. Not only is the defence significantly weaker, but the effect of playing your two best midfielders at the back has a knock on effect on your ability to retain possession and create chances in the middle of the park. No creativity = no service to the forwards and ultimately a lack of goals.

So it’s no surprise that United have failed to dominate the league this year. To still be within shot of Chelsea despite an injury crisis of epic proportions is an astonishing feat by the coaches and the players. And if we finish the season empty handed I’ll still be able to look back on the season knowing we battled against adversity until the very end.

Some other posts you may be interested in:

1. Fergie not worried about Rio’s form
2. Brown: Injury nightmare almost over
3. Fergie: I think Rio will play against Hull