Manchester United registered another goalless draw in the Premier League against Crystal Palace on Saturday, the Reds have now failed to score in the last 325 minutes of football. Manchester United have drawn three successive games 0-0 for the first time since January 2005. The Dutchman says his side “don’t keep the ball so easily” and that he “cannot complain about the result”. Van Gaal’s side maintained a 56% possession rate throughout the game and played a total of 448 passes compared to Crystal Palace’s 346 passes (and 44% possession), but failed to create only one big opportunity to score. In the process, they recorded a total of 5 shots on goal (1 on target) compared to Crystal Palace’s 10 attempts on goal (5 on target).
Out of the 376 successfully completed passes (83% pass completion rate) Manchester United played only 171 (44%) balls forward, 148 backwards and 57 going square. A staggering 356 out of 376 successful passes were short passes. Manchester United completed only three chances at Selhurst Park, despite being dominant during a large proportion of the match. The away side also failed to record a single successful free-kick and completed only 3 of the attempted 14 crosses. Manchester United completed only succeeded in 4 of the attempted 12 take-ons. In that regard, the home-side excelled Manchester United by recording 31 take-ons and 22 crosses.
(Manchester United played a total of seven sideways or backward passes in a row from this position)
Manchester United have an average possession of 57% in games, and Crystal Palace relishes games which play possession-based football. Manchester United have records more passes than any other side (575 per match) – exciting Crystal Palace’s counterattacking-trap. Palace shaped-up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, which helped Palace’s two wide men Bolasie and Zaha to roam freely even during sustained periods when Manchester United pressurized. During this time Cabaye and James McArthur acted as winger as-well-as central midfielders simultaneously, staying narrow and compact or spread wide depending upon the position of the ball. In the match, McArthur struggled at times, when Mata drifted in the middle, but Palace went largely untroubled due to the visitor’s short-passing approach.
In particular, Palace right-back Matin Kelly did a neat job keeping in nullifying Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, who was quite due to the defensive contributions of Cabaye and Kelly on the right-flank. Marcos Rojo was a similar in his defensive efforts, but Matteo Darmian failed to control yet another quick-dribbler and speedster in Zaha; particularly targeted by the Palace, attempting 5 take-ons early into the game. As a result, the latter was replaced by Ashley Young on 53 minutes. The Italian right-back has failed to cope with Sanchez, when Manchester United lost to Arsenal earlier in October. Replacement Ashley Young did a fine job defensively with his excellent positioning; intercepting the ball twice and successfully completed all this taken-ons.
In all, Manchester United lack players who can run in-behind defences, and most players want to play with the ball. Despite having possession in the final-third, Manchester United front-men aren’t decisive in converting. The goals haven’t been coming for Palace in recent weeks, and against Manchester United they again failed to convert the opportunities created. Whereas Manchester United will have to wait until they create enough. “Today when you are not creating so many chances I cannot complain about the lack of goals,” Van Gaal said. “Apart from Arsenal, it was the first time away that I don’t think we were the better team,” he said in his post-match interview.
In recent weeks, Van Gaal has tried to shuffle the pack to create more, providing regular starts to Herrera, Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin in midfield, which means Martial will operate on the left-flank with up-front. Apart from the victory against Everton, Martial’s impact from a wide position hasn’t been recognizable. He is largely waiting for opportunities to drift inside and is limited to it. It is only when he is provided freedom up-front to drift wide and in-behind the defences he can make a difference.
Despite the injury to Phil Jones, who has been pivotal with Smalling at the back for Manchester United this season, Van Gaal’s men recorded 7th clean-sheet of the season. While Smalling continued his impressive form against Palace with 6 of 6 attempted clearances, the most amongst any Mancehster United player. Blind and Rojo played impressively throughout, the latter with 5 clearances and completed 6 tackles, more than anyone else on the pitch.