Back
Eddie Howe looks primed to take over from Michael Carrick but what would Manchester United look like under him?
Howe’s managerial philosophy is built on intensity and both his Bournemouth and Newcastle teams were amongst the highest pressers in the league and always near the top of distances covered tables.
To achieve that, he primarily opted for a 4-3-3 with a deeper six. Usually that was Bruno Guimaraes who played in the CDM spot 132 times while at Newcastle. Later, he moved up to the eight with Sandro Tonali in the six.
Howe also likes wingers who are pacy and can get crosses in or shoot themselves. Anthony Gordon’s speed was a particular favourite of Howe’s and the now Barcelona player was the second most used attacker by Howe.
Howe also valued physicality. Jacob Murphy is the only player in Howe’s top five most used that is not over six foot. The swapping of Joelinton from striker to midfieler was one of Howe’s best tactical achievements at St James’.
The question is, does he have the players to do that at Manchester United and will they listen to him? At Newcastle, they did not have established stars and so dealing with egos will not have been as big a task as it likely will be at United.
When negotiating the job, Howe would do well to seek assurance that defence will be reinforced for that is the most obvious area that is lacking what he would want.
United’s centre backs, while tall and physical, are much slower than what Howe had at Newcastle. This was particularly highlighted against Como when Matthijs De Ligt and Harry Maguire left a lot of gaps against quicker forwards.
Lisandro Martinez is far too small for a typical Howe centre back and it would not be overly surprising to see him pushed into a defensive midfield role under the former Bournemouth boss.
Diogo Dalot is a player who could benefit a lot under Howe if he is able to be taught the same kind of defensive discipline as Kieran Trippier while keeping the desire to get forward.
Midfield-wise, there are some things with Howe to work with.
Carlos Baleba would suit the Bruno Guimaraes holding role very well and Howe would fancy his ability to improve Kobbie Mainoo and Andrey Santos in that position too.
Central midfield-wise, Bruno Fernandes is probably the most creatively talented player Howe would have ever had at his disposal but he’s proved far more effective as a 10 which Howe does not tend to play with.
Howe would likely have to pair Fernandes with someone who can do the Portuguese player’s running which may be an issue.
Youri Tielemans is too slow, Manuel Ugarte is injured until April and not very good, while Mason Mount is too injury-prone to be relied upon. An option could be to push Mainoo forward.
Up front, Newcastle wanted to sign Benjamin Sesko so clearly Howe feels he could work with him. On the wings, Amad Diallo feels like a perfect player for Howe to mould into a Gordon-esque player.
Meanwhile Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo are not obvious Howe wingers but talented enough that he can work with them. If Sesko is staying up front, it’s hard to see how he fits in both but he could opt to put Cunha on the left and Mbeumo on the right.
The only concern would be the lack of width on the left flank given Luke Shaw’s age.
On paper, United have the players for Howe to work with but as has been the case with successive failed managers, the real question is whether they buy into his ideas and give the intensity Howe needs for his teams to work.
It’s a choice between Lammens or Karl Darlow and Tom Heaton. Duh.
The fact that Dalot has made over 250 appearances for the club is a sore point for United fans but he is still currently their best right back.
The Portuguese player should be looking at Trippier as an example of what can be achieved under Howe.
Defence is a big issue for Howe with a lot of the current crop missing either the physicality or pace to be effective in his system.
One player with those traits though is Yoro who will likely be first choice for Howe.
De Ligt is probably the best of a bad bunch for Howe to choose from.
Martinez is too small and lightweight, Maguire is 33 and not mobile enough while it would be risky to pair the 20-year-old Ayden Heaven with the equally young Yoro.
De Ligt will probably get the shot then but United need to invest in that department.
Other than Harry Amass, United really don’t have any other left backs so Shaw remains in.
Baleba is almost the perfect player for Howe to work with. He does a lot of the things that Bruno Guimaraes did so well and at 22, can improve a lot if he listens to what his manager tells him.
Fernandes did not really work in a deeper role under Amorim but the key is freeing him of defensive duties.
While he enjoys pointing and suggesting the team do not press enough, he does not do much of that himself with an average of eight sprints a game being amongst the lowest 10% in the league.
The trick then is to maximise his attacking talents while not asking him to defend too much which means his midfield partner will be crucial.
If Howe is going to relieve Fernandes of defensive duties, he needs a mobile midfielder alongside him in that Joelinton role and Mainoo seems a good candidate.
He is in the top 5% for defensive contributions this season in the league but he does need to be more mobile with an average of just four sprints a game.
Mbeumo has a lot of traits that Howe will be happy to work with. He’s quick and can cut inside but he really needs to work on his finishing.
Only Thierno Barry has missed more big chances this season.
Howe was after Sesko last year and so clearly rates him as a possible piece in his system.
Getting on top of his injuries will be key, though.
Amad and Gordon share the high work rate that Howe is after from his wingers, although the United man lacks the finishing of Gordon.
Howe needs pace, particularly on the left flank with Shaw behind, and so will likely favour Amad in the long run over someone like Cunha but he will definitely want to see improvement.
Back
Top
| Privacy Statement Terms of Service Contact |
Refresh
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.