"Death curve" of Wayne Rooney and his team

(Baonghean.vn) - Although there are still 11 rounds left before the 2014/2015 Premier League officially ends, all Manchester United fans agree that the championship is too far away. Now the goal of entering the TOP 4 to win a place in the Champions League (CL) next season is considered the most practical for the team at Old Trafford. However, to achieve that is not simple at all for Rooney and his students, let's take a look at the "death curve" that coach Van Gaal and his students will have to overcome.

According to statistics from Premier League football experts, to secure a place in the Champions League, MU must reach 72 points. After the 2-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford in round 27, MU has 50 points and has 11 more rounds. Obviously, with the current form, the championship is an internal matter of the two "ladies and gentlemen".Chelsea or Man City, MU and Arsenal, Shouthamton, Liverpool and Tottenham will share the remaining 2 positions. To get 22 points, MU needs 7 wins, 1 draw and no more than 3 losses. Under coach Alex Fegunson, MU is a team used to sprinting, so this goal is not too difficult, but with United at present, we are facing real challenges. MU fans will "hold their breath" waiting for coach Van Gaal to steer the MU ship through the deadly turns this March when in the last 10 rounds, United will face 5 teams in the top 7 and most of them are direct competitors starting from Newcastle (Away - A), then Tottenham (Home - H)...

Coach Van Gaal and Rooney. Photo: Getty Images

In our opinion, the most realistic answer for coach Van Gaal at this time is to focus on winning against the teams considered "underdogs" including Newcastle (A), Villa (H), West Brom (H), Crystal Palace (A) and Hull (A) to pocket 15 points. It can be said that the "turn" through the "obstacles" Tottenham (H), Liverpool (A), Man City (H), Chelsea (A), Everton (A) and Arsenal (H) to earn 7 points is really a challenge for coach Van Gaal and his team.

The world's leading football experts all agree that if MU fails to earn at least 2 points in round 32 against Man City at home and round 33 against Chelsea away, their dream of participating in the Champions League next season will be shattered. This is the turning point that MU cannot afford to make mistakes, as the most difficult Premier League football season on the planet is about to end. Especially when Van Gaal and his team are facing many attacks after spending 150 million USD.

Criticism has come from all directions: journalists, former players and even the home fans for the way Rooney is used and the Dutch coach's preference for a 3-5-2 formation. Captain Rooney may be good in midfield, but we think he would be more useful for the Red Devils if they allowed him to play higher up the pitch, closer to goal.

The funny thing is that right after Van Gaal told the press that United currently do not have a striker who can score 20 goals per season, Rooney scored a double and set a record as the first player to score 10 goals in 11 consecutive Premier League seasons. In 11 Premier League seasons, Rooney scored an average of 20.6 goals per season, a very stable achievement for a striker. Obviously, he is the type of striker that MU really needs, especially when Persie is injured and Falcao is not in good form.

United are not a team that can be beaten by the top 4 teams, in fact they have only lost 1 of their last 18 games, but at the same time they always have difficulty launching attacks and every victory is very hard. Defensively, it seems that goalkeeper David de Gea is doing a very good job of blocking and in fact in the last few rounds they have not conceded many goals. But in terms of attack, it is clear that they do not play the way that the Old Trafford fans want. Playing in a 3-5-2 formation, the central area will be packed with 5 positions but fragile when leaving the entire 2 corridors to the two full-backs.

In fact, both Shaw and Valencia have shown that they can defend on the flanks but they cannot get the right passes in. A far cry from the great United under Alex Ferguson in the 1990s who always looked to destroy opponents from the flanks in their favoured 4-4-2 formation. The wingers always knew how to put tremendous pressure on the opposition defenders and deliver countless (accurate) passes to the strikers to score. The current United team cannot do that, and that means their good strikers have to work too much outside the box. Van Gaal has experimented with even their best passers, Rooney and Di Maria, for crosses. But really, for me personally, since the start of the season, even when United have won big, I have never seen United play so emotionally for the fans as in the past. Never!

Di Maria is an expensive player that Van Gaal successfully recruited to Old Trafford but he has not exploited his full potential. Although he was placed at the top of the diamond, I think that is not the position that suits his ability. So far, Di Maria's best match when Man United played with the diamond was against QPR in September, but at that time he played on the left wing, with Mata and Persie at the top and Rooney as strikers. Obviously, Di Maria only plays best when deployed on the wing. He will have more space to easily penetrate the opponent's penalty area to pass the ball or score himself.

For more than two decades, MU has been the English football team that is loved by many Vietnamese fans. This year, it is clear that we cannot dream of the championship cup, but if we want to be in the TOP 4, have the right to participate in the Champions League, MU is also facing a difficult challenge against strong opponents as analyzed. But I and many other MU lovers share the belief that they will overcome, even be in the TOP 3.

An Thanh