The Technical Area – Assessing United’s Midfield Versus QPR

A 4-0 thrashing of QPR helped Man United to their first win of the season under Louis van Gaal last weekend. After failing to find a way past Burnley in their previous league fixture, the Red Devils ran riot against the hapless R’s, with a trio of midfielders, Angel di Maria, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera, all finding the net on Sunday afternoon.

In this week’s Technical Area article, we cast an eye over United’s chief midfield protagonists, as Fantasy faith begins to pick up in pace ahead of the weekend trip to Leicester.

The average position map highlights Van Gaal’s midfield diamond – Daley Blind (number 17) sat in front of the back-four, while Herrera (number 21) and Di Maria (number 7) were stationed right and left respectively behind Mata (number 8).

As the stats suggest, Blind is the man who will keep United ticking over and allow their attackers the platform to flourish – on his debut, he had 130 touches, produced 112 passes and received 101 passes, second only to Jordan Henderson amongst midfielders on all three counts in Gameweek 4. With Blind protecting the defence, Di Maria and Herrera produced 105 and 101 touches respectively – significantly superior to Mata’s 51 over 67 minutes on the pitch – with the Argentine edging Herrera for touches in the final third by 36 to 30.

As the average position map shows, though, Herrera dropped deep more often and subsequently received 86 passes – more than double Mata’s 40 and up on Di Maria’s 70, before the latter made way on 82 minutes. Indeed, in terms of passes received in the final third, Herrera’s 25 was second only to Wayne Rooney (27), with Robin van Persie sitting third on 20.

Post-match, Di Maria’s distribution was criticised by his manager after the new boy gave the ball away on numerous occasions. A quick look at the numbers shows why – the South American’s pass accuracy of just 80.3% was far and away the lowest of any United outfield player, with Blind’s metronomic display registering a 95.5% pass completion, whilst Mata and Herrera also stood out with 97.7% and 90.6% accuracy.

Given their similar starting roles, Herrera’s stats suggest he could be a genuine alternative to Di Maria if Van Gaal maintains the diamond. The former Athletic Bilbao man had previously failed to create a single chance for team-mates this term in his deep-lying role, but on Sunday, not only did he mirror Di Maria’s four key passes, Herrera also produced an excellent defensive shift, winning four of eight attempted tackles – at least double the number of any team-mate.

Mata, in spite of his advanced position in “the hole”, failed to register a single key pass on Sunday. Indeed, the former Chelsea man has created just four chances for United this term – averaging 86.3 minutes per key pass under Van Gaal compared to 38.6 for the Old Trafford outfit last year. Up front, despite earning an assist in the rout, Rooney created just one chance over his 94 minutes – the same number as Radamel Falcao managed in 27 minutes and two fewer than Van Persie (three).

In terms of goal threat, Mata’s five touches in the box was just behind Rooney and Van Persie (seven and six). Although the Spaniard equaled the strike duo’s two attempts inside the box, it’s noticeable that his minutes-per-attempt average is also down from last year (44 to 69) – in spite of scoring twice in four Gameweeks, his goal threat, in addition to his creativity, has so far taken a turn for the worse under the new man in charge.

Di Maria’s growing band of owners may be a little worried by his lack of impact in the box. The Argentine failed to produce a single touch in the QPR penalty area and managed two long-range attempts in the 4-0 win, with his converted free-kick from distance a little fortunate to sneak past Rob Green. Indeed, over his two appearances for the Red Devils, Di Maria has managed just two touches inside the area, averaging an effort every 50.7 minutes and a key pass every 30.4 minutes.

Once again, Herrera’s stats are superior to the Argentine’s. The former managed two touches in the penalty area and fired a trio of attempts on goal, with one inside the box – prior to Sunday, he had failed to register a single attempt or touch the ball inside the penalty box. It remains to be seen whether Van Gaal will continue with the diamond formation, but while Di Maria and Mata owners will be relatively content with their day’s Fantasy output, Herrera definitely looks one to monitor if he can continue in the same vein.

*The Technical Area is put together using the statistics and maps available in our members area. For access to such data and tools on every player, team and match of the 2014/15 season, and for exclusive members articles like this, click here for details.