Manchester United Can’t Drop Key Players From The Team

The Manchester United team isn’t playing well and we are struggling. I think we are in a bit of a cycle where initially injuries caused poor performances / results, but those poor performances have also affected the confidence of several players. That’s a particularly difficult situation to correct. Even as you start to get players back from injury, they are coming back into a team that is struggling and low on confidence. Which is not ideal as you try to play yourself back into form and fitness.

I’ve seen several people say about dropping players in poor form, but if their form is poor due to confidence, then dropping them is more likely to negatively impact them than positively. Like it or not, we need players like Rashford and Bruno playing and playing well for us. There is no one else in the squad who is capable of providing the goals and assists to their level.

If we had a well built squad of players whose skills and talents blended well together to create a team greater than the sum of its parts, then you can drop key players and become less reliant on individuals. But we don’t and we are probably 2-3 years away from being able to assemble a squad capable of that. In the mean time we will be more reliant on individuals performing to their best in order to get results.

If you look at the backbone of our team from last season (DDG, Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno and Rashford). Those 6-7 players were what held our team together. When they were absent or in poor form, the side suffered.

DDG has left, despite the issues of Onana it was time to move on from DDG who was declining and not capable of playing a modern, progressive style. Onana’s troubles in settling are being massively affected by the team in front of him. Either way it is a position where our form isn’t as good as last season (although I’m still confident that Onana will come good and prove his quality).

In the heart of defence, we have seen Martinez who was arguably one of the best CB’s in the league last season struggle with form at the start of the season and is now out injured. In hindsight, it’s clear he wasn’t fully over his injury and shouldn’t have come back as soon as he did. I don’t know who is to blame, did the medical staff rush him back, or did the player push himself too soon. Who knows and ultimately it doesn’t make much difference now, as long as those involved in the situation have learned from it.

Varane has also been in and out of the team due to persistent…