Player Focus: Schweinsteiger Not Offering United Enough Thrust From Deep
Nobody touched the ball more in Manchester United’s goalless draw with Chelsea than Bastian Schweinsteiger. He was at the centre of everything and, given how he has come to embody the “process” of which Louis van Gaal is so proud that, at the moment, may be part of the problem.
On the one hand Schweinsteiger’s statistics look good. He touched the ball 109 times. He completed 93.8% of his passes, more than anybody else other than Daley Blind (97.4%) and Juan Mata (94.4%). It’s indicative too of how that game went that only two Chelsea players - John Terry and Nemanja Matic - had a pass completion rate of over 80%. But all those touches yielded no shots on target and only two key passes. Three times he was caught in possession and one he lost the ball with a poor first touch; set against that he made six tackles.
It’s all combative stuff that helps with control, but he can seem ponderous, his instinct to retain possession conditioning him against risk. Perhaps that is a function of the rest of the United side and their lack of understanding of Van Gaal’s system - as they continue to await the magical moment when everything will click. Or perhaps it’s to do with Schweinsteiger’s physical condition.
It appears that at 31, he is no longer capable of the box-to-box running that used to define his play, that lack of spark perhaps explaining why Pep Guardiola was so willing to let him go. “The reason why we have bought Schweinsteiger is that he is a player who can lead or guide a team,” Van Gaal said at the beginning of December. “That is important - not only his football qualities - but that he can lead and guide a team on the pitch. I believe that every match that he plays he can play better because until now we have not seen the best Schweinsteiger that I have seen at Bayern Munich, but he can guide the team.”
What’s intriguing is to compare Schweinsteiger this season against him at his peak. A pass success rate of 86.4% in the league in the season as a whole is roughly comparable with his career since 2009 - when, thanks to Van Gaal, he started playing regularly in the centre of midfield rather than on the flank. His pass completion rate has never dropped below 84.9% and never risen higher than 86.4%.
But his contribution at the front end of the pitch has declined this season. In every season from 2009-10 he has directly contributed to - either by scoring or completing the assist - between five and 11 goals. This season he has just one goal - a header from a corner against Leicester - and no assists.
This season he’s played 0.5 key passes per game. In the Bundesliga last season it was 1.6. Only once since 2009 has that figure dropped below 1.0 per game. Again, the impression is of a player less mobile than he was and so less able to get forward and make the creative impact he used to, adding to the sense of a static United.
It’s not that he’s simply playing in a more defensive role this season. Although he has made slightly more tackles this season than last - 2.0 to 1.7 per game - interceptions have remained the same and, looking back over the past six seasons, there are four occasions when he’s averaged more than 2.0 tackles per game.
His defensive contribution, in other words, is pretty standard this season, but his attacking contribution has diminished. It may be that Schweinsteiger is a symptom rather than a cause of United’s problems, but there have been numerous occasions when he looks sluggish. United need to find thrust from at least one of their holding players and Schweinsteiger, at the moment, is not offering it.
What do you make of Bastian Schweinsteiger's debut season in the Premier League? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
Look at Rooney's stats
Most under-rated player of his generation purely because a lot of people are ignorant to the role Bastian plays and how well he does it. Unless you fit nicely into a box with labels such as a "deep-lying playmaker" or "box to box midfielder" then people wont put you amongst the best but Bastian is somebody who is good at everything without having an obvious strength. He is 25% of Vidal, Alonso, Thiago and Martinez. He may not be the best b2b CM, have the passing range; the ball retention or defensive combativeness of those players respectively, but he has a bit of them all and when you have that in the SAME person added to the marshalling/organisational skills (something nobody can see on TV) plus the "knack" of always being open for somebody to pass to when they're in trouble or don't know what to do (something only the top 1% of players have incidentally), you have an all round amazing player. He's lost a bit of pace but was never quick. Utd's problems are 90% van Gaal, 10% Rooney.
United generally looked better organised with Schweinsteiger in the team. If you watch him he is not only looking to get on the ball, but he is also telling others where to run and whom to pass it to. I think Van Gaal has realised he doesn't have the attacking drive he had during his formative Bayern days and that has perhaps formed part of the reason why Schneiderlin hasn't been used more regulary, because he also won't offer that killer ball or drive forward. Unfortunately, Carrick is also getting on a bit and those two, although they may be Van Gaal's preferred pairing, cannot play with each other (see Arsenal game)
Lvg's rigid use of the 4-2-3-1 system is stifling any chance of flair within the Utd team. Paul Merson hit the nail on the head when he said "watching Utd reminded him of subbuteo) when he was asked what he meant by that comment he said "well, when Utd start a game they are all in their positions then when the ref blows for half time, they are all still in the same position, they haven't moved at all". I like Schweini as a player but i think Utd would be better suited to playing Ander Herrera and Schneiderlin together in the middle for extra mobility.
Schwein is a good player, but he is not the big name united needed. He best days are behind him and he is distinctly average now, not a lot special about him anymore. Leadership is an intangible quality and needed, but perhaps he should be limited to a role xavi played in his last season where he would come on 60th minute to see games through and was able to make more of an impact that way.
@MSNfirepower I agree. Watched him play in Germany for years and you could see he'd lost a bit last season. Definitely at the age where he can repeatedly be beaten for pace. Strangely I think his safe passing tactics of never trying to create anything work well for van Gaal. A dangerous ball to a run over the top could ruin the passing stats for the day. Boring United thanks to very strange van Gaal. Xavi actually started in 19 of 31 Primera League games last season, averaging 57 minutes per match.
@Quest- Using my favourite stat of combining 'chances created' with 'goals scored', Bastian had a total of 35 last season (in 20 games- 1.75/game) compared to just 25 the season before (in 23 games- 1.09/game) and 32 (in 28 games- 1.14/game) the season before that. That's extraordinary for a man who supposedly declined drastically last year and who's role hasn't changed. He has lost pace but he has never been quick. The problem is van Gaal doesn't have a creative player next to him or a decent #10 in front so Schwein can do his game-management duty. I also respectfully disagree with the "never trying to create" line. Xavi's chances/goals per game average in 2012/13 was 1.6; 2013/14 was 1.666 and last season 1.71. Bastian has never been the main creative force for club or country unlike Xavi. He's an all-rounder who's presence is still missed in an almost all-world class Germany front 6. If he's fit come June, Loew will start him no question.