Against Chelsea last weekend, Manchester United lost the game but played fairly well. They had lots of shots, though not so many on target, but they lacked something in the final third.
They kept possession well and worked the ball around, but apart from high balls aimed at Marouane Fellaini, United's play was mostly all in front of the Chelsea back line, and this caused them fewer problems than perhaps they even expected.
The travellers lacked a cutting edge, they lacked the vision to do something other than get it into Fellaini, they lacked Rooney up front because he had to play much, much deeper. But they lacked Michael Carrick most of all.
With Carrick in the team, United could have played Rooney further forward. Radamel Falcao didn't have the greatest of games, he did hit the post and come close, but he didn't cause too many problems for Chelsea. He also lost possession too cheaply on the half-way line, facing his goal, in the build up to Chelsea's winner.
But having Rooney play in that position instead of in a deeper one may have avoided that. You wouldn't see Rooney lose it like that, and if he did he wouldn't have gone to ground expecting a free kick. He'd have been back up and chasing the player who took the ball off him.
Falcao just hasn't adjusted to the Premier League, and probably won't get the chance to next season. Not at United at least.
But there's also the question as to whether Rooney is a good Carrick replacement in the first place.
If Van Gaal had played Daley Blind in that role, he'd have lost the attacking side Carrick brings to the team. Playing Rooney, then, meant that Van Gaal decided that Chelsea were going to sit back and keep United out by defending well. And so it proved. He didn't need to play another defensive player in front of the back four because he didn't need to defend so much.
But with Rooney in there, Van Gaal lost a world class attacking threat in the striker's position and lost the vision and passing ability of Carrick in a deeper role.
Rooney's job was to be the pivot for United's attacks. He took the ball and spread it to the wide positions so that they could get the ball up to Felliani and Falcao, both physical threats in their own particular ways.
Yet Rooney didn't have the vision, or the will, to play a little bit slower and bring other players into play in an advanced part of the pitch. He played a lot of sweeping balls - he played them well - out to Young and Mata, but Carrick might have been able to pick out another team-mate in a different position. He could have changed the flow of United's play because Chelsea got exactly what they were expecting for the whole game, and they dealt with it fairly easily.
Ironically, getting Rooney to fill in for the injured Carrick affected United's attacking play negatively, but not really their defensive play. Partly because Chelsea didn't attack quite so much - they didn't have to - and partly because Rooney is actually quite good in that role. He's effective because he takes his responsibility seriously and has the tenacity to chase back and make a tackle if he's caught out of position.
But he just doesn't possess the vision and class that Carrick has in the middle of the park. That's not a bad reflection on Rooney, after all he's a striker and not a deep midfielder. But it made United less potent up front.
The lesson for Van Gaal is that he needs a Carrick replacement if he wants to play possession football. Not just because Carrick has been injured for large parts of the season, but also because Carrick is getting older. He's signed a one-year contract extension, so he'll be around next season, but long term United need a successor.
Rooney is at his best played up front, so they'll need to buy somebody in. It's testament to Carrick, though, that he's so vital to United. He's won 33 England caps so he's an accomplished player, but he's never been held in the esteem that he probably deserves. If United want to win something next season, they might just have to keep him fit as much as they can, because a replacement for a player like Carrick is hard to find.
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