When you think about great defensive midfielders of the past two decades, players like Claude Makelele, Ngolo Kante, and Casemiro come to mind.
The player Manchester United wanted to be their own version is Nemanja Matic, who at 33 is no longer good enough to start every week.
United fans have been calling for a new defensive midfielder to be signed for nigh on two years now, but the club are yet to act.
Instead the position has been filled by Fred and Scott McTominay, who often have to try and perform the role together, even though this is not their natural game to defend.
Desire to attack
Both players have given interviews over the past 24 hours speaking of their intent to make an impact high up the pitch.
McTominay spoke to the club website and even declared an interest to ‘keep pushing forward’.
He said: “For me, definitely I need to score more goals. I need to be the guy who can score from set pieces and score with my head. That’s something I definitely look at. Last year I scored seven goals so obviously I want to beat that this year and I want to keep pushing forwards into the box.”
Fred has been playing a more forward role under new boss Ralf Rangnick and he feels better suited to the position.
He told Sky Sports: “I really like playing there. With the Seleção, I play in a position which is closer to the opposition goal and the coach here has changed my positioning too and I really like it.”
Getting forward suits both Fred and McTominay’s games. The latter made an impact by winning an interception in the final third which led to Ronaldo’s goal against Brighton. This weekend he faces Leeds, a side he has caused real damage against when given license to maraud forward.
Fred too has made an impression in the final third, with four assists and one goal under Ralf Rangnick.
United need a true defensive midfielder
You don’t want to take the positive attacking aspects away from both players. But their comments underline how much they enjoy getting forward and like to contribute in attack.
What United need is a defensive midfield monster. The key to finding a player like this is not just ability, it is mentality.
It is so hard to find a true destroyer, a player who just wants to sit back and break up play and shield the defence.
This is exactly what United need. United can’t continue to push McTominay into the role when he wants to get forward as often as possible, or Fred who believes he is better off higher up the pitch.
Until the end of the season United don’t have much choice, unless Nemanja Matic gets a late burst of energy, and it will probably see the team fall short of their goals.
The team are crying out for a defensive midfielder who just wants to defend, and this summer there is no excuse for not bringing one in.
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