Manchester United’s West Ham Loss Highlights the Need for More Attacking Impetus

Manchester United had, by a combination of a reasonable run of form and the capitulation of their neighbours, wrested UEFA Champions League qualification back into their own hands.

Sadly, and perhaps predictably, they let it slip through their fingers as they lost 3-2 to West Ham United on Tuesday. Only a loss for Manchester City in Swansea on Sunday and a win for the Red Devils at Old Trafford against Bournemouth will now get United into Europe’s elite competition next season.

It was a maddeningly frustrating evening for the visiting fans, a festival of footballing incompetence punctuated by a brief moment of hope, and a tiny flirtation with a top-four spot that had previously eluded the Red Devils for the whole of the calendar year so far.

Manchester United have been in top 4 for only 3 minutes in 2016.73′ West Ham 1-2 Man Utd.76′ West Ham 2-2 Man Utd.

— Man Utd FF (@ManUtdFF) May 10, 2016

Having had their bus pelted by West Ham fans on its way to the ground, United’s display was such that their own fans might have been inclined to do similar on its way out.

It was a performance in which the players let their much-maligned manager down. But Louis van Gaal must take a huge share of the blame, given that it was also a game in which mistakes he made—both on the night and throughout the season—cost dearly.

United’s most egregious underperformers against West Ham—and there are plenty to choose from—were probably Daley Blind, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo.

Blind may have outperformed expectation at centre-back throughout the season, but his poor displays have been catastrophic. This, like Tottenham Hotspur away, Swansea City away and Watford at home was up there with his worst.

The errors are too numerous to catalogue, but the most extreme was allowing Andy Carroll the freedom of the Boleyn Ground to score. The former Liverpool man politely declined, but Blind’s positioning was so atrocious he may as well have been marking the striker at the Olympic Stadium.

They’re not happy….https://t.co/2IjfvapGey #MUFC

— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) May 10, 2016

Van Gaal’s role in all this was to have so heavily relied on Blind as a centre-half throughout the season. The Netherlands international is an excellent option for providing cover at centre-half. Blind as first choice means …

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