Does Manchester United need another creative midfielder?

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has stated that signing a creative midfielder is his priority in the summer

According to Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal he will make signing a creative midfielder his priority in the summer.

The Red Devils have been playing England forward Wayne Rooney out-of-position in central midfield in recent games, because Van Gaal claims ‘there is no one else’.

Priority

On the midfield issue the veteran Dutchman told Sky Sports: “Signing a creative player should be our priority this summer,”

“In the last few games I’ve played Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria in the midfield positions, and you need a certain balance for that kind of creative player. Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie are also creative players so then you have four of them, and you still have to look for balance in your team.

“Wayne is playing in midfield because there is no one else. He’s happy to do so otherwise he should come to me and say he’s not, but he never does. He’s always friendly to me and wants to perform. But of course when the whole world is writing that he has to be in the striker’s position then he will be thinking ‘hey, maybe’. He’s human.”

Creativity

I have to say to me Manchester United’s squad currently does not lack creative players. A lot of United’s midfielders would be regarded as creative by many experts.

United have Argentinian international Angel Di Maria, who at Real Madrid last season created 17 goals in La Liga and five in the Champions League as Los Blancos won La Decima. In fact in four seasons in the Spanish capital the Argentine collected 49 assists in the Spanish top-flight.

Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera is another player that is considered to be a creative midfielder and has collected three assists in the Premier League so far in his short united career. His statistics in La Liga are not quite as impressive as Di Maria’s, but he still has the ability to create.

The other player who cannot be ignored for his creativity is playmaker Juan Mata. The former-Chelsea star is one of the most intelligent footballers in the English top-flight.

In his first two seasons at Chelsea Mata created 25 Premier League goals, before being frozen out of the Blues team by boss Jose Mourinho, who then sold him to the Red Devils just over 12 months ago.

Then there is highly-rated Belgian youngster Adnan Januzaj, who is now seeing more game time in the United team, after a stint out of the team earlier in the season. Surely he has to be regarded as creative as well.

Maybe Louis van Gaal simply does not see Mata, Herrera or Januzaj as players capable of creating enough for the Red Devils. This latest statement will definitely not go down well with the midfielders currently at the club.

Balance

Van Gaal used the word ‘balance’ and that is exactly what United are missing at the moment. I do not currently think signing a creative player would give Van Gaal the balance he is looking for. Playing Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao as a strike-partnership is simply not working and helping the teams balance.

Both are great goal scorers and players and it looks like a dream partnership on paper. Unfortunately on grass it just does not work, because the strikers are just too similar. United look like they would benefit from dropping one and returning Rooney to the number ten role.

Although Di Maria has played predominantly as a winger throughout his career, last season he played as a central midfielder in a midfield three and looked very effective. Maybe a central midfield three of Blind, Herrera and Di Maria could prove to be a winning combination.

Priority

Whenever I have watched United in recent months I thought it was their backline that needed strengthening in the summer. Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea has been outstanding this season and if it was not for him United would be much lower in the Premier League table this season.

De Gea’s presence in-between the sticks has given United a respectable defensive record this season, but the current defence is simply not good enough if United are going to return to the top of the football tree.

FA Cup

Louis Van Gaal’s team faces a fifth round FA Cup tie at Preston tonight in a game that United are odds of 1/ 2 to win. The Red Devils should have enough creativity to see off their League One opponents and they should seal a place in the last eight of the competition.

Does Manchester United really need more creative midfielders?