Three ’20-goal men’ to solve Van Gaal’s Man Utd conundrum
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Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is bemoaning the lack of a ’20-goal man’ at Old Trafford which he says has prevented his side from challenging for the Premier League title this season.
The irate Dutchman has got a point too, as his trio of frontline strikers have only amassed 22 league goals between them, broken down as 10 for Robin van Persie, eight for Wayne Rooney and just four for Radamel Falcao.
In fact, as it stands ahead of their top-flight clash at home to Sunderland, United’s poor away form is placing their 4/6-rated chances of remaining in the top four under threat, with Liverpool on the charge only two points below them in sixth.
The reasons for these poor goals returns from three of the most revered strikers in world football are numerous, especially as Rooney has been shifted into a deeper role, while Falcao has failed to cement a place and RVP has been starved of the service he is used to.
Van Gaal must take some of the responsibility for the decreased numbers having tinkered with his line-up relentlessly, splitting up the Rooney/Van Persie partnership in particular which delivered a title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season,
It seems Falcao’s days at United are already numbered and approaching his 32nd birthday in the summer Van Persie’s future at the club is by no means assured, so who could answer the 20-goal call for LVG next season?
1. Wayne Rooney – Although the skipper has always been earmarked for a drop into centre-midfield it has arrived far too prematurely under Van Gaal.
You only have to look at the eight league strikes he had registered before being shunted away from the frontline for a glaring answer to United’s shortfall.
2. Robert Lewandowski – Rumours of a rift between the Bayern Munich striker and boss Pep Guardiola have already put the 13-time Premier League champions on high alert.
The prolific Pole netted 20 goals or more in all three Bundesliga campaigns for former club Borussia Dortmund before switching to Bayern.
3. Edinson Cavani – The PSG striker showed his class with the equaliser against Chelsea in the Champions League recently, but it is well documented that he’s never settled well in Paris.
The £50m former Napoli man was a target for United last summer and having only just turned 28 in February still has plenty to offer.
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