Here's one with the pre-assists midway through the season. Surprised that Fred has registered more pre-assists than the likes of Gundogan and Bernardo Silva? You shouldn't be. Possibly he has more than Modric too, given that Zidane's midfield is usually deep and is burdened with recycling possession and keeping the lines compact more than anything else. After all, with Fernandes enjoying freedom of movement between the lines, Fred's often the one who operates as the fulcrum for us to switch sides and keep the ball moving in the final third. It doesn't say much. Look at two of the midfielders leading the pre-assists stats, Lo Celso and Ndombele: Does it mean they are fantastic in terms of creativity? Absolutely not, it's just that Mourinho's shite on a stick tactic of transitioning with as few players as possible has pumped up their numbers simply because there's no variety in Spurs' game.
There's a reason why McT-Fred have been our best midfield partnership throughout the season (they have been, even i, who'd prefer a different approach in the midfield can admit this). They can cover lots of ground, they close down the first attacker like hounds and they can recover second balls in the middle of the park. This allows us to push both FBs higher up the pitch, which subsequently leads to our wide forwards (we don't play with wingers) to tuck inside and occupy the half-spaces where they are way more effective. At full stretch, we attack with 6 players (ST, LW, RW, AM, LB, RB) and defend with 4, which, contains a lot of risk and, quite evidently, puts the defence under a lot of pressure. But, throughout the course of the season, we have gained more than we have lost with Solskjaer's go-to midfield choice (unless you believe we should have won the league).
We rely on the wide areas for creativity because, in modern football with its congested midfields, that's where the spaces can be found, where the numerical advantages can be created and also where threats that can shift defences can occur. It's not a Fred-McT issue. According to WhoScored, United choose to build 26% of their attacks through the central channels. Liverpool's numbers are 27%. City have 28% and they share the first spot with the almighty Burnley and Spurs. Arsenal of Master-Apprentice Arteta and Leeds under the guidance of the eccentric mastermind (ask Pep about it) attack through the middle less than us.
It's true that the onus of creativity falls on the left side (42%), but that's also a conscious choice. Both Rasford and Martial's attacking game revolves around coming inside from the left to shoot/create, Pogba seems more comfortable there than anywhere else on the pitch and the same applies to our two best ball-carriers, Shaw and Fred. PSG have similar stats to ours because their attacking plays gravitate toward Mbappé who also has the proclivity to attack from the left half-space. Furthermore, we are a side who's attacking options often struggle to operate in tight spaces, so overloading one side and then switching to the other is one of the best ways to both generate space and to keep the momentum of our plays alive by circulating possession. You care to know which European side attacks through the left as much as we do (42%)? It's a side that uses the central channels less too (24%). Real Madrid, the one with Modric and Kroos. Again, it's a conscious choice for Zidane to use the wide channels and the left wing is his strongest. We can get Sancho, or whoever, to boost our right side, but i seriously doubt that we'll stop using the wings to build attacks.
Does this mean that all is well? No, it doesn't. You, me and everybody else who screams about the lack of ability on the ball haven't lost our minds. After all, there's a distinction between having a midfield that "serves a purpose" and having a midfield that will win you titles. There's another stat, posted on
The Athletic a couple of months ago that's far more interesting than pre-assists: It's involvement in the build-up to non-penalty goals. This is where the likes of Rodri and Gundogan blow the likes of Fred and McT out of the water. It's not necessarily creativity that we lack in the midfield, it's better choices on the ball. Of course, someone will point out the absence of any Liverpool midfielder in the aforementioned graph. The answer to this is that Klopp actually does something about it: he chooses a midfield trio (instead of a double-pivot), Firmino -more often than not- becomes a fourth midfielder (in contrast to Bruno who's playing close to the box), plus both Mane and Salah are quite comfortable receiving the ball either very wide or very deep (they can do a much better job than our options in that regard). Whenever their midfielders find it hard to cope, they can add a fourth, a fifth or even a sixth player in the midfield battle. Fred-McT aren't the best on the ball, but how much help do they get from their teammates? We have tried the diamond but to varying results thus far (and i think i'm being kind).
As a side note, this graph might help people understand why Maguire, Rashford, Fernandes and AWB are undroppable for Solskjaer and how much we're going to miss Maguire in the final (or how his absence played a significant part in the collapse of our build-up when the scousers turned on the volume the other day).
So, back to the "better choices" issue. There have been alarm bells ringing. The much-despised xPTS and xG stats suggest that no other team in the PL has outperformed their stats more than us. And before anyone jumps on me thinking i deny the progress that's been made, it's the same metric that, midway last season when half of the Caf wanted to throw the current manager to the lions, was asking for calm because the stats were suggesting that we would improve. So, we have to keep adding qualities to our first-team, in all areas, and we also have to find ways to make the current team perform more than the sum of its parts. As things stand, the midfielder who'll add intelligence while also possessing horse lungs, is a rarity. As i mentioned, the specific qualities McFred bring to the table have been important to us. You can't just replace McT with Modric and be done with it. Football is simple but it's not that simple. You'll get more ability on the ball but you'll weaken your press/closing down and with a defence that can't deal with threats in-behind and with Lindelof's inability to defend the wide right channel (when AWB is forward) being an open wound for us, we may find ourselves between a rock and a hard place again. If you look at RM for instance, they circulate the ball well but they are very cautious with moving players in advanced positions. And even the best midfielders on the ball can't compensate for the lack of movement or the tendency to pass the ball right back to them from the attackers.
I don't think that Solskjaer's aim is to create a possession-based side like City. Now, assuming that we can't sign that elusive midfielder (Kimmich, Verratti etc), two options remain: A move away from the 4231 (with the risk of tinkering with its good aspects too) or get the CB and the RW who will provide defensive stability in a high line and more balance on the right side respectively, so that we can accommodate Pogba (or whoever) in the midfield at the expense of McT or Fred.