3 Ways Manchester United Overcomes the Striker Crisis

DBasia.news –  The striker crisis has hit Manchester United. The players fell because of injury and they can no longer recruit new players because the summer transfer window has ended.

Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, and Marcus Rashford are injured, while Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez have gone to Inter Milan. What a crisis the Man United attacker could see when they lost 0-2 to West Ham United on Sunday (9/22) night Western Indonesian Time.

Rashford was injured in the match and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played Jesse Lingard, a player who has not scored or provided assists since December 2018, as a striker.

The public can see United’s attacking crisis, but Solskjaer hopes that injured players will recover soon and be available as options to play.

“Hopefully we can play Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial faster. Rashford’s injury is not appropriate today because the other two players are absent,” Solskjaer said after the match against West Ham.

The injured players can indeed recover. But, while waiting for them to recover, what should Solskjaer do? The most realistic option is to maximize the existing squad, even if it plays players who are not strikers or recruit free players ( free transfers ).

Here are three solutions for Manchester United who are currently experiencing a striker crisis:

1. Two Options from the Manchester United Youth Team

If Solskjaer is rightly committed by his words to continue United’s tradition, orbiting young players and developing them in the first team, then there are two players from the young team who can be promoted at this time.

The two players are Largie Ramazani and D’Mani Mellor. Both are young players who play as attackers. Mellor can play as a central striker or wing striker, while Ramazani is a good two-footed wing winger.

Despite the risk of playing young players, at least the style of playing both players are not yet known to the Premier League teams and could be a quick solution during the current crisis of attackers. Both players were born in the 2000s.

2. Options from the Main Squad

There is no other choice, Solskjaer has to start concocting false nine formations aka pseudo strikers in a crisis like this. The right players playing the pseudo striker are Jesse Lingard, Tahith Chong, and Daniel James.

All three have the same type of play: agile and prefer to build attacks from the wing. They are not a central striker who can control the ball or turn his back on goal, but in the current situation, there is no other choice.

The false-nine formation is difficult and easy to put into practice. If not able to be implemented properly, United’s attack will be blunt. Players who hold the role of false nine must be observant to see gaps in the opponent’s defense.

3. Recruit Free Strikers

Fernando Llorente is no longer in the list because he has joined Napoli. As a result, if indeed United officials began to move to find temporary solutions, then some free striker names can be recruited at this time.

They are Wilfried Bony, Giuseppe Rossi, Hatem Ben Arfa (not the central striker), Obafemi Martins, Leon Best, and Victor Anichebe. Rossi is no stranger to Man United because he was a club academy product in 2004 and played in the first team in 2004-2007.

The 32-year-old Italian striker is quite familiar with Solskjaer. Rossi has an injury record, but he could be a temporary solution. Besides Rossi, there is also Bony, a former Manchester City striker and Victor Anichebe, a former Everton player.