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Manchester United’s midfield base has been like trying to open a safe this season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer trying every possible combination until the vault finally opens.
After 14 games, the United manager could have stumbled upon the right marriage of intensity and quality, but it’s not certain that the dynamic of Fred and Donny van de Beek will hold up.
While the Brazilian and the Dutchman had started together three times previously for United, against Luton, Brighton and RB Leipzig, they were all with Van de Beek in a forward role, while Fred had Scott McTominay or Nemanja Matic alongside him.
Against Istanbul, Basaksehir Solskjaer eventually put his two best passers, aside from the injured Paul Pogba, in those roles and was rewarded with United’s most consistent attacking performance of the season.
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Much of that was down to Van de Beek, who set the pace for the display. While a combination of Fred, McTominay and Matic may be too slow in possession, too laborious to move the ball between the lines, the former Ajax midfielder was the exact opposite. Fred can keep it simple, spreading the game wide and pressing superbly, but Van de Beek’s passes were always forward, punching crisp balls at the feet of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial or Edinson Cavani.
That put United on the front foot quickly, not allowing the Istanbul Basaksehir defense to calm down. The movement and interaction of those four forwards continued to stretch them.
But while the goals and chances flowed, it wasn’t always perfect. United stretched out at times, with Fred and Van de Beek not always in perfect position to offer protection to the defense.
That’s the balance Solskjaer has to strike and so there are no guarantees that the pair will combine against Southampton on Sunday, despite impressing in Europe.
To make a midfield really work, Solskjaer needs to be able to turn to a world-class defensive midfielder or center-backs who are more comfortable defending one-on-one, which is something he doesn’t have at the moment.
When United conceded 11 goals in their first three Premier League games this season, much of the damage was due to midfield proving too easy to play, with Pogba constantly exposed in that role.
Van de Beek may well offer a better shield than Pogba, but starting him and Fred against a better side than a limited Istanbul Basaksehir will be a risk.
While Robbie Savage at BT Sport was effusive in his praise for Van de Beek’s performance, he wondered what the score would be if United prepared in this way against Paris Saint-Germain next week. A draw of nine total might have been a stretch, but you got the point.
There is no reason why this midfield can’t play weaker teams domestically and in Europe and they should have played West Brom together, with the difference in attacking spirit and quality between that performance and this marked one. But it remains to be seen whether Solskjaer will trust them in the biggest games and against teams like Southampton that pose a good attacking threat.
It could be seen in the second half against the Turkish champions, as United gradually took their foot off the pedal and lost control of the game, that Fred and Van de Beek stretched while trying to put out fires. With the visitors pressing in, Solskjaer asked Matic to firmly close the back door, allowing Van de Beek to show his passing range once again by setting Mason Greenwood free for the fourth goal.
We’ll know on Sunday if Solskjaer sees this as a midfield he can build on, but if Van de Beek finds himself back on the bench, it would be an unfair demotion.
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