Manchester United’s Timothy Fosu-Mensah: A Swiss Army Knife of Untapped Potential
Sam Tighe |
April 12, 2016 |
1 Comment
Football News 24/7
Who’d have thought it, huh? Hundreds of millions of pounds spent over the course of four transfer windows under Louis van Gaal, and yet on Sunday afternoon, the glue holding Manchester United’s defence together was 18-year-old Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
For 68 minutes he was brilliant, keeping the two-headed monster of Danny Rose and Christian Eriksen at bay despite playing out of position at right-back. He man-marked the Dane to some extent and followed him centrally to ensure he couldn’t dictate play, then would zip back across to right-back and put in a precise challenge to stop anyone using the space he’d left.
It was, by all accounts, absolutely astonishing. To see someone making their first start and fulfilling such a complex tactical role with aplomb, against two of this season’s best players and this season’s second-best team, was so surprising, it ensured Fosu-Mensah’s brilliance was the major talking point from a game Manchester United lost 3-0 at White Hart Lane.
Over the last few weeks, be it via cameo or half-time introduction, Fosu-Mensah has played in both full-back positions for the Red Devils—but not in his natural position of centre-back. He was also moved to defensive midfield for the Under-18s this season likely because of his threat shuttling forward with the ball.
This essentially makes him a Swiss army knife of untapped potential; given his natural comfort at the senior level no matter the position, he represents mouldable clay in an astute manager’s hands.
Regular watchers of United’s youth team will have been aware of Fosu-Mensah’s potential for some time. Since signing from Ajax in 2014, he’s earned rave reviews whilst under Nicky Butt’s tutelage. He, Andreas Pereira and James Wilson were seen as the trio of starlets who could really make a splash should they be given a chance.
Fortunes have differed for all three, with Louis van Gaal seemingly extremely unwilling to trust Wilson, who was loaned to Brighton despite United clearly being striker-needy at the time, or Pereira, who makes the bench for most games but rarely gets a kick. It’s arguable Fosu-Mensah wouldn’t have been trusted either had it not been for yet another crippling slew of injuries, but he was given his chance, and boy did he take it.
“He did his job very well but he is injured and he has to go out, and that’s a pity for the team,” Van Gaal told The Manchester Evening News after the game. He tempered his praise of the Dutchman in part to try not to throw Matteo Darmian into the bear pit—the Italian replaced Fosu-Mensah on 68 minutes, and six minutes later United were three down courtesy of three goals from his flank—but the performance was enough for him to become the talk of the town.
Fosu-Mensah has the physical traits to succeed in the Premier League, no doubt, but on Sunday what impressed the most was his tactical acumen. Eriksen tried to drag him around to create space for Rose to attack Juan Mata on the flank but he didn’t manage it. Everywhere he went Fosu-Mensah was there to stifle him, and even if he did drag him across, the Dutchman would re-materialise on the flank seconds later to stymie the danger.
That Rose barely got into any good crossing positions in the 68 minutes Fosu-Mensah was there is testament to an incredible performance. There’s only one other player who has managed to fully prevent Rose from playing well this season, and that was West Ham’s Michail Antonio while playing as a wing-back.
It’s important to slam on the breaks when projecting Fosu-Mensah’s career and ability as this single glowing showing will have many fans prematurely starry eyed, but it’s impossible to deny that there have been few early performances like it. Earmarked as a future hero from the moment he arrived from Ajax in 2014, the Dutchman has taken one large formative step to making hopes a reality.
Manchester United went soft and pear shaped the moment Ed Woodward took over from David Gill. There is no question about his financial acumen but his football knowledge could be akin to the saying “DUMB,DUMBER DUMBEST” his attempts at closing deals for players, allowing players to be moved on and the worst is allowing Louis Van Gaal to still be at the club is mind boggling, if he went out onto the pitch before a game, took a ball in his hand while turning his back to the crowd and threw the ball into the crowd to see who would catch it and then that individual was appointed to replace Van Gaal United would be better off. United have become a laughing stock worldwide and yet he just carries on hoping that Mr Ego will still turn things around. I rest my case.