Premier League: Man United's resurgence didn't need Van Persie, Di Maria and Falcao

Robin van Persie’s face showed no emotion in the stands as it was shown on television while his teammates were demolishing Manchester City on the pitch — and were on their way to making it six out of six wins in a run which places them four points above their local rivals and a point away from second place — all without him, Angel di Maria or Radamel Falcao starring in any of those matches.

It’s a far cry from when he last played — when a late Bafetimbi Gomes strike saw United lose against Swansea (on 21 February) to leave their Champions League hopes dangling on a knife edge.

On that day, United were still five points, two places and eight goals better off than last season at the same stage — but the football was as boring, the defence as unreliable and the attack as toothless. David Moyes’ shadow seemed to hang over Van Gaal just like Sir Alex Ferguson’s hung on the former Everton manager last year. The Old Trafford outfit was seven points adrift of Manchester City in second place and three clubs were a win away from overtaking them.

Game after game it seemed that Van Gaal had lost his ‘way’ tactically. He had tried everything from the flop 3-5-2 system to dropping Wayne Rooney into midfield (so that he could play Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao up top) to reducing Angel di Maria to a box-to-box role — but nothing was working. Here was a team boasting of some of the biggest names in midfield and attack — and playing the worst football United have played in years.

There was also the surprising and confounding exclusion of Spaniards Juan Mata and Ander Herrera from the side — two of the best passers in the side after Michael Carrick.

Probably Van Gaal had too much talent at his disposal and didn’t know to use it — he tried too hard to fit the biggest names at the club on the pitch at the same time — but be it any sport, matches are not won on paper.

The Swansea match saw a major tactical shift as Van Gaal brought back Herrera and Marouane Fellaini into the starting XI and gave Mata some minutes on the right of midfield as Ashley Young was introduced on the left at half time. They may have lost the match, but the change in team synthesis was easy to notice.

There was still the striker’s conundrum to solve. Van Gaal’s hand had to be forced — and it took a loss, Van Persie’s injured malleolar and the acceptance that Falcao’s fearsome days were long gone that he finally gave in.

Freed from the burden of playing RVP, Van Gaal afforded Falcao one last start in a routine win over Sunderland but his patience was thinning — apparent from Fellaini’s introduction in the Columbian’s place in the 68th minute. Rooney was restored as striker against Newcastle United (1-0 win) and since then United haven’t looked back — their skipper has led the line with Fellaini against Tottenham Hotspurs, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

The midfield and attack is now made of players who can fit in different positions depending on match situations — with Carrick sitting deep and Daley Blind the passing defender on the left — Herrera, Mata and Young free to roam the channels — with Rooney feeding off target-man Fellaini.

This has resulted in United scoring the most number of goals since round 27 of the Premier League (15), boast of the highest possession average (59%) and best passing accuracy (86%) and concede just four goals (2nd best). It’s no mean feat considering they faced Spurs, Liverpool and City in these six games.

The four players who were introduced against Swansea (Herrera, Mata, Fellaini and Young) have contributed four assists and nine goals in the last six matches. Rooney has scored four goals and created one in the same duration. Carrick has been a dream in midfield since his return from injury — controlling matches like Andrea Pirlo does for Juventus — showing that sometimes with age comes a different level of class (100% tackles, four interceptions and only five misplaced passes against City).

Starting from the win against Sunderland, Mata has passed at an average accuracy rate of 92% and a shot accuracy of 75%. In the same time, Herrera has passed at 91% and created six clear chances. Fellaini has won more than half his duels and saw 60% of shots hit the target.

There is suddenly a group of untouchables emerging at Old Trafford — and no one would have thought at the start of the season that this group wouldn’t consist of Van Persie, Falcao and Di Maria.