Luxembourg here we come!
European football is once again back on the cards at Tannadice Park. Easily forgotten are the ´yo-yo years´ of the last decade and “Handsome Jim” has surely won over even his gravest of critics (Paul McNicholl), For now…
An exodus of core players which began with King Kevin Holt´s revolt in late February has left the Terrors spineless and lacking real premiership experience. Looking at the current United squad, even with the additions of Zac Sapsford and Lurie Lovu, you can only really argue that there are fifteen players that you would consider ´fully fledged professionals´.
Walton, Adeboyega, Holt, Gallagher, Docherty, Stephenson, Middleton and Dalby. It would have been unimaginable for at least five of these players not to be starting last season. You may even argue, by adding in Strain, Ferry and Ševelj, this was United's strongest team. Obviously a number of these departures are due to the perpetual revolving door of the loan market, but a number were not. I for one question the decision to let Gallagher, Docherty and Middleton leave.
Let's be honest, if Gallagher had not been playing in tangerine last year would United be playing on the continent this season? No…
Simply put, he was a rock. He was the key organiser in the centre of defense bringing a wealth of experience coupled with his “hard as nails” attitude. The only plausible reason not to sign him on for another year has to be his age. However, even in a backup role, would he have been worth another year's contract? Most definitely! Not only is he more than capable, but he would have been integral in the development of both Sam Cleall-Harding and Ross Graham.
Ross Docherty´s time at Tannadice has been plagued with injury and it may seem that this alone is a good enough reason to allow last year's captain to leave the club. However, would United be playing in Europe next season without Docherty´s contribution last year? No…
United effectively qualified for Europe based on their pre-split form. Which player had the highest win percentage of those games? Docherty. In fact, United won eleven of their seventeen pre-split games with Doc in their line-up. That is a staggering 65% win rate, and when you add in that two of the games that Doc didn't win pre-split ended up as draws, if he had played every game pre-split, United would have ended up on an unprecedented sixty eight points come gameweek thirty three. This would have left the club in with a genuine shot of pipping ´The Rangers´ to the second Champions League spot. He also proved that his body was capable, starting the last eight games where he never looked fitter.
Ask any Arab, “What is the one main attribute the Tannadice men were missing last season?” And the majority would answer, “Pace”. That is one thing Glenn Middleton is not lacking. Would the Tangerine army be on their way to Luxembourg without Glenn Middletons contributions last season? Possibly, but not probably…
United won a considerable percentage of their pre-split games very late last year. Many put this down to a never say die attitude. In reality there was more at play here. Goodwin adopted the tactic of starting tight in the first half before bringing on, what I would describe as, “The Bomb Squad” in both Middleton and Trapanovski. Essentially running the opponents off the park in the second half. This tactic actually saw Middleton finish top joint with Strain and Ferry in assists for the season, but he did it playing 250 minutes less than Strain and 1,000 minutes less than Ferry.
Goodwin clearly has his work cut out to rebuild his third squad in as many seasons. The two introductions in Sapsford and Lovu, may be seen as talents but they are not proven or experienced. It remains to be seen if they can emulate the high standards left by their predecessors. Perhaps next week will bring further signings, some of whom will be seen as less of a gamble and more of a consolidation to remain in the top flight. Arabs are all too aware what can happen the year after a successful campaign that sees you qualify for Europe. It was reported that Mark Birigitti was spotted in Perth looking for a new house, Perth Australia thankfully. The further away the better!