After an excellent first few months of the season, the past few weeks have seen fans of Manchester United and Italy pondering the indifferent form of Matteo Darmian.
The Azzurri right back joined United from Torino in July for the sum of £12million, and immediately settled into life at Old Trafford, excelling on his home debut against Tottenham Hotspur. His performances in the first month of the season, had United fans wondering if they were finally seeing a successor to the current England assistant coach, Gary Neville.
Many players have been tried in the right-back position since Neville’s retirement in 2011, but the likes of Rafael, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Paddy McNair and Antonio Valencia have all failed to fully inspire confidence, whether due to proneness to injury, rash decision-making or being uncomfortable when played out of their natural position.
Darmian’s start to the season saw him named by United fans as their player of the month for August as he continued his man of the match performance against Spurs, with excellent displays against Aston Villa and Newcastle United. That form continued into September with solid performances for the Azzurri in international fixtures against Malta and Bulgaria, whilst the October international against Azerbaijan saw him score his first international goal in a 3-1 win, a result which secured Italy’s qualification for Euro 2016.
However, it was United’s first Champions League fixture against PSV Eindhoven where glimpses of Darmian’s problems first emerged, and he was ultimately responsible for at least one, if not both, PSV’s goals. That indifferent form has continued for the past month or so, and saw him substituted at half time in two of United’s away games – the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal and the 3-2 victory at Southampton.
Ironically, although their defence has been one of United’s strengths this season, it is the lack of protection that Darmian, and indeed others who have played at right back, have had on United’s right hand side this season that has contributed to his indifferent form over the past few months. The insistence of Louis Van Gaal in playing Juan Mata on the right-hand side of the midfield, rather than in the number 10 position, does nothing to benefit those who are playing behind him.
In my view, Mata is an outstanding player around whom, along with Anthony Martial, United should be building their team. He is undoubtedly United’s most creative player, and has had a hand in more of United’s goals over the past 12 months than any other individual. Taking those statitistics on their own however, one can construct an argument to support Van Gaal’s continued positioning of the Spaniard on the right hand side of midfield however, the United manager’s reluctance to play Mata in the number 10 position, to accommodate other players in the number 10/third midfielder position, does nothing to help Darmian or those who play at right back.
Whilst many players have struggled against Alexis Sanchez since the Chilean’s arrival in the Premier League, Darmian’s performance against Arsenal at the beginning of October was particularly concerning. Gone was the confident, instinctive and assertive player who shone in the first month, replaced by an indecisive player who was clearly worried about getting too tight to the Chilean for fear that either he would go past him, or that it would allow the consistently advancing Nacho Monreal more space on the outside of him. That uncharacteristic indecisiveness, left him in no-man’s land and contributed to at least one of Arsenal’s 3 first-half goals. It also gave the impression that the United defence was unorganised and uncertain as to their exact positioning, although much of that can be attributed to the lack of protection offered by the midfield, particularly Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The manner of that first-half performance had a significant impact on Van Gaal, and it is no surprise that United have only conceded one goal in the 8 games since that Arsenal fixture (and that from a penalty rebound away at CSKA after David De Gea saved the initial spot-kick), as the former Netherlands’ manager’s renowned attention to detail has seen United become more compact, although with an inevitable impact on the team’s fluidity and attacking prowess.
In subsequent games, and worryingly for Darmian and Azzurri fans, his performances have seen him dropped to the bench by Van Gaal, most notably in the Manchester derby. Van Gaal, wary of the impact that Sanchez had in that 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, decided to play the more physical, pacier, Antonio Valencia at right back, to counter the potential threat that would be posed, at alternate times, by Raheem Sterling / Kevin De Bruyne and Aleksander Kolarov down City’s left hand-side. That Darmian featured late in the fixture against City, was only down to Valencia’s injury.
Of more concern to Darmian, will have been the use of Ashley Young at right-back for the home Champions League victory against CSKA Moscow. Whilst it is feasible that Van Gaal, conscious that Darmian was suspended for United’s Premier League fixture against West Bromwich Albion four days later, was merely giving Young game-time in that position given the lack of other right-back options. Whilst it possible to wonder whether Van Gaal harbours serious concerns about Darmian’s adaptability to the Premier League, one suspects that he is acutely conscious of the pace and physicality of the League and is merely taking Darmian out of the firing line in the short term for his own benefit.
The Premier League is much pacier and more physical than Serie A, something that Darmian himself has acknowledged in recent interviews, and adapting to that is something that many players have, over time, struggled with during their move to England from Italy. United fans themselves, will be more acutely aware of this than most, given the contrasting domestic and European performances of Juan Sebastian Veron following his move to Old Trafford from Lazio. Darmian’s adjustment to the different dynamics of the Premier League is perhaps best shown in the fact that he picked up 5 yellow cards in his first eleven games, as the apparent physical aspect of the English game has perhaps caused him to overcompensate in his challenges at times. Again, however, one can perhaps attribute this to the lack of support and protection provided in front of him.
Much has been made of Chris Smalling’s development over the last 6 months, but particularly this season, moving from an indecisive and often positionally suspect player into one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League. However, one must attribute a small part of Smalling’s continued development this season to the fact that, finally, in Darmian, he had someone alongside him on the right-side of the United defence whose own positional sense allowed Smalling to judge where he himself needed to be at any given time, something that was usually lacking when Rafael or Antonio Valencia was playing at right back.
Darmian’s troubles have, however, not been solely restricted to his performances for United, most notably in Italy’s game against Romania on Tuesday evening when, in an attempt to cover Andrea Barzagli, he and the Juventus defender collided with the result that the ball rolled into the path of Bogdan Stancu. The Romanian forward easily converted the opportunity past Gianluigi Buffon, although it must be said that the goalkeeper’s own positioning and reactions left a lot to be desired.
Several months ago, Darmian was a certainty to be in Antonio Conte’s squad for Euro 2016 and, whilst he was an ever present in the qualifying campaign, the Azzurri coach will be observing Darmian’s performances and amount of playing time with increasing scrutiny.
There is little doubt however that Darmian has the mentality and attributes to emerge from this difficult period, especially when one considers how he overcame rejection by AC Milan as a youth-team player, to star for Torino over the previous three seasons. One forgets that Darmian has come a long way since playing for Il Granata in Serie B only three seasons ago, and that rapid development was rewarded with a place at the 2014 World Cup by the then Azzurri coach, Cesare Prandelli. He was one of Italy’s best performers in a poor tournament for the Azzurri, and it was his performance against England in the opening group fixture that first brought him to the attention of United and Van Gaal.
There is no doubt that the 25-year-old has the stomach for the fight and, when he eventually settles into the pattern of the Premier League and Mancunian life, he might finally be the replacement that United have been looking for Gary Neville. In his United colleague, Chris Smalling, he has the perfect example of how things can quickly change with the correct attributes and mentality, which Darmian clearly also has.
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