One brief look at Man United’s shoddy defensive displays this term and it’s fairly clear to see that Louis van Gaal lacks a real leader at the back.
With Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand leaving the club over the summer and injuries at times forcing the Dutch boss to draft in youngsters Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair have left Man United struggling to keep clean sheets.
However on Monday night Louis van Gaal was arguably able to field his strongest central defensive pairing and the duo of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones were certainly found wanting.
Though both players are very able performers, at least when at their very best, neither individual could be described as a ‘leader’ able to take a game by the scruff of it’s neck.
One player who could able fill that void is Aston Villa’s experienced captain Ron Vlaar, a player who has ‘no-nonsense’ written all over him.
The 29 year old is out of contract in the summer and having seen his side’s strong opening run to the campaign evaporate of late one imagines Vlaar would gleefully flee for Old Trafford should the opportunity arise.
Clearly Vlaar isn’t a long term solution to this ‘problem area’ but given Man United are keen to make up immediate ground following last term’s failures perhaps this isn’t an issue.
Factor in that van Gaal knows Vlaar well from their shared time in the Dutch national team set-up and such a move becomes all the more plausible.
Aston Villa apparently want £12m for Vlaar and whilst such a fee is perhaps steep given the former Feyenoord man would be available on a free transfer next summer, it’s a move Man United should make as it could prove the difference between a fourth or fifth place finish.
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