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International break is a pain but exactly what Manchester United need
International breaks are always a pain; your regular routine is disrupted to watch Finland play Denmark in the middle of the night. Especially so early on in the season, nothing seems more disruptive. But for clubs, and especially Manchester United, it is exactly what they need. It isn’t too far into the season when they might be on a run of good form they wouldn’t want to break, and especially for struggling clubs like United it gives them some time to sort things out.
United began their season three weeks ago, with a loss to Swansea City. Over the next week, they signed both Marcos Rojo. And come weekend, they faced Sunderland. It ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw, but the fact that they captured Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid just a few days later quite put the previous two weekends out of their minds. Di Maria faced Burnley, and the attacking midfielder largely dominated the game. Yet it still ended in a tie. This was United’s last competitive match, and yesterday, they completed two more signings – Daley Bling from Ajax and Falcao on loan from Monaco. Both of whom are yet to even train with the club, while Rojo is also yet to play for the team due to work permit issues.
Ander Herrera was injured in United’s first match of the season, and Luke Shaw has also yet to feature for the club. Their six major summer signings have not even played a combined two full games for the club, much less games together. The international break comes at a perfect time for United – following a less than impressive start to the season, in which they are still winless, it gives them, even though a few of their squad will be gone for the break, at least a few extra days to put their new and nearly completely renovated squad together. The dream attack including Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Robin Van Perise, Falcao, Di Maria, and even Herrera returning from injury is likely to finally be put all into one team (with even one or two of them substitutes due to Louis Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 system) is likely to face Queens Park Rangers once the international break ends. Plus, Blind and Rojo will likely feature, while Shaw also has a slight chance of playing.
Van Gaal will undoubtedly need a lot of time to meld United back into a title contender, yet the extra few days gives him a welcome chance at introducing his new side together and toying with his lineup. And United won’t be the only club spending that time fitting things together, especially the clubs lower down the table with less internationals. It will give Liverpool time to fit Mario Balotelli into their team, Arsene Wenger will want to find a way to place Danny Welbeck in his team, and multiple teams cope with some losses. You may mate the international break, namely this specific one for its timing, but it couldn’t be better for your club.