Morgan Schneiderlin, the Frenchman who joined United from Southampton the previous season has been seen as an outcast. Bought by Louis Van Gaal last season to strengthen the club’s midfield, Morgan has managed to snatch just two starts under the new manager Jose Mourinho. With Bastian Schweinsteiger not even considered a part of the squad, Schneiderlin seems to be at the end of the pecking order since he has only been used while the key players have been rested.
A.C. Milan have been rumored to be interested in the Frenchman as of late and it raises questions as to where his career is heading. Why hasn’t the Frenchman been given more starts? Here are the possible reasons.
1) The arrival of Pogba: The arrival of Pogba, by default, implied that he would be one of the starters in midfield. This meant that there would be only one other slot left considering Mourinho plays a 4-2-3-1 most of the time. He started with Fellaini who ended up doing a decent job.
When a 4-3-3 was deployed it was Herrera who stole the limelight by playing in a deeper role. Mata’s fluid movement meant that he was smart enough to play as a cm occupying the number 10 while in the attack, pairing well with Pogba in 4-3-3 while Herrera would be defensive.
2) Mourinho disagrees with his style of play: We all felt that Schneiderlin could be the replacement for Carrick, well, at least till we get an actual replacement. However, we fail to realise that Morgan was initially a Box to box midfielder at best. This meant that his best role would be doing alternate runs into the box alongside Pogba.
Playing Mata/Rooney in that role meant that Morgan had only one choice, the choice which is now Herrera. The two starts that he had were covered with defensive duties thanks to the brilliance in defence by Rojo.
These are the two key points I believe are the reason Morgan isn’t playing. It is basically a case of wrong place at the wrong time. Morgan, in my opinion, should move on to a top club if things stay this way. His talent as a player is no doubt deniable. Having been one of the best midfielders in his last season at Southampton, most fans thought he would seal his place in a waning midfield like that of United. Sure, he would have had that chance had United not splurged on Pogba but since that happened it was pretty much evident.
Nonetheless, if things are in place, we might see him play a key role in the Europa, should United focus on that tournament. The run of games until now has been really low which means that he’s not a part of Mourinho’s plans and as we know, the manager is not one who will take measures to accommodate players into his plans, especially those he hasn’t purchased, unless of course, that person manages to prove him wrong in the limited span.
