How Edinson Cavani Gives Man Utd a Whole New Dimension
Edinson Cavani is still waiting for his first start for Manchester United since joining the club as a free agent at the start of October. But the veteran Uruguayan has plenty to offer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team, especially in tandem with fellow new signing Alex Telles.
Cavani has gradually been building his fitness since he accepted an initial one-year contract last month. He hadn’t played since March as a result of the 2019/20 French season being abandoned amid coronavirus and left Paris Saint-Germain in June instead of agreeing a temporary extension that would have covered the Champions League mini-tournament in August.
Although he initially missed a couple of games in order to quarantine, the 33-year-old has now appeared as a substitute in each of United’s last six fixtures in all competitions.
Cavani scored his first goal to seal a crucial 3-1 win over Everton prior to the November international break and once more showcased his excellent movement and football intelligence when he replaced Juan Mata with just under half an hour to play of Saturday’s West Brom clash.
Cavani has been known to operate wide in the past, yet is most dangerous as a typical ‘number nine’ operating through the middle. Anthony Martial has flirted with that kind of role for United but will still often pull out to the left or right to become involved in different ways.
Martial’s preference to drift rather than stay between the goalposts – a shift in mentality that has worked wonders for Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Everton over the past 12 months – means that United often lack a penalty area presence during games. The Frenchman is also not noted for his aerial ability, which significantly blunts the impact of crossing the ball from wide areas.
When Telles was seeing plenty of the ball against West Brom, crosses were not hurting the Baggies because United had no presence in the box. A player of Cavani’s skillset could be the difference in such games where opponents sit deep to absorb pressure and close space.
United’s greatest weakness since Solskjaer took charge has been breaking down the weaker opposition who play defence first. Comedy defending aside, it was a similar issue when Istanbul Basaksehir secured a 2-0 win in the Champions League earlier this month.
Cavani can make that difference and Telles in particular will help.
Getting them on the pitch together has been the issue so far. After making his debut against PSG last month, a game in which Cavani was absent, Telles didn’t play for United again until facing West Brom as a result of testing positive for coronavirus and having to isolate. Half an hour against the Baggies was their first time playing in the same United side, more than six weeks after joining.
Having Cavani and Telles play together more often and forging that on-field relationship where the latter will provide the former with service in the penalty area, could be a key step forward for United in tight games and a dimension they haven’t previously had until now.
Fitness permitting, Telles will start games for the foreseeable future because of Luke Shaw’s latest injury setback. But Cavani now needs starts as well – only time will tell whether that occasionally has to come at the expense of Martial, or if they can line up together without the team being top heavy.
For Cavani, that needs to begin on Tuesday night with the rematch against Istanbul at Old Trafford.
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