'We're reaching a tipping point with our midfield pairing'

Ben Meakin, BladesPod

Delighted as I am to see United go unbeaten in back-to-back games – to say nothing of lifting ourselves off the foot of the Premier League – I still feel like we’re reaching a tipping point with our midfield pairing of Oli Norwood and Vinicius Souza.

United have been very rigid about playing three central midfielders in recent years – with a lot of success. However, losing Tommy Doyle and Sander Berge from last year’s team has left us with a significant downgrade in the middle. Norwood – who I have a lot of respect for, and will rightly go down as a modern Blades legend when he eventually leaves – deservedly lost his place to Doyle at the end of last season and few would have anticipated him being a nailed-on starter in the Premier League.

It’s Norwood’s pairing with Souza that gives me the most concern, though. While Norwood is an excellent passer, he has no dribbling ability, isn’t athletic and isn’t a goal threat. Norwood has started 10 games this season and is yet to complete a single progressive carry with the ball. Souza on the other hand is an athletic defensive midfielder, but is a total non-factor with the ball at his feet.

This pairing is a big reason why we have the lowest carry distance in the league this season by an absurd amount. We’re also the only side to have fewer than 100 progressive carries (the next lowest, Crystal Palace, have 165).

With Bournemouth and Burnley up next, I’d love to see Paul Heckingbottom pull the trigger and break up the uncreative Souza-Norwood axis and get a proper ball-carrier in place of one of them. Moving Gustavo Hamer – one of our better dribblers and progressive passers – into a deeper role, where he’ll see more of the ball, seems like an obvious solution.

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