It's not ignoring the talents of Mirallas, though, as he's been injured, then suspended.
As for McCarthy, yes so far he's been poor by his standards this term. But to say he was inconsistent last year? He was by far and away one of our better players. Granted, many underperformed, but the gulf in our side when he isn't playing is huge. Who would you class as a 'destructive' player if not him?
I'm not saying Del should have been dropped, but I can understand why, against Utd, Martinez decided to start Lennon, and Naismith, for that matter.
And why are you comparing us to those three teams? Two only play that way because of the huge amounts of money pumped into them, and Arsenal have one of the strongest squads in the league.
We're not in that bracket, and not every game is similar. I really don't think playing Mirallas and Deulofeu from the start last week would've made a difference. It was one of those days.
Mirallas is by far from 'creative'. He can spark something from nothing, but he's most effective when played through from midfield. Del has all the ability, but tends to drift in and out of games and we can't afford that against every team from the off, as much as he adds something different to our side.
Cleverley played as a box-to-box player for Utd for 2 years under Ferguson, as well. Yes, maybe not the Yaya Toure type, or what we hope Barkley will become, but he's a player who will get you up and down the pitch quickly. This is something McCarthy has been tasked with doing in his absence, and unfortunately he just lacks that final pass to make it work. The two together will form a solid partnership, but Barry, again, is key to our best performances, and he's usually a lot more solid when playing in a three, and it frees Barkley up as well.
