One “problem” I always see with United is that they never look like they have an extra man, it always seems like the opposition has the extra man.. The best sides look like they have an extra player, I don’t know why I never get that feeling with United.
If one man doesn’t press properly for instance at time rashford or mctominay the. Ball is played far too easily through the midfield. And then the defence never pushed up because Maguire evans lindelof no recovery pace meant teams always got shots off
@@spek888 It’s not just off the ball, it’s on the ball too, not enough options in midfield, the defence having to play sideways passes over and over, always looking like they’re under pressure and going long far too often..
@Zagreus_07 you can't overstate how big the defensive injuries were last season. It means the defence drops leaving far too much room in midfield and the opposition always has an outball to get past the forwards pressing. Then when do get on the ball back it means the midfielders are isolated and easy to mark so it's slower to move forward which means by the time forwards get the ball the opposing defence is in position. Compare it with eriks first season when we sat deep, wth a defence that can play high it will be massively different. All of a sudden casemiro won't be late to every ball or delay when he's on the ball, and the forwards will get the ball in more space as a result. Then even better if we get an ugarte.
Statman dave, I don't know much about ruud's style at psv, but I do know ETH didn't start playing 4-2-4 when ruud came, our game against city in the FA cup final, that was our defensive structure, with rashy,Bruno,Scotty and grana pressing upfront and kobbie and amrabat as the double pivot then AWB,varane,licha and Diego
What was interesting from what I saw yesterday, Casemiro worked in a more advanced role while Kobbie sat a bit deeper. Casemiro was wonderful going forward (even last season, he was playing a lot more progressively than I’d thought) & with Kobbie sitting deeper, it allowed him to go back & forth without getting run over & allowed Mount & Bruno to press very highly. I think Mount was very crucial with this as well, off the ball he was blocking a lot of space & it was really felt when he got subbed, the model lost a bit of structure & it allowed Fulham to hurt the defense on the counter, especially when Licha was over aggressive & created space to go forward. Maguire, as brilliant as he was, isn’t really the guy to clean up after a mistake on his partner’s end (although he did manage to do one in against Pereira on the counter, but it isn’t what we should expect from him consistently.) I wonder, with this new set-up, how Ugarte would fit in. I was really hoping for his signature, still sort of am, because in the 3-6-1 model, he would’ve been the cleanup guy that would cover all the spaces left behind by the press in the opponent’s half.
The more I look at all these shapes, analyses and overthinking of formations, the more I am convinced that everything is a dynamic 4-4-2 and the key is football IQ, hard work and skill. Maybe I am just old too lol
If a team uses two wide tens, for example in a 343, the system will have to narrow otherwise the two DMs will be split and there will be a direct pass through to a striker. Also, if a team builds up in a 2-3, it will overload Bruno and Mount who are trying to cover them. Wide CBS could also be a problem for this pressing shape.
Would be interesting to see where Hojlund and Zirkzee come into this. I guess Zirkzee could replace Mount in certain games as a bit of a 10/9.5. But no obvious place for Hojlund given the way he plays
He can easily slot in, be the one pressing the CBs from the front. Hojlund has always done good at pressing and showing his passion. He just isn't great with his back to goal and needs more support from his wingers
I mean, the obvious fit is Zirkzee being the striker. A combined target-player and high pressing striker that brings our other players into play. A younger Weghorst which we know that ETH like as a striker. Saying that Zirkzees most likely position is as the ten is pretty much the same as assuming that De Ligt is our new dm 😅
@@divout6688hoijlund goes into the strikers role when he's fit same as zirkzee did against fulham. ZZ will tend to drop back though to link up play as he did for his goal whereas Rasmus will more likely stay further forward and look to be more in the box which is where he operates best. This system also means the players are a lot closer too each other and means more one touch passing which i have noticed from preseason
@@stevenwilliams3000 Did I say that they they would have the exact same style in the striker role? No. Zirkzee will very much likely drop deeper in the role than Hojlund but that doesn't mean that he isn't a striker. Fernandes has very clearly played striker these last few games and he also does it in hos own way. Diallo and Garnacho doesn't behave the exact same way in the winger-role but they are both clearly playing as wingers. AWB and Dalot are different kinds of rbs but they are both rbs... People are talking as if Zirkzee isn't a striker which he obviously is and is the main role that we bought him for.
And yet pundit would have us believe ten Hag has no plan or team lacks identity. 4-2-4 to work, those centerbacks needs to push up to close up those spaces, otherwise it’s gonna be 23/24.2 all over again. Phew..
When Martinez was fit, we did that with alot more consistency. Luke Shaw too. With Yoro, De Ligt, & Martinez staying fit all season (and especially if we add in someone like Ugarte in midfield), I’ve got high hopes for United this season.
As of today's match, we need just to be clinical but anyways, impressive work bro ,continue to get us more analysis to help for better understanding of games.
Those high press situations can be tough against good MF opponents with ball playing CBs as they can expose the high offensive line with good (ball) movement to create space for their playmakers. City Arsenal and Liverpool might use this to their advantage, but its worth a try
Once the ball gets past casemiro, it's a 100% shot at goal....speaks volumes of the quality of our defenders.. especially our 80 mil Maguire. Even Rodri would have been roasted as a single pivot with Maguire behind him, especially since he is also not English.
The main issue I see are these MASSIVE gaps on the pitch where there’s no United players around. That was a major issue last season too where once the opposition cuts through our first line of defense. The ball carrier would simply run through our team and start an attack. It goes back to us feeling like we’re playing with 10 men compared to 11 v 11. I want ETH to stay as manager but if we’re still getting 20 shots against us every game, I’m not sure how we’re improving defensively
Even with the new tactics aside, not seeing bloody Evans and Maguire damn near 20 metres away from midfield will automatically make us so much better. If The Butcher and De Licht can stay fit for just 80% of the season, top 4 is all but guaranteed
We won't be an elite team until we stop standing on the ball and staying still when looking for passes. Watch City or Madrid, or any other elite team and their ball carriers rarely stop moving with the ball whereas United do it constantly. It is much easier to create passing angles when both players are moving and it is much harder to defend, too. Staying stationary with the ball severely limits your passing options and makes it easy for defenders to read where your pass will go. This is football 101 and it is absolutely ridiculous that our team doesn't do it.
I really like the 4 2 4 its sort of a mid-block being compact, I'm sure it'll do well against the teams that want to pass out. I wonder how it will fair against those 442 Low block teams though, will we have enough to break a low block down.
If we are gonna play like this, we oughta go for Zubimendi instead of Ugarte because if the the team press properly, you don't have to be a top tier ball winner to be able to play- I'd much prefer better ability on the ball.
The main thing Man United have changed since the beginning of the pre season has been being aggressive on the press and trying to keep possession and dictate play. They have technical players now which the system demands. They will be a problem this season as they will bully teams. Teams should watch out for this
You must have been watching a different game to me the other night. The defence was still quite deep and there was still large gaps between the defence and midfield.
The press is good, the problem is in possession. Having Bruno, Rashford, Mount and Garnacho on the same pitch is guaranteed possession loss. We can only afford to play two of them at one time if we want to be better in possession.
We gonna be honest. If we sign Ugarte and all personnel remain fit, United could win the EPL and Europa league this season. Save this post for reference.
My problem is Ten hag saw this problem all through last season and did absolutely nothing to solve it. Injuries can not be the excuse. Smaller team with a much weaker squad defended far better. We conceded an average of 17 shots per game last season even in games we won 3-0 at home. Ten hag is far too slow to adapt to his tactics even during games
I can’t trust Rashford running back hard to protect the fullback. I can’t see that coming for 90 minutes. Garnacho and Amad would suit this system best
@@Mopark25 Look, I'd love Rashford to replicate that form, but that 30 goal season is the outlier not the norm. He scored less than 10 goals in the seasons either side of that one. In the last 2 seasons he ranks 5th for big chances missed, which is even more worrying when you think how few chances we've been creating.
@@Doctor_KroomHe’s not had one purple patch in 9 years. He’s stats are: 2015/2016: 8 goals (18 apps) 2016/2017: 11 goals (53 apps) 2017/2018: 13 goals (52 apps) 2018/2019: 13 goals (47 apps) 2019/2020: 22 goals (44 apps) 2020/2021: 21 goals (57 apps) 2021/2022: 5 goals (22 apps) 2022/2023: 30 goals (56 apps) 2023/2024: 8 goals (43 apps) So 2 bad seasons out of 9 - where he was certainly carrying an injury in the 2021/2022 season, and something looked off last season too. Sure, I think this season he really needs to regain the form of the 22/23’ season again, but it’s just not remotely correct to say he’s had one purple patch in 9 years…….look at it as a whole, those two seasons are aberrations, not the other way round.
@@westington1 but…. Those stats just show that the three seasons from 2016/2017 to 2018/2019 have the same scoring rate as the two seasons you’re saying are out of character.
That is a concern but I think the likes of Amad and especially Zirkzee will do well in those scenarios - both are excellent in tight spaces and thrive in combination play
Mason mount needs to take a football home with him and practice controlling the ball in his back yard or something. Great work pressing just when he gets the ball he looks rushed and panicky
Can we stop saying it was a VN idea or whatever ETH installed that patern of press 3 maths before the end of the season in preparation for fa cup against city so
i think mostly because the lack of quality in players and confusion during pressing. attackers and midfield really need to press wisely for this formation to work. or else we will get countered easily. you can watch aj analysis video on that game
Ok dave, so what is the difference between Ralf’s 4:2:2:2 and ten hag’s lastest 4:2:2:2? 1. Why didn’t it work out for ralf at united with that system? That he had to switch to 4:2:3:1
The gaps were due to only one winger dropping effectively into the 442 defensive shape, accompanied by the fact that the defence was always far behind the midfield
Risky but okay. I don't like the 1-4-2-4, and the reason for that is, is that you always lack a midfielder. Besides that, if those defenders are skillful they will out pass your strikers. Next, is that put the players in a 1 v 1 defensively. I don't like that, way to risky. Let's see what that brings Manchester United, but I expect that it will not be much.....
@@StatmanDave Absolutely true! Manchester United has bought in very well. Massive shout out to INEOS who made this change possible in a short time. Credit to them. What I am afraid of what will happen, is that Manchester United will probably skip the midfield because they only got two midfielders in the centre. This might become a sort of 'long- ball- play' season because of that. I personally don't like that, and I don't think the fans will aswell. You can play more offensive, playing a 1-3-3-4. But therefor you have to have the players to do so. Does Manchester United have those kind of players? I don't think so.....
I support you, Dave, but what's Mount doing in your example 11? He does absolutely nothing for the team. In any case, it would be Garnacho on the left and Rashford or Zirkzee through the middle.
They conceded 35% more goals than last season, not 36%. I wouldn't normally bring something like this up but you are going around referring to yourself as Statman so I think it's important.
