Weird decision today for me.
First half Pogba basically had a free role and we had a lot of interchanging going on with the front four to next to no benefit. Then it looked like a more structured box after HT, which we’ve used before a couple of times but not seen for quite a while, with Beekers and Pogba stationed flat between Martial and Greenwood and the double pivot.
I get that Leicester like to play out down the middle and there’s value in trying to stifle Tielemans (in particular) and Ndidi and prevent them from getting the ball into Perez’s feet, but it just didn’t work at all. After the first 20 mins or so, where our press actually worked pretty well, they found they could just look for gaps with our midfield pulled all over the place, and they gave up possession in their transition pretty infrequently.
Our setup also left Telles completely in no man’s land and rendered him completely ineffective. They could just double up on him when the ball came out his way and without support, force him to surrender the ball. The one (and only?) time we saw Pogba wide left working a combination with Telles we scored.
Pogba in so close to Beekers actually made the job of cutting off our passing lanes much, much easier, and it starved the pair of them of the ball. Leicester could block off access easily, and the result was that Bruno and McT both made more passes in 30 mins than Beekers did in 60 mins. Bruno also made more than Pogba managed.
Some terrible individual performances today: Fred had one of his worst games in a United shirt, Matic looked even more off the pace than usual. But we didn’t get the shape right until after the subs, and it hamstrung us big time.
All very strange particularly given how well Pogba played at inside left after he came on midweek. Maybe the idea was to also to try to give Beekers some more support centrally; I honestly have no idea. Hopefully chalk it up to a failed experiment and we move on.
Credit where it’s due though, Leicester were very solid today, as they have been for pretty consistently for weeks. Their shape was good and they moved the ball about neatly. Rodgers has them looking like a decent unit, and I think they’ll finish the season with a strong run.
Box midfield
posted on 21/3/21
Can we have just one thread that doesn't descend into yet another repetitive, insight-free and completely facking valueless slapping match about the manager’s employment, please?
It’s so far beyond boring now there aren’t words to describe it.
posted on 21/3/21
It’s so far beyond boring now there aren’t words to describe it.
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I’ve been saying this about our style of football for ages...
posted on 21/3/21
Ok Rosso, but you'll have to add some substance to your article by giving possible reasons for our team structure still not being up to scratch.
posted on 21/3/21
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 19 minutes ago
Ok Rosso, but you'll have to add some substance to your article by giving possible reasons for our team structure still not being up to scratch.
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Sometimes the setup and tactics are right, sometimes they aren’t.
Today the approach I didn’t think was terrible, but our shape was all wrong, both in and out of possession, until the subs. This didn’t help the players, particularly the midfield, and the players didn’t help themselves.
We’re definitely in need of a break. It’s just a shame that nearly everyone who is fit is going to be on international duty and will likely play two or three games.
posted on 22/3/21
Excellent article rosso.
Again curious about the psychological profile of people who one-star something like this. If you disagree with the tactical analysis, you engage with the thread. What seems to be happening here is members of the forum being offended by the very idea of something as complex as the act of analysing. It's an affront to their binary worldview. It's like listening exclusively to Europop and then hearing free jazz for the first time and freaking out.
posted on 22/3/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 9 minutes ago
Excellent article rosso.
Again curious about the psychological profile of people who one-star something like this. If you disagree with the tactical analysis, you engage with the thread. What seems to be happening here is members of the forum being offended by the very idea of something as complex as the act of analysing. It's an affront to their binary worldview. It's like listening exclusively to Europop and then hearing free jazz for the first time and freaking out.
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Thanks, RR.
I think some people are just philosophically or morally opposed to tactical discussion There’s very, very little of it on the United board nowadays.
What did you think of the game? It was a really tough watch for me, particularly given how we played second half against Milan. It was always going to be a difficult fixture versus a fresh and bang on form Leicester, but I thought we could (and should) have given a much better account of ourselves.
posted on 22/3/21
I get sucked into the action and struggle to analyse the tactical battle the way you do, rosso. I thought Leicester played really well, and when one side has that physical / formational edge over the other, however marginal, the individual mistakes creep in. Fred's touch was the most obvious culprit but there was a collective wobble with the poor touches / misplaced passes / miscommunication that comes from a shared lack of confidence. That said, there were a few moments where I thought we could be on the brink of reasserting ourselves.
Whenever I watch Leicester play, I rue the fact that we didn't go for Tielemans when he was available for an affordable price and reputedly keen to join us.
posted on 22/3/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 9 minutes ago
I get sucked into the action and struggle to analyse the tactical battle the way you do, rosso. I thought Leicester played really well, and when one side has that physical / formational edge over the other, however marginal, the individual mistakes creep in. Fred's touch was the most obvious culprit but there was a collective wobble with the poor touches / misplaced passes / miscommunication that comes from a shared lack of confidence. That said, there were a few moments where I thought we could be on the brink of reasserting ourselves.
Whenever I watch Leicester play, I rue the fact that we didn't go for Tielemans when he was available for an affordable price and reputedly keen to join us.
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Yeah, he was very impressive yesterday. That pairing of Ndidi and Tielemans is absolutely key to what they do now. They’re so strong as a partnership.
posted on 22/3/21
Hopefully Murtough & Fletcher have the combined genius to recognise that Ndidi & Tielemans for £55m represents a better investment than Fred & Matic for £100m.
posted on 22/3/21
United looked bang average yesterday, although I didn't watch all of it, I watched enough to know there is a lot of work to be done. So much of how you play relies on Bruno and things going through him and Pogba.
Width is a real issue for United, you need to get a couple of wingers in, even if they end up playing as inside forwards, just to stretch the play. The midfield yesterday were so narrow it just gave joy to Castagne down the left particularly.