OVERVIEW
An absolute disastrous performance by the Red Devils. They were nowhere near good to challenge for the title. The whole match was filled with miss passes, poor decision makings and lack of communication. Man United looked comparitively in control in the first half, but they lost all of it in the 2nd half. Spurs exploited their weakness and took control.
KEY MOMENTS
0:04:06 - Garnacho had a promising chance. He chose to shoot from here (in the picture below). He had 3 defenders plus the keeper to beat. Bruno was arriving at the edge of the box, Wan-Bissaka was free on the other flank. It was just 4 minutes into the game, they could have just focused on keeping the possesion.
A brilliant run from Rashford and passed the ball to the overlapping Wan-Bissaka who cut it back into a dangerous area. It was 4v4 in the box -- a good goal-scoring oppurtunity. Garnacho took a very heavy touch and the defender cleared the ball easily. He could have also left the ball as Bruno was just behind him, unmarked. The young argentinian needs to be more clinical and aware in the box. Also for him, a smart touch and a shot would have converted this chance into a goal.
United played a 4-2-3-1 majority of the time, using Mount and Casemiro in a double pivot. Bruno Fernandes had missed only two games due to injury or illness since joining Manchester United. Massive respect to his determination and endurance, but he needs rest. Man United need to have more depth in their squad. And when Mason Mount was signed, I thought he was the Bruno replacement! But Ten Hag is using both of them on the pitch, one in a defensive role and one in a free-roaming CAM. I don't think Mount's potential can be fully used from a defensive double pivot role. I believe the manager is looking for someone who can transition the ball from the defence to the forward line, exactly what Kante used to do for Chelsea. I think Mount can be more effective in the final third. United need to sign a few players who can orchestrate the play from the midfield.
0:14:45 - Here, Mount's possesioning is wrong. I know he was tracking back, but he should have seen Maddison's run. Mount is looking at the ball and has no idea Maddison is behind him. Defensively, they need to be more aware and intelligent.
The aspect that I like about Ten Hag is the flexible positioning that he implements. I had stated this in my previous post also. The players are allowed to move out of their position, however one other shall immediately fill that space. We see it imminent in this match also.
Luke Shaw get forward for the ball. Immediately Mount follows Sarr to fill in that space.
Mount drifts left side to cover for Garnacho, who was pressing the ball. Lisandro Martinez gets forward to hold mark Maddison.
Bruno Fernandes drops deep in the double pivot with Mount as Casemiro continues pressing Maddison.
A beautiful sense of play from the United side. I really like it. The players had good communication amongst each other.
A defence breaking pass from Onana for Garnacho. Onana's distribution is top notch. Ten Hag knows him very well from his Ajax days, so the outfield players must get into positions and trust their goalie.
THE PENALTY SITUATION: How is this not a penalty ? Garnacho's shot is blocked by the hand of Christian Romero, which can be seen clearly in the picture. Yes, it is the job of the defender to stop the shot. But according to the IFAB (International Football Association Board) handling offences, if the player has made itself bigger, it is a foul. On the other hand, a defender cannot comit into a tackle with both of his/her arms like that outside their body. They are supposed to be behind their back in the defensive stance. You can clearly see Pedro Porro (#23 in the picture) in the correct stance with his hand behind. If these hands are not in an 'unnatural' position according to the referee, which can happen, he might not see in that split second. But that is where the the VAR needs to come in. The VAR also stated this as not a handball. This is bad refereeing according to me. You can find the IFAB rulebook link below.
Link to the document : https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest/fouls-and-misconduct/
THE FIRST BAR GAP: I noticed this in this game a lot. United were opened up in the first bar. They seemed they could not anticipate the pass from the edge of the box in the left side to the first bar area. Spurs left the United defence standing with these passes. In fact, they would go on to score their 2nd goal in a similar fashion.
In the first picture below, Son passes the ball through Wan-Bissaka's legs into the huge space (marked area) to the arriving Sarr. Here, Mason Mount needs to track down Sarr. Varane is also out of position and late to react. I think if Varane is a little bit to his right he could have intercepted the pass.
In the second picture, Udogie gets free in that same area. Varane is again late to react. Wan-Bissaka has no idea that Son is getting in behind him. He needs to scan and keep a look on his back and be on his toes all the time. This would go on to become a dangerous chance as Pedro Porro would hit the crossbar. A very sloppy defensive work from Ten Hag's side.
0:35:45 - It was a golden oppurtunity for United to go ahead in the game. Bruno had an open header -- he put it over the crossbar. A beautifully timed cross from Luke shaw met the cheeky run that Bruno made into the 6 yard box.
0:49:00 - GOAL for Spurs! Pape Matar Sarr gave them the lead. Kulusevski run along a huge space and cut back in the 6 yard box. Sarr touched the ball in from an unfortunate deflection from Lisandro Martinez.
I have two observations here. Why was Kulusevski allowed "THIS MUCH" of space to run with the ball ? Luke Shaw was out of position and did not track him down. And why was Garnacho containing the ball ? He had enormous space on his left. If he wanted to contain and restrict the pass to the winger, Shaw must be in position to cover the winger and Garnacho needs to get close to Pedro Porro. His positioning is awfull.
(in the 3rd picture) If you see Garnacho's posture, he is leaning to his right -- inward towards his CB. But the ball is played in the opposite direction to his left, where Kulusevski was waiting in the wing with an ample amount of space. The winger already has an advantage because Garnacho has to turn now before he can sprint in order to track the winger.
If he wanted to allow the pass to the winger, Garnacho has to lean his body in totally the opposite with his back facing his goal and his eyes on the ball, allowing the pass to winger and then pressing the ball in a 1v1. Poor positioning and awareness cost them a goal.
SUBSTITUTE: 66' -- ANTONY <----> ERIKSEN : Good substitution as Antony is already booked and this would provide Mount to join the attack.
SUBSTITUTE: 66' -- GARNACHO <----> SANCHO
SUBSTITUTE: 77' -- AARON WAN-BISSAKA <----> DALOT
After Eriksen came on, Mount some more freedom to move up. United were still playing a 4-2-3-1 with Eriksen and Casemiro in the holding midfield. Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes were free to switch positions. Sometimes Bruno drifted to the right side while Mason operated from the middle as a number 10 behind Rashford.
0:83:00 - GOAL for Spurs! I pointed this out earlier. In the same area in front of the 1st bar, United were opened up again. Ben Davies shurged off a shot towards the goal. Martinez could have easily cleared it. The ball rolled off the outside of his right boot into the net. Bad luck.
Perisic recieved the ball in the left wing. Dalot pointed to his teamate to cover for him and went to press Perisic. Varane was late to react, so was Eriksen. Davies had no pressure up his shoulders.
Bruno was marking Ben Davies. He slowly jogged towards the box and no one marked Davies. Both Varane and Eriksen were late.
There were a lot of spaces at the end of the match that could have been exploited by the opposition. They need to be more compact.
In this clip, in the top right portion, Martinez (2nd from top right) is not in position. The Spurs forward can get in behind between Dalot and Martinez. Lisandro Martinez needs to get closer to the forward and keep the shape with Varane.
CONCLUSION
MISS PASS:
I would like to address this separetely as this played a huge role. The United players did a plathora of miss passes in this match.
In the 1st picture, this was the chance created from that outstanding pass from Onana that I mentioned earlier. Garnacho attempted a pass to Antony in the far post. He had to beat two defenders in order to produce that perfect pass. He had Rashford closer and free near him. Looking at the hands of Rashford, it is evident that he wanted the ball. Had he got the ball, he could have finished it with his left foot.
In the second picture, Garnacho attempted a through ball to Shaw near the first post area in the box. The idea was correct, but the timing wasn't. If you see, Garnacho is kicking the ball and Shaw hasn't even started his run. The ball gets intercepted by Pedro Porro easily. The correct pass should have been to Mason Mount who was arriving for support. Holding the possession just after the second half is important.
In the third picture, Antony had 2 options here. He could have rolled the ball to Bruno as he was already being covered by two defenders. But the better option was to play it back where Casemiro was arriving. Instead he tried to dribble, and lost the ball.
THEY NEED TO GET INTO THE BOX:
United need to get into the box more. In this clip, they already 1-0 down in the 65th minute, Antony has the ball at the edge of the box. He can deliver a cross into the penalty area but there is no one in the box!
Bruno was the only one making a run into the box. Rashford is jogging -- he is the striker now! He needs to get in the box. If Rashford makes a diagonal run here, he'll draw Romero (#17 in the picture) with him which would make a space for Bruno to run into.
Manchester United was 16th with a conversion rate of just 7.2% last season (2022/23). They had the worst set piece conversion in the whole league. Manchester United managed to score only 5 goals from set piece in their 75 point haul.
The Red Devils need to be a lot more efficient with their finishing. They were 3rd in the most chances created (84) last season behind Liverpool and Manchester City.
So, that proves their ability to be a threat in the final third. I hope Rasmus Højlund would be the missing piece that United needed badly last season.
**NOTE : All the match screenshots are taken from the livestream of the match from Disney+ Hotstar. I have annotated over them to provide my analytical perspectives.
Great analysis...Keep it up....
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