Thread by @AbdelBeheri

Thread:

Tactics + Attacking Structure of Man Utd vs. West Brom & Man Utd vs. IBFK. #MUFC

Man Utd buildup patterns for near box and middle third are 343 and 3232. When Matic drops between the CBs, Bruno drops to form a pivot with Fred and help the buildup. If AWB drops in the back 3, Mata drops to help. #MUFC

Man Utd pushed WBA push back into their deep block and as such Fred pushed even further. The formation looked like 316 at times. This to pressure the WBA back line. However, #MUFC become even more susceptible to counters.

Maguire and Lindelöf were given license to push up and beat the first line to help get the ball to a dropping forward Bruno/Fernandes. Lately they have been creating chances when the pivot fails to break the lines. #MUFC

#WBA's different setups during the different phases of the pitch. The 32 man press was not effective and they always went back into their 523. Later in the game, they changed to 433 but it didn't help.

Man Utd attacking structure in the 4-2-3-1:

1 Striker, 2 Inside Forwards, 1 Attacking Midfielder, 1 Fullback. The last 2 change depend on the situation. #MUFC

During the #WBA game, #MUFC relied on runs-in-behind as #WBA leaves space to exploit behind the defensive line. Here, you see Maguire looking for runs. Rashford and Bruno made proper runs as Mata filled CAM. Martial did make a run but late and in an offside position. Good so far.

Here Rashford is looking for runs, only Fernandes makes a run. Martial remains still/takes 2 steps for the entire sequence. Not Good. #MUFC

Here Maguire intercepts the ball and Utd transition, Martial makes two good runs but Maguire hesitated to deliver this difficult pass and gives it to Rashford. The second run Maguire delivers to Martial. Good again. #MUFC

In this one, Martial & Rashford show their tendencies to go wide again. This stagnates a lot of #MUFC attacks. Rashford was wide and Telles forced him to move to his supposed place and Martial day dreaming in the 1/2 space instead of in the box. Bruno forced to be the ST.

Matic couldn't play Bruno as he is marked so he looked up for runners. Again, Rashford at the touchline &Martial is day-dreaming.+ Rashford staying wide is blocking Telles from making a run as well. Finally, 32yr old - not fast - Mata is the one that makes a diagonal run. #MUFC

In this one, the positioning is perfect. Space for Telles to exploit and AWB on the other side (tbf AWB always has space but no support). Problem? Only Telles made a run and Matic ignored him and look for Bruno as he dropped to receive to feet. All forwards were dreaming. #MUFC

Martial drops to receive to feet as he took the RW position and dragged a defender OOP with him. Bruno played in AWB nicely. Problem? nobody is in the box but Mata and Rashford from the left. Last image, shows Martial coming from the left (not the box) and blocking Mata. #MUFC

#MUFC is suffering from playing players in positions that they are still getting accustomed to. Players that have tendencies or habits of drifting to other places on the pitch because their stronger attributes suit those positions. The biggest example is Martial.

Rashford can play as a LIF as he likes to cut in and take on defenders. However, he has the tendency of getting in the way of his FB by staying on the touchline. Furthermore, the hole of the right compounds the problem and make the attacking structure dis-jointed. #MUFC

The RW is an ancient problem at United. LVG tried to solve it with Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria. JM with Henrikh Mkhitaryan (who was not a RW but was filling) and Mata. Poor recruitment leads to this. #MUFC

Let's continue and see what happened when Cavani was subbed on. Martial moved to the left and Rashford to the right.

Automatically, you can see someone looking to make a run through the center to the box. #MUFC 😭

Cavani is very clever with his runs and movement. He dummied the defender here with a faint then a change of direction. He got the better of the defender. The presence in the box though is world class. #MUFC

Now with a RW ahead of him, AWB found someone combine with and started moving forward more. He delivered a great cross as well. #MUFC

Another central run from Cavani. He was found by Bruno with a sumptuous pass. Unfortunately, Cavani was offside for this one. The key thing is diagonal runs from central positions from Cavani. World class! #MUFC

Martial drives from the left and does well passing defenders and releasing to Bruno. Cavani immediately makes a run and Bruno plays a beautifully weighted ball to Cavani. Blocked however but it was great play. #MUFC

The 3 forwards stretching the defensive line of #WBA and Rashford fInds Martial with a great ball. However, what's great here is the positioning of Martial, Cavani, Rashford. #MUFC

Marcus🔁VdB. Donny did good to keep the line stretched. Creates space for Bruno. Bruno drives into space release to Cavani and Cavani waits on Martial run. Martial stood there. He apologized after to Cavani. #MUFC

Donny drags a defender OOP and creates space for Bruno. This is one of Cavani's bad moments. He didn't make a run and reacted late and lost the ball. He went after it and got a yellow. #MUFC

This was a clever clever play between Bruno, AWB, Cavani, and Martial. AWB low hard cross, Cavani leaves it with a dummy move, and Martial collects and takes a shot. #WBA did really well to react and block it. #MUFC

The structure seen when Cavani came on vs. #WBA was also seen vs. #IBFK. The spacing, the positioning and the runs were all great and that lead to fluidity. #MUFC

Matic was a great tactical choice from OGS, he deserves some praise for it. Traded Scott’s intensity & ball-winning ability for Matic’s line-breaking passes & in-game management. OGS did the same w/ DvB vs #IBFK risking defensive stability. Matic is a more well-rounded CDM. #MUFC

In terms of Martial, he had a good performance vs. #WBA. He held up the ball well, made 6 dribbles (most and double any other United player), and won 2 fouls. However, his tendency to want the ball leads him to vacate huge spaces along the last line. #MUFC

It prevents him from stretching the defense and scoring scrappy goals. OGS points this out every time he is asked about Martial as a number 9.

End. #MUFC