Thread by @EBL2017

I call for patience with Erik ten Hag.

Manchester United's tactical display last night was their *BEST* of the season. Don't let the fact that they went down to 10 men fool you otherwise.

They were sensational with 11 men & it was ENTIRELY down to Erik ten Hag!

MEGA-THREAD! 🚨

Manchester United built play in a 4-2-4 shape with a heavy emphasis on the double pivot of McTominay & Eriksen making passes and getting involved in the build-up.

It was refreshing to see United build play with players in close proximity & with the midfielders heavily involved.

So often this season we have seen United build play with a sole focus on Onana and the four defenders ahead of him to build play.

This left a complete disconnect between defence and attack due to the lack of midfield involvement.

This resulted in consistent long balls high.

However, instead of United building with one too many players between the lines and not enough second players in midfield, ten Hag demanded positional rigidity from Eriksen and McTominay in the pivot.

They rarely ventured forwards, and it saw United play 'connected football'..

The positional discipline was also excellent in advanced areas as Bruno Fernandes, for example, stayed high and in between the lines alongside Højlund in the opposite half space with Garnacho wide on the left and Rashford wide on the right.

Again, positional rigidity was clear.

This saw United consistently and effectively progress play between the lines whilst also possessing a major threat in transitional situations as Bruno often received facing the opposition goal with runners ahead of him.

Then, when play broke down, they counterpressed superbly.

Instead of United's deep-lying midfield being empty due to having two #8's between the lines & none deep, McTominay & Eriksen's positioning enabled United to remain compact in defensive transition with the advanced players able to apply immediate pressure when turnovers occurred.

Not only that, but United's settled pressing structure was similarly compact.

Ten Hag set his team up in his typical 4-4-1-1 off-ball shape with Bruno and Højlund man-marking the #6 and pressing the ball-side centre back, but the inversions of Garnacho were key in the press.

Here we see Garnacho invert to prevent Copenhagen from having a 3v2 centrally against Bruno & Højlund (pic 1).

This left the opposition fullback on the far side free but Dalot, where possible, pushed high to press him (pic 2).

This enabled United to press in man-to-man fashion.

Dalot was not able to reliably back up the press in settled play, though, as sometimes he had to mark Copenhagen's winger.

However, in those moments Garnarcho primarily continued to invert anyway as he could shadow mark the opposition fullback when he pressed inside.

Where United's press was most impressive was from Copenhagen's goal kicks as they matched up in man-to-man fashion, and this is an entirely new strategy from Erik ten Hag!!

Instead of letting the opposition play to one side and matching up, United man-marked all over the park.

We see that man-to-man press here as Garnacho starts centrally to create a 3v3 vs Copenhagen's #6 and two centre backs, McTominay and Rashford match up with their respective men on their side of the pitch, and on the far side (out of shot) Dalot presses the opposition right back!

This forced Copenhagen to go long where United were again matched up in man-to-man fashion in defence.

Such an approach from Erik ten Hag is incredibly refreshing to see as United are often overloaded numerically in the press from opposition goal kicks, but not last night!

However, as a result of Garnacho only inverting to press the opposition centre back sometimes, Copenhagen could use their 3v2 overload in central areas in settled play to sustain some attacks of their own.

Here United defended in a 4-4-2 block where the #6's man-marked the #8's.

As far as game plans and performances go, Erik ten Hag was not lying when he said the first half an hour was the best 30 minutes of Manchester United's season, and that is ENTIRELY down to his tactical adjustments in and out of possession.

He deserves massive credit.

We all know how the game ended up, but a freak red card doesn't change the fact that Erik ten Hag addressed and SOLVED Manchester United's primary issues this season in this game.

No longer are they as disjointed in and out of possession.

They were cohesive, balanced & compact.

However, despite the tactics undeniably being 100x superior than what they have been all season, the fluidity of the build-up *could* cause problems in the future.

Ten Hag likes his centre backs to rotate with the fullbacks in terms of who occupies the standard centre back role.

So, for example, here we see Harry Maguire in possession with Evans central and Dalot tucked in on the far side.

Maguire is about to recycle to Onana, so this is the cue for Evans to *stick* positionally and Dalot to *retreat* into a 'makeshift' left centre-back role.

We see that play out in the first image below.

We also saw it consistently with Harry Maguire and even Varane when he came off the bench.

It essentially results in United having a back 3 (including Onana), a situational #6, and the double pivot ahead of them in a 3-3-5 shape.

United's inverted centre back can be useful for 'wall passes' as Onana plays into the feet of them before they lay it off to the fullback, but it causes more problems than it solves...

Sometimes the distance the fullbacks have to cover is large forcing Onana to play to one side.

It can also result in the blockage of passing lanes into players further up the pitch.

Not only that, but Varane, Evans, Maguire, and Lindelöf are not comfortable receiving with their back to goal as a situational #6.

They don't have the natural turning radius of a midfielder.

When Lisandro Martinez, for example, plays it can work, or when Luke Shaw plays at centre back it can work, but no other centre back is comfortable inverting.

A collection of these issues can complicate United's build-up making it clunky and often not in close proximity.

That will undeniably improve with Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, and even Malacia back in the squad, but for that build-up structure to reliably work United will have to improve the technical quality of their defence.

HOWEVER, aside from that, the tactical plan was perfect!

We can express frustration at some individuals for lax defensive moments, for example, or at the officials for making some extremely questionable calls which cost United dearly, but we cannot doubt the quality & improvement of Erik ten Hag's approach.

It was his best all season!

What is most important for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United now is that he *sticks* to the principles that made United so good with 11 men.

They must continue to operate with another player in midfield alongside the #6 as it solves many issues in and out of possession!