Scouting report : Manchester United

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Manchester United won a Manchester derby after a really really long time, boosting their confidence as they prepare to travel to South West London and attempt to put a dent on Chelsea's title charge.

I haven't done this in a long time, cut me some slack.

These are Louis van Gaal's core philosophy which revolves around the 4-1-4-1 ( a variant of 4-3-3). The limiting of space when in defensive transition, and an aggressive transition to attack when the ball is recovered and passive possession is maintained. Defensive overloading of the weaker sides ( Blind-Young relationship) with the help of Fellaini is also one of their strengths. They love building from the back and are patient. If not pressed enough, they will create chances, especially down the wings. They will make you press and press them and smartly deploy players in the holes that creep up to keep the possession in their hands. When they aggressively transition forward, their outnumber their opponents defensive players by a large ratio, evident from Ashley Young's first goal. Energy comes secondary to intuition, the manager lays complete trust in player decision-making which only comes with experience.

Yes, Michael Carrick does drop into the center two, not just because it's his job, but because the distance between the last midfielder and the first center-back is really small. You can see that example right from kick-off.

Look at the distance between the center circle and the distance between the center-backs. It took United less than 2 seconds to recover the ball from Manchester City who kicked off the game. United are very compact. There are commonly two zones in a pitch, the active playing zone and the inactive playing zone. The active playing zone is where you can pass the ball around with a high chance of keeping possession ( human errors are null and void ) . In most strategies where high-line is a major component, active playing zones are significantly smaller, and the aim is to keep reducing its size as the match grows.

United forced City's APZ into one half of the pitch horizontally. This also helped United's aim to overload City's weaker defensive side. Add Fellaini and his physical presence there, and you have someone who can create havoc. The entire part of the pitch not seen in the image is the IAPZ. For us IAPZ's are usually very small, because we love to spread ourselves out like butter on bread, which also helps when defensively closing out zones in specific areas of the pitches. That's reactive rather than proactive. Our approach to United's tight structure cannot afford to focus around one player as many have suggested ( Fellaini-Zouma love story)

Another strange feature is United's growing courage and fearless ability to push up in very close situations which almost always works in their favor.

This is a corner United conceded and successfully defended as it gets cleared by Valencia who blocks Demichelis's shot . Keep an eye on the last defensive man ( near De Gea) and the time on the clock.

Notice how the players encircled in dotted white are frantically telling their team-mates to push forward and pin City back. Notice the United players spreading forward to ease into their next transition stage and how Clichy ( on the ball ) has limited passing options which will soon be cut down even more. 3 seconds after the corner was taken.



It took 9 seconds for the defenders to create a make-shift high line which caught a City player offside as City tried to force the situation. They are insanely aggressive once the momentum is in their hands, and it only stems from their growing self confidence, especially that of the center-backs who reinforce the idea again and again.

Here's another bonus from MNF to see how Carrick has a strange pattern of growing into games. If United get their confidence rolling, Carrick will dominate.

Jamie Carragher's example of United making the APZ's more compact.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Imo I'd say that we should start as normal and if United start to dominate then we bring on Zouma for Oscar and put him on Fellaini to stop him being effective. Matic can then push forward and police Carrick and stop him passing.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Scouting report!

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

After careful consideration, I think the best course of action is to get amongst them and mash em up.

[iseah100 5,612]

Awesome stuff.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Scouting report!

It's been a while.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

It's been a while.

Too long

[Stingray 9,441]

Too long

What, the report? I agree!

[LAB 1,030]

Good comeback!

[hjperdeath 2,226]

What, the report? I agree!

*cancels ticket to Belgium and friendly shipping of Belgium beer*

[Stingray 9,441]

*cancels ticket to Belgium and friendly shipping of Belgium beer*

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo ! [emoji7]

[Magic Lamps 11,449]

The way they defend requires enormous workrates from their one million midfielders, which is why they always aim to have it back asap. If we put them under constant pressure and let the ball do the work, they will have run out of steam. Valencia and blind are solid and combative but prone to errors when put under pressure by agile wingers like Hazard and Willian. If we take our chances and spare ourselves the compulsory brainfart in defence, we will surely win this.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Hi hjperdeath.

I have definitely missed your analysis on the site, this was an interesting read definitely, but it doesn't tell us too much about how United will actually set up IMO, instead it seems more about educating one of what a high line does (i.e. compress the pitch, making the 'APZ' as you call it smaller).

What I would like to know more about is not just how compact United are, but how they transition from defence to attack, how they aim to retrieve the ball (I believe you have covered this), what functions each of their midfield three have, how their forward line interacts etc... and how CFC can stop that. Of course you probably don't have time to look into this because it is quite extensive of course .

One thing very noticeable about this United (starting) side is how they don't seem to have a pure attacker; arguably all of their midfield plus forwards are midfielders - even Rooney is not a very pure forward. I think it is very important that we patrol our midfield area, the game will be won or lost in there. They'll be aiming to have Rooney as the focal points to build their attacks - he'll drop deep to receive the ball so it is very important we have an intelligent patroller like Mikel in front of what I think is the danger zone - the area in front of our back four. Of course we have to be very wary of the off the ball movement around Rooney as well - a simple lay off from Rooney to Herrera or Carrick who have the ability to find the likes of Mata and Fellaini who are great off the ball. It is important these sort of players are tracked of course.

This is without getting into what we need to do to create chances against United. Simply put, we better hope that Remy is fit because there will be plenty of space in the 'IAPZ' should United try to remain compact and high on the pitch. I still wish we had Schurrle, he could've been devastating in this game. Shame Cuadrado is still adjusting to this league because he has decent off the ball runs as well and the likes of Hazard and Fabregas can find him.

Just some food for thought pal.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

what functions each of their midfield three have, how their forward line interacts etc... and how CFC can stop that. Of course you probably don't have time to look into this because it is quite extensive of course .

Yeah I skipped it cause of lack of time. I've started working fulltime with my coaching, but I really wanted to come up with some sort of report.

But I can extend a little on how the midfield works along with Rooney. A lot of us were watching MNF and Gary explained it quite well, so I'm not taking credit for this explanation. It is not something I came up with.

Okay this is a simple situation or scenario that United aim to create as much as possible. It's their biggest chance creation outlet, rigorously practiced via drills and its easy to fall for if they execute it to perfection. With Carrick on the ball, the midfield three in this case, in specific Herrera, Mata and Fellaini will aim to spread the midfield out so that passing zones pop up. It's like an unused false wall, when you find it , you think its of some use, but it actually isn't. The same way, Carrick gives it to Rooney, who in turn lays it up to another player who loses his marker. That pretty much destroys the mix of zonal and man-marking.

Here it can be seen clearly how Carrick picks out Rooney after Fellaini and Herrera pull the midfield horizontally to create a clear pathway. If even one of the midfielder realizes and aims to block it, he has to be 100% sure he can sweep up that area, or else by pressing that high, he's creating another zone.

That's Rooney laying it up for Fellaini.

One of Rooney's primary roles is slot himself in between the center-backs and pull both of them towards each other. When it's a sole striker system, center-backs can be more versatile ( usually playing roles where they both can rotate responsibilities in aggressively marking him out of the game). Rooney however keeps dropping as the ball comes forward, attracting both the center-backs with him. This is where Fellaini does his job brilliantly along with Young. He drops into the pocket behind Yaya. To quote Gary, "In Kompany's mind, is just to watch the back of his shoulder there, the same with Demichellis. Then Fellaini can get inside the channel behind Yaya Toure. Toure in this occasion has every right to think his center-back would be covering for him ( subtle hint at how defense's prepare against sole striker systems) but Wayne Rooney has taken Vincent's eyes away."

Rooney's always been known to drop deep. He loves the ball at his feet, that's been the notion. He loves to drop in midfield because he has a hunger to create himself, which granted does work out. His ways have been changed by LvG though. He now drops in to help out defenders, and instead of running at the defense with the ball or entering/combining with a midfielder, he plays it back safe to the open left-back and drops back to his primary role of sucking the defender's in.

A difference of 5 seconds between the two pictures. He is energetic as he always has been, but he's turned a lot more disciplined in terms of a oriented strategy. The next picture backs up how well he's gelling into his new role.



I do realize it's selectively picked, but it says a lot. 35 touches is the least amount of touches Rooney has had in his entire PL career with United.

I forgot which goal it was , but it was scored by Mata and it was a peach of a goal clearly exhibiting Rooney's new role. The Rooney before this year, would run in towards the ball giving Fellaini an extra option but that would completely close out the zone Demichellis opened up by trying to press aggressively on Fellaini. Rooney stayed put, infact pushing more towards the right to take Kompany with him. The ball was passed onto him, Mata ran into the free highway, and an easy easy goal was scored. It's really simple if they execute it perfectly.

So it's true what you said, the midfield is where it's going to be won. One reason why I'm not in favor of Ramires starting alongside Matic ( unless Jose comes up with another plan) . I don't know if it's been discussed, but in an ideal situation, I see Mikel-Matic play and Ramires starting on the wings. Blind-Fellaini-Young relationship is also crucial to how they set up their transitions and you really cannot underestimate the flanks in this game. If Carrick doesn't play, more of a reason to be confident.

Schurrle was a good point. If you are able to switch the balls quickly enough from flank to, which the likes of Fabregas , Matic, and maybe even Mikel is well capable of, then we'll have a stronghold in the middle. Schurrle would have been a brilliant person to feed these balls in, but yes Remy will be crucial. If Drogba starts, we're going to see a long night of us relying on set-pieces, I have no clue how else Jose is going to set us up to score via him.

[The Skipper 20,593]

This is quality pal. Fully agreed.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Bump before today's game if anyone missed it. Two major injuries in the form of Carrick and Blind. If Blind's out, Fellaini is crippled.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Are you Mourinho in disguise?

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Are you Mourinho in disguise?

Nah, I coach attacking football.