Why Man United's Problems Are Even Worse Than You Think
Manchester United slumped to another defeat, going down 0-3 at Old Trafford to Roberto De Zerbi's brilliant Brighton. But while Erik Ten Hag's men will know their performance wasn't good enough, the on-field problems look just as perilous as those off the field.
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00:00 Hello everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here and we're just, we're going to talk about
00:07 Man United today because I've seen that second goal from the Brighton game and that stinks.
00:14 Now just very very quickly though, if you are a subscriber to this channel you're probably
00:17 looking at this thinking "that looks really weird and actually quite horrible" and yes
00:20 correct it absolutely does but we're in the middle of doing some very fun, very exciting
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00:45 Anyway, Man United, oh dear.
00:50 Now the entire thrust of this video is just that 90 second video that Brighton put on
00:54 their Twitter account showing their second goal, the one that Pascal Gros scored and
00:58 how they just kept the ball for 90 seconds, 30 passes, Man United didn't get anywhere
01:03 near them and they went from back to front, wow.
01:05 Now before we look at that, I just want to say something because if I was a Brighton
01:09 fan this would annoy me.
01:10 Loads of the talk about this game has been about how Man United were so terrible and
01:14 they've got all these problems and ten hot, gotta fix them and I've seen very little just
01:18 saying that Brighton are f***ing mint and that's the reason this goal is scored, it's
01:24 not just because Man United are playing badly at the minute, it's not just because they're
01:27 having problems, it's because Brighton are really, really good and we will, you have
01:30 my solemn vow, be doing a big video on exactly what's going right for Brighton this season,
01:35 how they've lost so many key players and they're still playing so, so well.
01:39 That video is coming but this one is just about this goal because if you're a Man United
01:45 persuasion, alarm bells should be ringing.
01:47 Alright, so we've all seen this by now, Brighton's second goal at Manchester United, they start
01:52 the ball here, the ball ends here and in between all of that there are something like 30 passes
01:57 and around one and a half minutes of uninterrupted Brighton possession.
02:01 Now the thing about this is and undoubtedly the most frustrating part about it from Eric
02:05 ten Haag's perspective is that Manchester United actually set up pretty well at the start.
02:09 We can see here Bruno Fernandes telling both Rasmus Hoyland and Marcus Rashford to pick
02:13 up these two Brighton players specifically, allowing him to press the ball between the
02:18 goalkeeper and the two centre-back.
02:19 They get into position and when the goal kick is taken, Fernandes then moves into the box
02:23 to try and close this down.
02:25 Now you might look at this situation here and think this is a bit of a strange one.
02:28 Manchester United are trying to press Brighton who are fantastic with the ball with only
02:33 three players in an area where they've got five.
02:36 Now obviously there's virtually no chance whatsoever of Man United turning this ball
02:39 over.
02:40 Fernandes can't close down three players at once and he's unlikely to nick an interception
02:45 at any point.
02:46 This is actually in the fact that Hoyland and Rashford are marking these two out of
02:50 the game.
02:51 The idea is that by denying Brighton that central space they're going to be unable to
02:54 play through so either they'll have to go out wide or they'll play a less reliable pass
02:59 into the middle of the pitch allowing Manchester United to then spring a trap.
03:03 And we know this is how they want to play because it is how they've been playing.
03:06 If you look at the Opta data for the number of high turnovers this season, Man United
03:10 are bafflingly top of the league in that regard.
03:13 Nobody is doing high turnovers as well as they are because they're setting up every
03:16 single game to try and do them.
03:18 Where are they in that particular league for high turnovers leading to a goal, Adam?
03:23 Not top, no, they're not top for that.
03:26 Bottom actually is the word.
03:27 Which is, yeah, that's quite bad obviously but it does show they are trying to do them
03:31 but just not doing them very well.
03:33 They want to stop teams including Brighton having their idealised pattern of build-up
03:37 to force them into the middle of the pitch where they then try and win it back.
03:41 And by that token you can see here, step one is a perfect success.
03:44 They stop Brighton playing through the middle and they force them to go out wide.
03:47 And again, this works really well.
03:49 You can see that when it goes out to the wide player he's got no options whatsoever.
03:53 Fernandes has now closed off the pass back to the defence.
03:56 Casemiro has come across to stop him playing it into the middle.
03:59 If McTominay can win this ball here, it's a perfectly executed high turnover.
04:04 Except, and this is where all of Manchester United's problems are created, the intensity
04:09 applied by Scott McTominay in this situation is pathetic.
04:13 Instead of applying an actual pressure there where he goes in to win the ball and maybe
04:17 he gets a throw in out of it or maybe he actually turns the thing over, he just sort of trots
04:22 over into the space.
04:24 He does what's asked of him, sure, but he doesn't do it at all well.
04:28 And if anything, he actually shows him into the one area of the pitch he can't let him
04:32 go.
04:33 McTominay is positioned as if he's expecting him to go back but in the process just shows
04:37 him the one open place on the pitch.
04:40 He dutifully just runs into it.
04:42 And again, this is why we talk about intensity and this is why we talk about applying yourself
04:46 because McTominay now does not apply the sprint required to recover this situation.
04:52 He just jogs back.
04:54 Now Brighton end up in this situation here, which they obviously weren't expecting to
04:57 be in and there's not really a dangerous option on.
05:00 Now if there was, Manchester United are now caught at the pitch, they've left all this
05:03 room behind the defenders, they would be in major, major trouble.
05:07 But Brighton instead elect to just retain possession for now.
05:10 Danny Welbeck really wants the ball here, but Brighton aren't really set in the final
05:13 third.
05:14 So Matoma instead elects to go back and Brighton start all over again.
05:18 But again, here's another problem.
05:19 The ball is about to come in to Pascal Grosz and Manchester United, while not having him
05:23 particularly well locked down, do have players around him.
05:27 And this is the area of the pitch that they really want to win the ball back.
05:31 He has his back to goal.
05:32 He would have to go back to the defenders.
05:34 You could jump on him in this situation and potentially win the ball, but instead it's
05:39 just jogging.
05:40 Rashford trots over to put him under a little bit of pressure.
05:42 Fernandes kind of burst into half a jog, but there's nothing stopping him passing the ball
05:47 out wide.
05:48 It comes across to the right hand side and again, Manchester United have this positioned
05:51 reasonably well.
05:52 They're back four, are in a good line.
05:54 Casemiro is watching the centre area of the pitch and Eriksen on the left hand side of
05:57 the diamond comes across to provide a 2v2.
06:00 Reguilón and Eriksen do have this pretty under control, but as soon as the ball comes
06:03 back into the middle, Welbeck dropping off Martínez to create a bit of space, they both
06:08 go with the man.
06:09 Now all of a sudden Veltman's in this much space in a relatively dangerous area for Brighton,
06:13 but they're not overloading the box.
06:15 It's not really a crossing opportunity.
06:17 So he decides, now we'll go back.
06:19 We'll start again.
06:20 Not to put too fine a point on it, but they are essentially toying with Man United right
06:23 now.
06:24 So the ball ends up with Brighton centre backs and once again, Manchester United find their
06:28 shape absolutely perfectly.
06:30 The two centre forwards are in position to press and the midfield diamond just behind
06:33 them is ready to leap on any players in the line behind who received the ball.
06:39 This is exactly how a team trying to force high or mid turnovers should be set up.
06:45 They've got it absolutely perfect.
06:47 But here is where it always seems to go wrong for them this season.
06:51 The ball is received here and Manchester United have three players immediately around the
06:56 ball.
06:57 Brighton and Rashford both have the ability to curve a run into this player to block off
07:01 the return passes to the centre backs while Fernandes can press him on the blind side.
07:06 You could not hope to be in a better position to spring a trap in this area of the pit.
07:12 And yet the energy just isn't there.
07:14 Fernandes does press him, but he doesn't get anywhere close.
07:17 There's certainly no determination to win the ball back.
07:19 And it's so easy for Brighton to then pull all three of these players away from the rest
07:24 of the midfield and just pop it round them.
07:27 You can even see straight away from Fernandes' body language here.
07:30 He can't believe that's been done so easily.
07:33 We finally get a genuine attempt to win the ball here.
07:35 Casemiro charges out the first closed down gross and then follows up on Welbeck, but
07:39 is again easily played around.
07:41 Man United now possibly slightly panicked by knowing Casemiro has come way out of position
07:45 and there may be holes starting to develop, do attempt to win the ball here.
07:49 Reguilón puts in two half challenges, but he's not ever in any real danger of reclaiming
07:53 possession.
07:54 And this is the key moment.
07:55 Brighton reset once again.
07:58 The ball comes in to Pascal Gros in the middle of the pitch.
08:01 Again, an area where Manchester United should be attempting to win it back.
08:05 Marcus Rashford is all of five yards away from Pascal Gros here, and he is walking with
08:10 his head down.
08:11 He isn't even looking at the ball or even remotely alive to the possibility of winning
08:16 that back.
08:17 Gros plays the ball all the way to the left to Matoma, who again is given absolutely all
08:21 the space in the world to do what he wants with it.
08:23 Dallo just simply sits off.
08:25 But now, unlike all the other phases where Brighton have been happy to reset, all of
08:28 a sudden they start to push Manchester United back into their own box.
08:32 They've now got enough players in this area that they can force them towards their own
08:36 goal.
08:37 And Gros, knowing this is going to create a bit of space, begins to move towards the
08:40 box.
08:41 Now again, at this point, worth pointing out between him and the goal, Fernandez, Ericsson,
08:46 Casemiro and McTominay.
08:48 Matoma finds Lamptey at the end of the box, who is again lightly pressured without really
08:52 being challenged.
08:53 And he rolls the ball gently across the edge of the box.
08:56 Now at the point of this ball being loose, Pascal Gros is by no means the favourite to
09:01 go and get it.
09:02 This is the point in the box where he's going to control the ball.
09:06 Even the slightest bit of urgency, even the slightest bit of commitment from either Ericsson
09:10 or Martinez would see them read that pass and cut it out.
09:14 And yet Ericsson just sort of stands there and watches it happen.
09:16 And while Martinez does at least move towards it, he attempts to block a shot which Pascal
09:21 Gros never even lines up to take.
09:24 And from there, it's the easiest job for a player of his quality to simply stick it in
09:28 the back of the net.
09:29 Now let's just review that, shall we?
09:30 In 130 seconds and 30 Brighton passes, Manchester United pressured the ball once here with Bruno
09:36 Fernandez, sort of again here with Fernandez, but I'm being incredibly generous, once here
09:41 with Casemiro, once here with Reguilón, and that is it.
09:45 So I just don't even know what you say about it at this point.
09:48 They are set up really well.
09:50 They have a clear identity.
09:51 They know what it is they're trying to do.
09:53 They just don't want to do it enough to make it work.
09:56 Now this problem in isolation is bad, but you just work on it.
09:59 You get the intensity up.
10:00 You get them to buy into it.
10:02 But when you combine it with the Jadon Sancho thing, which is clearly one member of the
10:06 squad does not respect the manager enough to just not blow his lid on social media,
10:11 we're starting to get a bit of a picture here of Tenhaag having this team set to do very
10:16 particular things and just nobody buying into it.
10:21 Now it's still a really good squad and they do have injuries and Tenhaag is undisputably
10:26 a very good manager.
10:27 It may well just suddenly all turn around, but week on week on week on week, we're now
10:32 seeing examples of Manchester United just not doing the hard work to make their system
10:38 work.
10:39 And I don't know how you turn that round.
10:41 But yes, there you go.
10:42 Ten minutes of discussion over 90 seconds of action.
10:45 You'd feel so sorry for my girlfriend, wouldn't you?
10:48 If she existed.
10:49 Until next time though, get me on Twitter @AdamCleary.
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