Tactical Analysis: Man Utd under Michael Carrick

In this Man United tactical analysis article, I highlight the minor but crucial tactical changes made by Carrick against Villareal compared to how Man Utd set up under Ole and how these helped improve the team both in and out of possession.

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Manchester United Lineup vs Villareal

Carrick made big calls in his first game in charge as Interim manager benching an out-of-form Bruno Fernandes and resting Marcus Rashford, who’s likely to have a big role against Chelsea on Sunday. Both these players were brought on around the 60 min mark which made Utd come to life. Luke Shaw missed out due to a head injury.

Man United In Possession vs Villareal

1st Half: In possession, United played a lop-sided 4-3-3 with McTominay as a DM and Fred and Van De Beek as CMs. United struggled to build from the back in the first half against Villareal’s high press and was forced to try unconvincing long balls towards the forwards.

2nd Half: McTominay was asked to drop between the CBs to form a 3-4-3 in the first phase of build-up with Fred as a single pivot. This made it easier to pass through the press. As the ball progresses up the pitch, McTominay regains his CDM role.

This solved one of Utd’s build-up problems under Ole (who used to play a 4-2-3-1) by giving an easier option for CBs to pass to, since CDMs in a double pivot are easily shadow marked/pressed.

Pressing

Defensively Ronaldo’s lack of pressing is United’s biggest weakness.

Why do teams build up from the back?

During the build-up, your GK can participate while the opposition’s GK can’t press meaning you have 11 players in build-up against 10 pressers from the opposition. You thus always have an extra man in build-up. Most times, it’s the GK who’s the free man which is why ball-playing GKs are crucial nowadays.

The issue now with Utd is Ronaldo doesn’t press, meaning the opposition now has 2 extra men in build up and can pass through Utd very easily by picking the free man.

How did managers try to work around that?

Whatever Ronaldo lacks defensively, he gives back in terms of goal meaning his manager has to set up to work around his weakness.

Under Ole, Utd would defend in a 4-4-2 with Bruno tasked with doing the pressing job. But our wingers were too wide and it didn’t seem like the team understood the pressing triggers. The forwards didn’t know how and when to press and you often saw Bruno pressing alone with the team not following behind.

Under Carrick, things looked a little bit more structured and planned. Utd would still set up in a 4-4-2 but more compact with the wingers tucked in and would press in a mid-block rather than doing a high press. CR7 would mark Albiol while VDB marks their Left CDM (Parejo).

The pressing was then triggered when Pau Torres received the ball. VDB would press Torres while shadow marking Dani Parejo. These slight changes made Utd harder to slice through as there were fewer spaces in the Centre for Villareal to work the ball through the mid-block. Villareal had to go to the wings.

The Good and The Bad under Carrick

The Good:

• Fred gets to play as a number 8, which is his best position as he’s best at pressing forward rather than running back. This is also the role under which he shines in Brazil’s setup.
• McTominay dropping back to form a 3 at the back allows Man Utd to build up a lot more comfortably.

The Bad:

• Utd lacked aggressiveness in pressing. Until the last 30 mins, it felt like the only way Man Utd could recover the ball would be from a Villareal mistake/misplaced pass.
• The pressing tactic deployed will struggle to work against a 3-4-3 since the pressing man up front (Bruno/VDB) will be outnumbered by 2 players. Utd would be forced to play a low block to defend against a 3-4-3 using a 4-4-2.

• Utd were too lop-sided to the left in possession. Ronaldo and Martial were in similar areas (see avg positions below) and a clear lack of synergy was observed between the two. Sancho, who was undoubtedly the best player on the pitch should have been given more of the ball.

Final Thoughts

Whoever the new manager will be, his biggest task will be to get the team working hard again, which ironically is what Ole said in one of his first press conferences in 2018: “Man Utd needs to be the most hardworking team in the league”

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Tim Notke

Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL Gameweek 13:

FPL GW13 Top Transfer Ins and Outs | Transfer Trends & Combinations
FPL GW12 Sunday Fixtures Stats and Eye Test-Based Review
FPL GW12 Saturday Fixtures Review Based on Stats and Eye Test

Link to all our FPL Gameweek 13 blogs.

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