Solskjaer and Manchester United had a difficult start. After the introduction of Varane, it feels that Manchester United's defensive crisis has passed, but the actual development has not proceeded as planned. Manchester United has only conceded no goals in two games since August.
Chelsea scored 26 league points in the first 11 rounds, and Manchester United had only 17 points, 9 points behind. After being severely humiliated by Liverpool in the match against Liverpool, Solskjaer decided to change back to a three-back formation. The Manchester United coach would trust the three central defenders in the face of strong enemies before, and the effect was good.
Let's take a closer look at the tactical structure of the two teams with
cab주소 and analyze the difference between Chelsea and Manchester United's three central defenders. For Manchester United's three central defender system, we will mainly analyze the Manchester Derby.
Chelsea's five-back system (when defensive):
Without the ball, Chelsea's first line of defense will maintain a narrow position, while the line of defense is still high. The wing guard will have the freedom to move forward to take care of the opposite wing back, and the center back will adopt a proactive defensive mentality to deal with the opposing wing forward. The narrowed formation also makes the space between Chelsea's fronts smaller and can form a numerical advantage on the side of the ball.
Their press is also quite good. At this time, the position will become 5-3-2, and the forward will put pressure on the opposing center back. The ball-side winger must either block the pass in the center and compress the space on the court, or take care of the opposite wing back. In the process, the far-end winger will retreat with Jorginho and Kanter to form a three-midfielder.
Manchester United's five-back system:
Ole tries to use a system similar to that used by Tuchel, hoping to ensure that the defensive end is sufficiently robust. However, there are significant differences in the five-back system of the two teams, which makes the effects of the entire system quite different. In the previous Manchester derby, Manchester United's defensive position was 5-1-3-1, McTominay was a defensive midfielder, and Ronaldo was at the forefront.
Manchester United's initial approach was to block the space in the middle and prevent Manchester City from advancing in the middle. However, they did not last too long. Unlike Chelsea, Manchester United's full-back does not have the power to move forward to take care of the opposite full-back. Manchester City's system ensures that Foden and Jesus can be close to the sideline, they will not frequently cut in, but bypass the Manchester United defense.
This makes Manchester United's full-backs very uncomfortable, especially Wan-Bisaka, he often gets into the situation of facing Foden and Cancelo alone. Fernandez did not retreat resolutely, and Bayi also appeared hesitant when he left the defense zone in the middle. The result is that Manchester City can always pose a threat to Manchester United in the wing area.
So Manchester United changed the position to a flat 5-4-1. However, this has caused new problems. After Manchester United drained a 4-man midfield defense line, Manchester City began to find a space between Manchester United's two front lines. Gundogan's position is always higher, while De Bruyne and Silva will rotate frequently.
As the game progressed, Manchester City relied on Rodri's steady performance to free up a free midfielder, able to always gain a number advantage in a small area. So they easily gained the advantage of possession (71% in the first half), kept close to Manchester United's goal, and finally with Cancelo's two passes on the left to tear the Manchester United defense.
Manchester United's line of defense is also problematic. The division of labor among the players still seems unclear, and they are somewhat confused about the position and timing of the press. Manchester United's defense line will easily expose the vacancy, if it is not for De Gea to open up, Manchester City can effortlessly expand the score further.
Chelsea's offensive system:
Chelsea's system will give the wing guards considerable flexibility, allowing them to enter the opponent's penalty area. The wingback has an excellent game tacit understanding with the winger on the same side, and can change positions frequently. Generally speaking, the duty of the wing guard is to maintain width, but it is not dogmatically insisting on 90 minutes.
The responsibilities of Chelsea players will be frequently exchanged, and Tuchel also followed Guardiola's approach, letting the inside-cut full-back threaten the opponent's penalty area. In this process, the winger will switch to the wing to pull the opponent's formation and open up the gaps in the ribs. Chelsea players' rotations are very natural, making it difficult for opponents to cope.
"If you have a three-back formation, then the wing back's responsibilities are closer to the midfielder than the full back." Chelsea said before the match against Malmo. Ta and Alonso are called defenders. Sometimes they do need to participate in the defense, but they have the freedom to participate in the attack. Compared with the traditional full-backs, they are closer to the opponent's penalty area. We will encourage them to rush into the penalty area. , To become an offensive terminator and increase our offensive threat."
"James' internal cut offense is what we allow, there is no problem." Tuchel explained, "The focus is on the areas where we want to attack. In all areas where we want to show offensive threats, we will arrange players, so if one The winger pulls the side to provide offensive width, and the wing guard can attack the side."
Manchester United's offensive system:
Manchester United's division of labor in this new system is not particularly clear. In addition, Manchester United has not been able to use up the width of the field. In their offensive system, the right wing is rarely used, and Wan Bisaka often falls into the adversity of going solo.
The selection of frontcourt personnel makes it more difficult for them to integrate into specific tactical roles. Players like Greenwood are more suitable to be active in the ribs as an inside forward, rather than close to the sideline as a winger. For Manchester United, the arrangement for Bruno to appear in the middle is not negotiable.
This makes Manchester United's offense excessively left, and the team's offense has become more predictable. In addition, Ole's team did not do a good job in the transfer between the two wings. Unlike Luke Shaw, Wan Bisaka's offensive attributes are completely inadequate.
Wan Bisaka's cross did improve, but it was still not enough, and his own offensive threat was too small, and he seldom tried to insert the edge to threaten the opponent's full-back behind. The result is that the opponent will deliberately retract the defensive position on the left, and gather heavy troops in the defense zone on the right to deal with Manchester United's left attack.
The players on the left of Manchester United did not seem to have fully sorted out their responsibilities. When Ronaldo rushes forward, Fred will usually cruise on the left side to support Luke Shaw. With McTominay occupying the middle lane, Fred can make use of the rib space properly. In this way, it can also form a number advantage on the side of the ball.
However, we rarely see Fred advance in, he will instead retreat to provide the ball option to teammates in the center. When Bruno got the ball to observe the situation on the field, it was Greenwood or Ronaldo who rushed forward.
In order to create a two-on-two opportunity, Bruno will try to lean to the side as much as possible. The crosses sent to Ronaldo are usually not inefficient, but as long as the opponent collects in the middle and accumulates manpower, it is still difficult to take advantage of such an offensive method.
Summarize
If used properly, the five-back formation allows the team to achieve the goal of a solid defense. However, Manchester United needs to use this formation in a way that suits the characteristics of its own players. Tuchel's team only conceded 4 goals in the first 11 league rounds, while Manchester United conceded 4 goals in 2 games against Atlanta and Manchester City. The coaching staff must determine in detail the responsibilities of each player on the court, and Solskjaer must ensure that his opponent cannot easily interpret and predict his own system.
