After a 1-0 win over Villa, Manchester United advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup. In the case of a harsh public opinion environment, the value of a victory is very high.
From a technical and tactical point of view, Lonnick's preparation is actually very sufficient, which is also the core reason why Villa can only output "defensive attack" in the first half, but cannot limit The United's advance. But after half-time, Villa's key changes directly "forced" Manchester United to have difficulty with the ball. When Lonnick replaced Edinny Edinson Van de Beek, it meant that United completely abandoned the initiative and began to wear down their opponents.
Clearly, both sides had a win in this game: United won the much-needed victory and Villa found a chance to win the league at the weekend.
[The slow-moving "Little Nine-Nine", what does Longnick's movement warfare want? 】
Against Villa's 433 formation, United's opening controls were not bad, but they could only pass the ball through the dispatch of the centre-backs and constantly organize the sides. Villa's midfield running pull edge and full-back premise can be enough to complete the limit. Moreover, once Villa completes the defensive turn, United's defense will be very passive: there are problems in midfield coverage, confrontation, and the lack of destruction ability in the defensive line, Villa will definitely carry out an open attack.
Of course, Villa also attacked in this way, constantly taking out outside opportunities in the defensive turn attack, testing De Gea with long-range shots. McKinn, J-Ramsey and Buendia frequently hit open long-range shots, and De Gea "sprayed" at his teammates on the perimeter, which is the norm.
This mode of delivery is not enough to create opportunities in the front and give United a space in the position battle. So what is the attacking model that United want? Simply put, it is to squash the opponent's formation by scheduling it, and get the opportunity to attack the far-end empty position and the periphery of the middle road.
Figure 1: United's attacking advance pattern in the first half
Since the choice is a 1.5-speed GIF, let's focus on the details of this attack: 1. When Shaw received the ball, B Fee had a clear hand shape, signaling Luke Shaw to slow down; 2, Fred and Wheat respectively completed the splitting schedule to the side; 3, Villa midfielder did not have any opportunity to force the closing, and could only recover the formation; 4, B Fee and Cavani rushed forward to press the Villa defense with Cavani, and then came to the left, and so on.
The most direct embodiment is that Manchester United has gained enough space in the outside world in the absence of grab points in the penalty area. Wheat, who shot fewer on goal under Lonnick and was further behind Fred (including Shaw), had plenty of long-range chances. This largely compensated for Fred's lack of peripheral finishing ability, after all, wheat's "feet" were tougher.
Figure 2: Under the Rotation of Manchester United, there are many opportunities on the periphery
[Villa's promotion and rush to complete the break, Lonnick's backhand can only maintain stability]
Villa's changes were made after half-time, mainly reflected in the increase in the intensity of high pressing. Even, at this physical node of 60 minutes, they turned on a wave of anaerobic running, confrontation output. Manchester United were able to play offensively from the beginning of the second half, and then they were directly forced to take the ball out of difficulty, and the perception was very strong.
Figure 3: Villa's high-level pressing posture in the second half
United's passive posture is very obvious: the attack cannot be pushed out, the loss of the ball continues to suffer shocks, and Fred, Shaw and Dalot in the midfield have received yellow cards. If United don't make adjustments, conceding a goal is a super probability event.
Lonnick's adjustment was to replace Edani with Van de Beek and the midfield became a diamond-shaped midfielder. The change in this diamond-shaped midfield is reflected in both sides, with Van de Beek pulling the edge when attacking, because his one-foot shot is of good quality. When confrontation and defense, the team directly becomes 451, and the midfield accumulates enough people to use troops to resolve the shortcomings of the confrontation and let Villa attack on the wing by relying on the number of positions.
Figure 4: Changes in the way United organise after Shells came on
Figure 5: Midfield reinforcements, cutting Vera's midfield organized group
This change worked well, directly leading to Villa's final stage of attack "thunder and rain points", which could only be divided into sides and long passes. But Manchester United's attack has only fallen into a situation where there is only depth and lack of flanks. In the final stage, the appearance of Elanga and Lingard shows that Lonnick still hopes to "bo" again at the last moment.
【Extended Thinking】
The problem of the structure of manchester United's squad no longer needs to be repeated, and the players' state in the game is sluggish, the morale is questioned, and enough media have analyzed it. Of course, the scrappy youth training like Wheat and Dalot's bloody fight still show that this Manchester United still has a competitive temperament.
From a tactical point of view, Lonnick is a kind of "stud", and he completely plays all available strategies. For Villa, the team's competitive advantages of mobility and aggression give them a good enough chance to impact and create a threat to De Gea. But their pressing qualities were not fully utilized at Old Trafford, and after more than 20 minutes of strong output in the second half, they were limited by Lonnick's substitutions. But in the league at the weekend, Gerrard will certainly cash in on this pressing quality by adjusting, because it shows a visible effect on United's attack and defense.
What about Lonnick? After Sancho and Ronaldo can play at the weekend, can his strategic change effectively deal with Villa, who does not want to "lose manchester United"?