Relying on De Gea's bravery to play "survive" the passivity of the first half, United scored three goals in the second half to win Brentford 3-1. To be sure, it was a very crucial but seemingly heart-wrenching victory.
There is no negation of the other players, but the key play of De Gea, Erlanga and Wheat has indeed become the "cornerstone" of United's win.
[The Red Devils' offensive reform encountered difficulties, and Eranga plugged in to solve the problem]
Lonnick is already changing, and recently he has begun to gradually abandon the 4222 system, and Manchester United's formation has transitioned to 433. Simply put, after the wheat was delayed, Fred and B Fee became the No. 8 position. However, the two will alternately withdraw in the construction of the team's offensive organization. The positive impact is that Manchester United has more players in the "attack low position", which can compress the opponent's formation to the greatest extent, so that the periphery has a more relaxed ball holding space and the possibility of splitting.
Figure 1: Changes in United's positional attack
As you can see from the picture above, on the side of center C Ronaldo, there is a premise B Fee and Fred. The practical effect was that United managed to suppress the opponent's midfield through the premise of 3-man and wheat. This gives the Manchester United centre-back a very loose environment for holding the ball, and will also form an effective space to receive the ball on the flanks.
In this case, all United needs to do is play with the ribs on the flanks. Unfortunately, United did not play the depth of the offensive end in this game, and the Red Devils could only effectively use the 45-degree area.
Figure 2: Manchester United's side ribs are not working well
After half-time, United's offensive end was adjusted, and the team's vertical pass began to increase after the rib pass combination increased. And the immediate effect is to score goals.
Picture 3: A panoramic view of United's first goal
As you can see from the image above, fred chose to retreat after Manchester United split the right side. Receiving the ball in the open position, he seized the opportunity of C Ronaldo's retraction attraction and Erlanga's forward insertion, and sent a precise longitudinal top ball. Youngster Erlanga completed a wonderful stop and a consistent header on the run to give United the lead.
United's forward line essentially needs more no-ball runbacks, and Erlanga has begun to bring more obvious additions, which is a very good trend.
[Resist the "bee" rush, De Gea is the most critical link]
The problems with the structure of United's squad are very obvious, and there are major problems with the mobility of confrontation and coverage. Therefore, as long as the opponent relies on physical output to strengthen the pressing and impact, Manchester United's defense will be very passive.
Brentford's strategy is very correct, effective counterattack and staged high pressing to create impact opportunities.
Figure 4+5: If it weren't for De Gea's bravery, United might have conceded a goal in the first half
Brentford's staged high press made a mistake in United's attacking organisation and then nearly cashed in on the goal. After giving up possession, they are deliberately looking for opportunities to quickly counterattack to create an impact.
Throughout the first half, their XG reached 1.39 compared to Manchester United's 0.2, which is a hugely different statistic. It also fully showed that if it were not for De Gea's bravery, United's conceded goals would have come earlier.
[Brentford's physical fitness declines, wheat becomes the cornerstone of the counterattack]
What measures Brentford's physical decline? Anti-preemptive data. In the first half, they completed 31 counter-attacks, in the second half they were 38, and even the front field area was more aggressive. However, their restrictions on United's defensive turnaround have declined. The direct cause of this difference is the decline in physical fitness.
Figure 6: Brentford's counter-snatching data comparison in the first and second half
More crucially, Brentford has a more obvious premise in order to equalize the score, which directly brings them the kind of multi-person midfield encirclement in the first half, which is difficult to sustain.
In this case, the Manchester United midfielder can improve the confrontation of wheat can play well: in this game, his pass success rate is as high as 90%, 9 times in 13 confrontations, 6 times are successful 5 times. United's 2nd and 3rd goals started with Wheat after a successful confrontation and then a ball operation.
Figure 7+8: Panoramic view of United's 2nd and 3rd goals
C Ronaldo's chest ball and B Fei's two cakes are very silky, but wheat's passing and impact operations after the midfield confrontation are the basis for Manchester United to complete the effective defensive turn attack "harvest".
【Conclusion】
The current public opinion environment of Manchester United is still bad, and the internal and external pressure on Lonnick is also very large, so the value of winning Brentford away from home in passivity is not more than 3 points. At the same time, There are still many problems on the defensive end of Manchester United.
Conventionally, a team's system construction should start from the defense, create a stable defense line and then increase the routine and details of the frontcourt attack. The structure of the Manchester United squad is not reasonable, most of the players belong to the type with outstanding advantages but obvious shortcomings, and Lonnick is currently "moving the knife" from the formation structure, which has a more obvious rationality. If we want to continue to improve, reinforcements must be carried out.