Playing at home against Championship-seventh-place Fort Mi, the Red Devils lost in a penalty shootout and fell into the fourth round of the FA Cup. The last time United were out of the competition so early was in 2014, the first season after Sir's retirement.
Even if they suffer from "controversial goals", Manchester United can completely seal the victory in advance with the obvious advantage of various statistics. A single game wasted 7 excellent scoring opportunities, making this duel full of "systematic innings". In fact, the Red Devils, in the case of superior strength and correct thinking, have exposed more than just the lack of ability to terminate. In the front court's cooperative transmission, there are also many problems. It can even be said that this further exposes the essential concerns of The United attacking end.
[Wilder's blockade strategy, Manchester United with width and behind the impact to crack]
Previously, when coaching Sheffield United, Wilder used "hardness and blockade" to create a lot of trouble for Manchester United, and finally got points from the Red Devils. Manchester United's squad structure is not much optimized compared to the original, and Wilder has room to follow suit.
As a result, Mibourg did not completely shrink in the defensive zone three waiting for a counterattack, but sought to limit as much as possible at the high level.
Figure 1: The Mibao 532 formation has more premises, and the purpose is to limit The organizational advancement of Manchester United
In the face of The Millborg's limitations, Manchester United mainly used two strategies to "break the game":
First, make full use of the width of the backfield, complete more lateral transfers, and create a vacancy at the far end to complete the advancement. Second, B-fee retracement helps high-level teammates pass behind them and hit the deep space of Miburg.
Overall, the effect is actually good.
Figure 2+3+4: Showcasing the effects of United's attack
From adding width to the backcourt to create a push space to break through the highs, to constantly sending the ball back for impact, Manchester United created a large number of scoring opportunities in the first 30 minutes. Unfortunately, United's attackers did not fare well in the final shot. According to sofascore statistics, Manchester United have lost a total of 7 excellent scoring opportunities in this game, which can only be described as "squandering".
[The problem is not only the end, Manchester United's lack of cooperation with the "terminal" highlights the essence of hidden worries]
After relying on the strength of the advantage to break the opponent's limit, Manchester United showed not only a lack of opportunity to grasp, but also a very obvious problem: the high turnover rate of offensive coordination. This error rate is related to the limitation of the opponent's physical output, and it is also directly proportional to Manchester United's own coordination ability and lack of tacit understanding.
Figure 5+6+7: The last pass after Manchester United's effective cooperation, the problem continues to appear
The quality of the players is higher than that of the opponents, which determines that Manchester United can play an effective cooperation, but in the important consideration of "rapid coordination", Manchester United will have a very large turnover rate. On the one hand, this is related to the fact that Manchester United has not built a sufficiently elaborate coordination routine before, on the other hand, there is a particularity in the "characteristics" of the midfield players.
To put it bluntly, it is that United's midfielders have one or more qualities that are particularly outstanding. However, the comprehensive quality that supports the team to play a fast pass and run is relatively scarce: C Ronaldo has declined due to his age; B fee lacks the quality of hard ball holding; Rashford is not fine enough; Sancho is good at cooperation but has a short impact ability and so on.
This largely determines that as long as the attack is accelerated, The failure rate of Manchester United to cooperate will be very high. That's the ultimate cause of United's attacking problems. To take a very obvious example, why C Ronaldo and Cavani will make the front line have a certain improvement, it is because these two veterans can complement each other, "piece together" the quality of a comprehensive strong striker, directly become an important tactical fulcrum of Manchester United's frontcourt.
Figure 8: Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo on the offensive end
In the case of physical fitness without a red light, Cavani and C Ronaldo can work together to play a strategic effect, at this time, after B Fee, Greenwood and others participate, United's forward attack will be much smoother.
[Manchester United's "toughness" may continue]
During this winter break, Manchester United loaned Out martial Arts, Van de Beek, Diallo and others, Greenwood was temporarily adjusted out of the team because of "domestic violence", Lingard was a little "small temper" because of the failure of the loan, and the team's midfielders suffered large losses. Coupled with the obvious physical shortcomings of Cavani, Fred and others after returning from the national team, it further led to the stretching of Manchester United in this game.
And Sancho's position after being unwell further exacerbated the problem.
Pogba recovered from injury, and although he had "old problems" in more than 80 minutes, he was able to bring some scarce midfield quality to Manchester United. Judging from The praise that Lonnick praised him after the game, the performance of the French star was still recognized. Not surprisingly, Pogba will get more opportunities to appear next.
What is visible to the naked eye is that Manchester United's current "toughness" will not improve in a short period of time.