Maguire's rare substitution with Varane reflects another change in Lonnick's tactics. The purpose of this strategy is to build a relatively good forward delivery system. From the actual situation, Manchester United has no problems in the initial link of the offensive construction, but there are more problems in the delivery of the offensive terminal. In the end, it was able to equalize the score while falling behind, relying on the "staged" high pressing that had been fixed at this stage, and the two opportunities of B Fee and Fred in the first and second half came from this way.
Further, the key points of Lonnick's new life but many flaws highlight Rashford's current "predicament".
[Double centre-back transposition, what Ronnick wants to do]
Dalot's position was relatively delayed, and in the offensive organization stage, a high three-man position was formed with the double center-back. Horizontal width is enough. More crucially, Maguire and Varane made a swap, what was Lonnick's expectation?
First of all, we have to analyze The "mid-to-long distance" shooting system of Manchester United in recent seasons. On the big frame, it is Maguire in the left centre-back position, completing the longitudinal connection of the left half of the attack, as well as the right side of the contact. Lindelof, on the other hand, is more of a longitudinal pass on the offensive end done at right-back.
Figure 1: In the 20-21 season, Maguire (left) and Lindelof (right) pass data over long distances
Varane and Lindelof's ability to shoot the ball is basically balanced, the difference is that in the long pass, Lindelof is slightly ahead. In terms of reverse foot shooting ability, Varane is better.
So, Lonnick chose Maguire and Varane as the starting centre-backs, and exchanged positions, what exactly did he want to do? Simply put, it is Varane who connects the midfield through his short and medium distance transmission on the left side, especially under pressure, and his reverse delivery quality is trustworthy; in the process of Dalot's recovery, Maguire, who is constantly in the middle/right center-back, can frequently send long passes.
The basic posture of the backfield high is as follows:
Fig. 2: Varane's forward transfer of the reverse foot under pressure is very precise (0.5 times speed)
Figure 3: Maguire has been vacant in the middle of the road for two consecutive long passes in the front
Through these two gifs, we can see the train of thought, and likewise, we can feel the "problem".
[Alternate front insertion, still can't make up for the lack of offensive depth]
In this game, United's non-frontal positioning duties are very "meticulous": Sancho is the receiving point of the pull edge, and it is mainly a short and medium distance pass. B Fee, Pogba, Erlanga and even Fred, alternately inserted.
To put it bluntly, it is the 4 people who optimize their physical fitness and take turns to attack the back of the other defense line.
In Figure 3 above, for example, Maguire has a long pass in a row and can find teammates who pull the edge. However, under the restrictions of Leicester City, the follow-up organizational promotion effect is average. Returning to the high position to continue to organize, then Maguire's pass will be more aimed at depth. The essential problems are revealed, the Manchester United forward players have no mobility to the antibody grid (Pogba), and there is a lack of mobility against the impact (B Fee, Erlanga, Fred).
Figure 4: Varane's passing line for this match between Varane and Maguire
United's attacking organisation can bypass Leicester City's high blockade, but when it comes to the wing, it can't break the game. The high-level over-the-top pass, less offensive depth of the impact. This can be seen from the passing data chart above. That is to say, after Maguire's iconic set of work in Figure 3 above, Manchester United's thinking cannot be opened. Because, lack of depth impact.
And who can Manchester United bring attacking depth before? Marcus Rashford, and Aoki in "Advanced".
[The first-leg goal and Rashford's current bench "dilemma"]
In the first leg of the meeting, Marcus Rashford received a long pass from centre-back to complete the deep-forward goal, and Manchester United once equalized the score. Believe it, Lonnick won't fail to see it. But what is the reason for putting Rashford on the bench this time?
Perhaps, he was waiting for the frontcourt players to consume each other and then use Rashford as a backhand. Speculation shows that veteran Evans was replaced by Amathai, and there are factors in this regard. Or maybe Rashford really can't sustain the longitudinal impact of the first leg at the moment.
The reason why it is said to be "or" is because we can't see the actual situation and physical data of player training, nor can we have a deep understanding of how the team is deployed internally.
But one question is certain, Lonnick has once again made a new attempt, and it is not difficult to understand this. At the same time, the irrationality of The structure of Manchester United's squad has once again shown how big the problem of the team's hardware is, and we can spy a lot in the Era of Lonnick. If the successor were Tenhag or Pochettino, the hardware problems might have been more thoroughly exposed.
Kind of incomprehensible, right?