Manchester's stadium may not need lights, as two bald heads will illuminate the greenery here. Watching City play more and more beautifully under Guardiola, United brought in Tenhag, who had worked with Guardiola at Bayern and played beautiful football with Ajax for the past four years.
The Dutch really know how to attack, but Tenhag has special requirements for defensive players. If United can't meet this, perhaps beautiful football will become the coach's "epitaph" in Manchester.
01. Studied with Guardiola: he is a Dutchman who serves everything in the offensive
a. From a not-so-brilliant playing career: to a coach who stayed in Germany
As a player, Tenhag was a centre-back who had a not particularly illustrious career, but won the Dutch Cup with Twente in 2001. After retiring from retirement, he became a team assistant coach, following former Manchester United star McLaren to serve his old club.
His initial success came from teaching the Dutch sub-team Forward Eagles, leading the team to help the team advance to the Dutch First Division in his first year, so he was favored by Bayern as the head coach of the team's youth team, and thus got the opportunity to watch Guardiola train and learn from close range.
Despite being a two-tier team, As Bayern's second-team manager, Tenhag can frequently seek advice from Guardiola, which has helped him a lot in his growth.
After leaving Bayern, he returned to the Netherlands as Utrecht manager, leading the team to qualify for the Europa League, so he was matched by Ajax and gradually became known to the world.
During his leadership in the past four years, he has helped the Eredivisie Giants win 4 titles with a winning percentage of nearly 74%. It should be noted that Manchester United only won 3 titles after Ferguson left, 2 of which were won by Jose Mourinho.
b. 2 Champions League knockout rounds: Folding the top 4 because "too naïve"?
In the four seasons he has been in charge of Ajax, Tenhag has led the team to the Champions League knockout rounds twice. The most successful of these seasons, 2018-19, even reached the top four of the Champions League and once established a two-legged 3-0 lead, just one step away from the final.
However, Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur, at that time, without Kane, played a strong offensive and defensive conversion speed-up effect. The team's midfielder pushed heavily along the flanks, finding Tenhag's weakness on the defensive end.
In response to Tenhag's high pressing and local pressure, Pochettino let the midfielder pull open the width of the reception, driving the Ajax defensive force to move sideways, find the space behind the reception, and finally release the speed advantage of Lucas Jr. and Son Heung-min in the front.
With a 3-0 lead on aggregate, Ajax still pressed forward to press the attack, perhaps the naïve side of Tenhag.
Spurs' biggest advantage is the speed of attack and defense conversion, and their goal is precisely the problem of the lack of Ajax in the midfield. A wave of counter-attacks with 4-3 goals opened up Tottenham's big comeback.
However, Tenhag did not change his style for this, and after 2 years of the Champions League group stage, he fought with Chelsea, Valencia and Liverpool and Atalanta, and finally regrettably fell into the Europa League.
In this season's Champions League group stage, Tenghag, who held high the banner of attack, took Ajax to double-beat Borussia Dortmund to win 6 consecutive games, and the total number of goals scored in the group stage reached the 4th in the history of the Champions League restructuring.
02. Emphasis on high pressing and rapid advancement: the overall forward formation is very aggressive
a. Pressing at a high level is not the goal: what is pursued is a rapid offensive advance
As you can see from the statistics, Tenhag's Ajax really have a lot of similarities with Guardiola's Manchester City. Of course, the so-called counterattack is still because of the caliber of statistical standards.
Through super control, a large number of secondary attacks or on-site counterattack opportunities are obtained, and are not considered long-distance counterattacks in statistics. But that's exactly what the coach of the control stream is pursuing, and the goal of possession is not to slow down.
As you can see from the GIF, it was Mazlawi who broke the ball, who is a very important link in the Tenhag system. However, at the moment of breaking the ball, the horizontal interception surface is two layers of 3+4 pressing force.
Seven people were thrown into the 30-meter area of the front court, and the counterattack on the spot after the break was also a rapid movement of many people on the lateral surface, bringing the opportunity to shoot.
Let's take a look at the offensive and defensive conversion this time, when Anthony made a mistake, Mazlavi counterattacked at the first time, and his teammates also pinched at the same time, ensuring that the opponent could not play a counterattack opportunity.
Mazlawi's impact is indeed very good, and in the recent Dutch Cup final, he was still one of the most eye-catching players.
This time, after breaking the ball, he headed into the box and then sent a cross. Despite being rubbed by a defender in the middle, Tadic at the back was still given a chance to shoot, but unfortunately the ball smashed on the goalpost and popped up.
After Tenhag took charge of Manchester United, perhaps Mazlawi may not necessarily go to Bayern. At this moment, I don't know if it will be too late if Manchester United strikes.
b. The offensive end invests a lot of troops: high-level pressing is support for offensive input
The reason why we should particularly emphasize the importance of high-level pressing is related to the huge investment of Tenghag's team in the offensive end.
His offensive breadth is to pull the wingers apart on both sides, followed by the right winger inserting the ribs, bringing the forward insertion of the center forward, and the sudden adduction of the wingers on both sides. Eventually, 6-7 people enter the core area, forming a multi-point envelopment.
As you can see from the GIF, Mazlawi is really important under Tenhag's tactical system. This time it was centre-back Lisandro Martinez who sent a long cross to find right-back Mazlawi who had inserted his ribs in the penalty area.
After the latter took the first point, he took advantage of the excess of Anthony on the outside and got the opportunity to start in the corner of the penalty area. At the moment of the cross, Ajax was attacked by 4 players into the box, but unfortunately failed to complete the shot this time.
Judging by Tenhag's tactical system, in the picture below, when Mazlawi was preparing to cross, as many as 5 teammates came to the front and back of the box.
The middle of the road is a beautiful engagement triangle, and the big penalty area line is under the control of Anthony and Gravenberg.
It is clear from the GIF that the attack is still anthony receiving the ball from the outside, and the rib space allows Mazlawi to insert the cross forward and back.
The key is the position in the middle, with Boguez moving sideways to bring a shot from Gravenberg forward and back. It is worth noting that at this point on goal, Tadić and Anthony are in excellent positions, and if it is not too particular about the angle of the rebound of the ball, the Ajax players have a high probability of getting a chance to make up for it.
03. The United defence must change blood: otherwise Tenhag is at risk of defeat
A. Tenhag's use of defenders: all in the service of the attack
Judging from Ajax's Champions League exit process in the past 4 years, Tenghag has his "naïve" side, as well as his amazing obsession and dedication to attack.
When the opponent's counterattack can be turned back, Tenhag's system is more demanding for the defender, requiring decisive footing and destruction ability, which may not be available to the current Manchester United midfielders.
At Ajax, the team's attacking core, Tadic, must also be heavily defensive and pressed. But even so, in the case of a fierce position on the midfield line, there is still a possibility that the middle road will be penetrated by the straight ball, and the center-back will need to pay for it strongly.
As you can see clearly from the GIF, Ajax's midfield is still a bit loose. The ball went straight to Eindhoven's right-back Juninho (Dutch football's full-backs are not just on the wing), and then Götzen took the ball inside and almost killed.
Lisandro Martinez had lost his spot, but fortunately the straight plug was a bit straight, and was intercepted by another centre-back, Tinbert, who did not give Jacpo to his feet.
Because of the emphasis on the pressure of the front and the partial convergence of multiple people in the midfield, Tenhag's team often often has 4+1 when defending at the low post, and even relies entirely on the defender to solve the problem on his own.
This time Mazlawi was able to shake people continuously, and it was still very important to completely destroy it.
Looking at this wave of offensive and defensive conversions, Mazlavi's long pass quality is not high, and the center holds the first point to find Anthony who is inserted in front of the flank. When Ajax switched between attack and defense, the entire midfield line was collectively inserted forward without the ball, so it was fatal to make a mistake.
Then the opponent turned back, and if Nunez drilled over, he was completely broken. Mazlawi's tackle was crucial, when the Ajax defence was 4+1.
b. The Manchester United defence has to change blood: otherwise the consequences are serious
For a coach who is good at attacking, a good striker can reach a higher ceiling, but even ordinary attackers can play characteristics in daily life.
Whether it is Guardiola or Xavi, for a coach who advocates attack, the key to whether he can support their ideals depends on the quality of the defender's individual defense. If the United defence does not change blood, Tenhag may have the possibility of tragedy.
Because of Tenhag's aggressive tactics, he now has a choice of 2 small, flexible centre-backs at Ajaxnin.
They need to expand their defensive area during the game, with Timber and Lisandro Martinez on many occasions needing to go to the sidelines to single out attacking players. Even if it is a foul, stop the opponent.
However, the two centre-backs of Ajax are not physically outstanding, and this time Rafa Silva penetrated Lisandro Martinez, almost causing Jafu to be breached.
In fact, the team lost to Benfica, and in the end, it was Nunez's header that forced Timbel to score. Ajax's centre-back can still make up for the flanks, and United's current squad really does not have the tactical support capability.
In addition, after the opponent saw The deployment of Tenhag, there was also the possibility of direct long-passing to the center to talk to the center-back.
Dortmund actually created a lot of opportunities, but Haaland's few shots were unlucky, otherwise Ajax was one step away from a big win and a close.
Conclusion:
With Tenhag's tactical philosophy, it won't be too difficult to pinch United's front. Whether there is C Ronaldo or not, it will not be difficult for a coach who understands offense.
The key success or failure is still looking at the back, from Manchester United's back to the centre-back, all of which belong to the bulky, dull type. Wan Bissaka and Luke Shaw have good athleticism, but neither tactical execution nor ball quotient is high. De Gea expressed his expectations for the new manager because he knew the ball and knew that the coach was going to change his defensive partners?