- 2 hours ago
Life after Ruben Amorim started very well for Manchester United, with Michael Carrick inspiring a stunning 2-0 over rivals Manchester City. Adam Clery breaks down the game to show how their new Interim Head Coach completely outplayed Pep Guardiola and got the best out of Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo
Category
đ
NewsTranscript
00:00Right, hello there everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel, where Manchester United did not just beat Manchester City,
00:07they absolutely battered them.
00:10It was only 2-0, yes, but three goals ruled out to marginal offsides, they hit the crossbar, they hit
00:15the post, Donnarumma made a string of massive saves,
00:19and when you look first at this moment here, and then this moment here, and then this moment here, and
00:28finally this moment here, you can see exactly what it was that Michael Carrick sent them out to do,
00:34and thus, why they put Man City's head in the toilet and kept hitting the flush.
00:44All right, so first, quick reminder that the reason there's all this FOTMOB stuff everywhere is because FOTMOB are our
00:49official data friends,
00:51and as well as seeing them pop up through the videos, you should go and get the app, which has
00:55all of this cool stuff on it, and I earnestly both like and use.
00:58They're great, link is in the description.
01:00But for the game itself, we'll start with this, the opening goal, because even though it does not highlight the
01:06structure Manchester United were using,
01:08here's the two starting 11s for you, in case you wanted to see those, it does highlight the game plan.
01:13Man United are defending a free kick here, and Man City aren't actually as overexposed as they end up looking.
01:21Man United have everyone back, in fact, they only have two players outside the box, and just quick note of
01:26who those two players are, right, we'll come back to that.
01:30City have someone sat way outside of the play as a bit of a safety measure, and crucially, this little
01:35triangle here,
01:36that is there to keep Man United boxed in.
01:40It's a pretty standard setup, if the ball is cleared wide, then you've got two wide players who can go
01:44out and recycle it, put it back into the box,
01:46and if it's cleared centrally, which is a lot more likely, you've still got three players who can react to
01:51that instead.
01:51But the problem that Manchester City have in this situation, it's not the positions, it's the personnel.
01:58None of these are a Rodri or a Nico Gonzalez, it's Shirky, Lewis and Bernardo Silva,
02:03who are great players, yes, but Manchester United have a forward line that is both stronger and quicker,
02:10and in many other ways more physical than all three of those.
02:14So when the ball is cleared, right back to Shirky, it's already taken Lewis out of the situation,
02:19it forces Shirky to confront a ball he can't win, and Silva, the experienced head here,
02:25just immediately drops his arse and starts to sprint back towards his own goal, because he knows what's happening.
02:31If this here is Rodri, you do not get past him as easily as that.
02:35If this is Nunes, he would not be this far the wrong side.
02:39And so the second Fernandes knocks this ball on, Man United have four players who are willing to sick up
02:46a lung
02:47to run it all the way into the back of that net.
02:51Because you take Fernandes and Buermo and Mad and Dogu, you give them space to run into,
02:55and that is how Michael Carrick thought he could get at Manchester City.
02:59And of course, he was right.
03:02Oh my God, how he was right.
03:04The main thing we said when we previewed Michael Carrick's system at Borough
03:07was he would have one fullback being crazy aggressive down one side of the pitch,
03:11getting early crosses into the box, and pushing the wide attacker on that side closer to the goal.
03:16If you've not watched that video yet, it is right there somewhere for you.
03:20He showed you a number of chances that he liked his team to make using primarily the left-back Ryan
03:25Giles.
03:26And the very first attack of this game, they do get that overlap from deep with Dogu
03:30and an early cross into the box that wins a corner.
03:33So initially, I'm watching that thinking, wow, okay, fair play, mate.
03:37Three days on the training ground, and you're getting them to do your thing.
03:41But that is not the pattern that we saw in this game.
03:45And, in fact, despite being listed as this 4-2-3-1, Man United actually settled into way more of
03:51a 4-2-4 on the ball
03:53and then a 4-4-2 sort of mid-block off it.
03:57And that might both sound and look incredibly simple, right?
04:00But the way they executed this, they just completely outmanoeuvred Manchester City with it.
04:06They should have won it by way more than the two goals they did.
04:10So first off, I'm going to show you here how they defended, right?
04:13Because despite how that game might have felt to watch, they still only had about 30% of the ball
04:18and, like, less than half as many passes as Man City did.
04:22So there was a lot of defending.
04:23This 4-4-2 block they were in was never too deep unless it had to be, and it certainly
04:28was not negative.
04:29They were compacting the middle of the pitch.
04:31They were working really hard to shut off all the passing lanes in the middle.
04:36And when City inevitably then moved the ball out wide to try and get around it,
04:41they doubled up on everything.
04:44Like, these are two moments on opposite sides really early in the game.
04:47In the first, you can see City are trying to get down the left-hand side with Doku
04:51and Silva is there supporting him.
04:53But it isn't just Ahmad and Dallo in this zone.
04:57Casemiro and Maguire have both come over to that side to make it a 4v2 in this space here.
05:04And that is a very smart thing to do.
05:07It's a lot of work, it's a lot of extra running, but it is very smart.
05:10Likewise, a few minutes later, City are attempting to get it down the right,
05:14but it's not just Shaw and Dorku who are dealing with Semenyo and Lewis.
05:18Martinez has come across and Casemiro is there again.
05:21Every time Man City got the ball in one of those wide areas in Man United's third,
05:26they were putting the work in.
05:28They were making the extra runs required to get over there and make it a 4v2,
05:32which meant no matter what they were doing,
05:35it was incredibly difficult to get either a man or just the ball back into one of these central areas.
05:41And I just want to point out, right, that this is a gamble on Michael Carrick's part.
05:45That is not playing it safe because if you want to double up on one side of the pitch
05:50and the other team very quickly moves it out to the other,
05:53they're going to find themselves with a lot of space there.
05:56So I can show you this as an example, right?
05:57City get into this situation here.
05:59You can see Dorku is moving into another one of these 4v2 areas.
06:03He cannot get through again, so he goes backwards.
06:07Now, I think Manchester City, at their absolute best, right,
06:10would really quickly have this ball out to O'Reilly and Semenyo,
06:15who, because Lewis here would have Dorku pinned,
06:18could very easily work a 2v1 on Shaw and actually do some damage.
06:22But what happens here in reality is that Rodri is incredibly slow to make this decision,
06:27so it just goes across one to the centre-back instead of switching it.
06:31And then when it does finally go across, it's a bad pass that nearly goes out of play
06:35and they just have to go backwards.
06:37So the risk that Michael Carrick decided to take in this game
06:41was with the makeshift nature of Man City's back four
06:43and the fact that Rodri was just getting back to fitness.
06:46They would really struggle to move that ball from left to right
06:50as quickly as they would need to to hurt his team.
06:54And he was right.
06:55Man United always had the time to make that running across to the far sides
07:00to gum up those parts of the pitch.
07:01So this gave Man United the sort of defensive resilience
07:05we have not seen from them in some time, let's say,
07:11but it was still not a defensive performance.
07:14Yes, it did make them a lot more solid,
07:16but it was only done to give them a platform from which to actually get at them.
07:21And this 4-2-4 worked really well
07:24because he kept having both Nbermo and Fernandes
07:27take responsibility for dropping away from the front line
07:30to get on the ball and feed passes into the lads running beyond them.
07:34Usually it would be Fernandes because he's the better creator.
07:36Like you can see here, he's dropped away from the defence to stand behind Rodri.
07:40They find him in that space, he turns and he's got D'Alo, Ahmad and Buermo and Dorgu
07:45all breaking forwards ahead of him.
07:48And they found that little pocket of space really, really well.
07:52And the reason it worked so well was because of how it overloaded Rodri.
07:56Like one player dropping in, fine, he can pick them up,
07:59but that then means that the other player can drop into the space
08:02while the other one runs off.
08:03And if you don't know which player it's going to be
08:05and you're just coming back from injury,
08:08that's a horrible afternoon to have.
08:09I did not envy him.
08:11Like the first offside is a really good example of this
08:13because it's actually Buermo who drops to get the ball
08:16and you can see right away that Fernandes is running beyond him
08:20rather than sitting and waiting for a pass.
08:22And just by doing this, that movement has made space for Ahmad
08:25to come slightly more central.
08:27And if the timing is fractionally better there, that's 1-0.
08:31But if you go back slightly further in that move, right,
08:34you can see that when the pass goes into Rodri's area,
08:37he's very happy to pass Fernandes off as he starts the run
08:42because he doesn't realise Buermo's dropped in right behind him.
08:47And the thing is, right, I could stand here all day
08:49and talk to you about the tactics, systems, game plan, everything like that, right?
08:53But what Michael Carrick has really done here
08:56that Man Utd have not done in a while
08:58is just understand his players and what they're good at really well.
09:04You've got Ahmad not constantly finding himself in a backline,
09:07having to defend against a winger,
09:09and instead being able to attack open spaces.
09:12Dorgou's athleticism is incredible.
09:14And if you put him in situations
09:15where he can make narrow runs from outside to in
09:19rather than having to be involved really deep
09:21in slow, ponderous passing routines,
09:24look what he can do.
09:25He has an absolutely great game.
09:27And lo and behold, the second goal is him
09:29making a blindside run from out to in.
09:32And I know, like, Rico Lewis has got a kicking in this game
09:35for a number of things,
09:36but I actually think he doesn't do anything wrong here.
09:39His positioning is perfect.
09:40He knows where the man is.
09:41He can see the space in front of him.
09:43It's just that Dorgou is really good at this,
09:46times the run very well, and he can't catch him.
09:48And every single time Man Utd had one of these breaks on,
09:52there is Patrick Dorgou.
09:54He's not being asked to do anything complicated.
09:57He's just being asked to be a fucking nightmare.
10:00But then, right, you've got Bruno Fernandes.
10:05And this is his passing map from that match, right?
10:08So ignore this one, right?
10:09That's the kickoff.
10:10You've got three or four short touches in his own half,
10:13but everything else is either dropping deep
10:16to hit the space in behind this one,
10:18here's that one a match should score from at the end,
10:21or it's at the very top end of the pitch
10:23where he can actually hurt Man City.
10:25Like, even his own successful passes, man,
10:28they're either, like, long rakers into the space in behind,
10:31which are obviously low percentage, but dangerous nonetheless,
10:34or they're straight into the box
10:36when he's trying to make something happen.
10:39And as a result, right, all six of these are key passes,
10:44a pass Fernandes made that directly led to somebody
10:47having an attempt on goal.
10:49So you take those, right, and you add back in
10:51all just the generally successful passes, right?
10:54And what do you notice?
10:56They are left, they are right, they are central,
10:58but they are all almost at the very top end of the pitch
11:02where he is his most effective.
11:04Against Aston Villa, he only made one of those,
11:08one key pass in 90 minutes,
11:11and he's got six against Manchester City
11:14in a game where they only had about 30% of the ball.
11:18That man should be leaving that pitch
11:20with so many assists.
11:22So just, like, forget formations for a second.
11:25Forget the 3-4-2-1.
11:27If you just profile your players correctly,
11:30if you put them in positions and situations
11:32that will maximise their strengths
11:35and cover for their weaknesses,
11:37they will just immediately start playing better.
11:40It's not that hard.
11:42And speaking of which, right,
11:46Kobi Nainu.
11:47He is such a special player
11:49and you can be as solid and robust as you like,
11:52you still won't beat Manchester City
11:53unless you're willing to take a risk somewhere on the ball.
11:57That's how you'll open up an opportunity somewhere else.
12:00And if you go back to the start of this move here, right,
12:02Man City are trying to set a pressing trap.
12:05The ball goes back to Maguire
12:07and just notice the body language
12:09of all the Man City players when it does.
12:12They all react in a coordinated way.
12:15Harlan moves to stop the pass across the pitch.
12:17Rodri jumps up from Casemiro to get tighter to Manu.
12:20And Semenyo looks to come in and get him on his blind side.
12:24And the thing is,
12:25it's not even a particularly good pass to him.
12:27He has to, like, stretch and strain
12:28to even get it under control.
12:30But if you just look at the moment he does,
12:32he's now facing his own goal.
12:35And Man City have them 5v4
12:38in this really, really dangerous area.
12:41But then, just...
12:43Corby Manu.
12:44His touch takes him away from Rodri,
12:46creates a little bit of space,
12:47and then he skips past the challenge from Semenyo.
12:50And suddenly, he's taken all 5 of these players out of the game.
12:54If Luke Shaw gets on his bike,
12:56he's got a clear run down the flank
12:58because Dogu has got the full-back very narrow and very pinned.
13:02And when was the last time, dear friends,
13:04you saw Manchester United play through pressure
13:07as easily as that?
13:10Well, I'll tell you.
13:11It was from right before Ruben Amorim
13:13bombed him out of the starting 11.
13:15Things like this are just what he does.
13:18And if you do not have him in your team,
13:21then your team cannot do those things.
13:24And I do, just really quick,
13:26because we keep mentioning that low possession stat, right?
13:28I want to point out,
13:29this is not some smash and grab.
13:32This is not a counter-attacking win,
13:34even if they do ultimately win it,
13:36with counter-attacking.
13:38This is about as complete a performance
13:40from Manchester United as you have seen in years.
13:44Man City had one solitary, limp attempt on goal in this game.
13:48And just to steal a stat,
13:50directly from Amir at BBC Sport,
13:53you should all absolutely be following,
13:55by the way,
13:55that is their lowest XG under Guardiola
13:58since 2016,
13:59and their second lowest under him ever.
14:03So yes, about as good a start
14:05to life as Manchester United interim manager
14:07as Michael Carrick could possibly have dreamed of.
14:10However,
14:11I must caveat this,
14:13because we have seen,
14:14not quite this good,
14:16but better performances from Man United
14:19in games like this before.
14:21For all the many things
14:23that have been wrong with them for a number of years,
14:25they have still always been able
14:26to just fall back
14:28onto the massive amounts of talent
14:30they have in this squad
14:31and get themselves up for a really big game.
14:34So I've got no doubt whatsoever
14:35they'll still look really good
14:37when they play Arsenal.
14:39But the real challenge for Michael Carrick
14:41is what does this look like now
14:44when you've got Fulham coming up,
14:46you've got Everton coming up,
14:47Crystal Palace,
14:48teams like that.
14:49Can you be better and more effective
14:51in those games?
14:52Because that is ultimately
14:53where their seasons start to collapse.
14:56So yeah,
14:57that was quite a remarkable game of football.
15:00And on another day,
15:01we're literally talking a matter of centimetres here,
15:04Man United go from drawing
15:05with Wolves and Leeds and Burnley
15:08to beating Man City 5-6-0.
15:13And that would be,
15:14that would have been something,
15:15wouldn't it?
15:16And obviously,
15:17Man United fans,
15:17I'm sure you're not too bothered
15:18about it only being 2-0.
15:21But if you have got any thoughts or feelings
15:22about the game and how it went,
15:24and now Michael Carrick,
15:26should he be not in the frame
15:27for getting the job permanently?
15:29I know it's only one game,
15:30but still,
15:31we like to say insane things on the internet.
15:33Get them in the comments down below.
15:34I would love to take the temperature,
15:35take the pulse of you as a fan base,
15:38because is the sky now the limit?
15:40Or is this one good result
15:41in a season that needs to be a lot better?
15:44All of it,
15:44welcome down below.
15:46Until next time,
15:47though,
15:47you can get me across all the social medias
15:48at Adam Cleary,
15:49C-L-E-R-Y.
15:50Become a channel member.
15:52Why not?
15:52Then you can tell me
15:53what videos to actually make,
15:55and you can join us
15:55for the live stream
15:56later on in the week,
15:57where we'll be talking about
15:58more of this
15:59and other things
16:00that I am yet to decide upon.
16:03And thanks again,
16:03of course,
16:04to our data friends,
16:05SpotMob,
16:06for some of the stuff
16:07you've seen on screen.
16:07Go and download the app.
16:08It is in the description.
16:09It's really,
16:10really good.
16:11I would not say that
16:12if I didn't use it myself.
16:14It's,
16:14I'm not going to show you now,
16:15but it's on my phone.
16:16I really like it.
16:16But, yeah, bye.
16:18Have a nice week,
16:19day, life.
16:21Mwah.
Comments