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| How Manchester United Can Beat Bayern In 3 Steps Posted: 05 Apr 2014 02:58 AM PDT
Fellani For Kagawa
Moyes set up a very defensive 4-5-1 with Giggs, Carrick and Fellani in a 3 man midfield. Moyes predicted (like everyone else) that Bayern would dominate possession and thus United needed that extra cover for a fragile looking back four. While the concept of a 3 man midfield was good it did have a couple of flaws. The primary flaw was the choice of Fellani as a Defensive Midfielder. Fellani was tasked to break up play and fight for headers. Fellani lost all but one of his seven aeriel duels and was unable to successfully complete a tackle throughout the 90 minutes. As a result Bayern were able to hold 65% of possession. In midfield Moyes must simply accept that Fellani was ineffective and must replace him with Kagawa. This would result in United playing the following starting XI to successfully accommodate Kagawa:
Kagawa has shown, specially against Villa where he played the defense splitting pass to Mata, that he the ability to thread the ball through to men in space. Playing at CAM will allow him the space to do this however he will not have time. Bayern under Pep press and do not allow players time on the ball. This will apply specially for Kagawa who has a fantastic record against Bayern (5 Games – 1 Draw, 4 Wins) . The image here shows the intensity of Bayern’s pressing under Pep Guardiola. Every single one of their players puts in a defensive shift. That is the beauty of playing Robben and Ribery. They are fantastic forwards however they also have the discipline to track back and help out the defense when needed. That discipline is what we will require of Kagawa as well. A common misconception is that Kagawa is a’free roaming’ player and thus does not track back. Part of that statement is true as Kagawa does often float around the pitch to create space for himself. However he is also a great presser of the ball. At Dortmund he was disciplined and was one of the hardest runners off the ball. He closed down opponents and denied them space. Against Bayern where United will not have possession for large periods of the game Kagawa may have to drop deeper into a 3 man midfield. United would change shape into a 4-3-3 with Valencia and Welbeck on the wings. Shinji would not physically challenge, as he does not have the physicality to do so however he would press and deny the Bayern men space and time, something they crave. This will however NOT impact his forward game as he will be the most advanced midfielder with the least defensive responsibility. On the counter is where our opportunities will lie and his vision and passing will be key to our success scoring this way. We Must Counter Attack As A Unit Some of you might not like the selection of Valencia on the wings however there is good reason why I chose Welbeck and him. They are both extremely hard workers and track back their opposing full backs meticulously. Other more creative players such as Januzaj are not yet disciplined enough to do this and would let their man go free on occasions which could result in a goal. We all know what happened to Ozil when Bayern faced Arsenal. Ozil, a creative player who does not track back often enough let his opposing full back go free on occasions. His selfish work ethic was widely criticized by pundits. That is the last thing we want for Januzaj. To perform on big stages you need to develop discipline as well as talent. He might have an abundance of the latter however his lacking of the former means he is not quite ready for the big stage, YET. At this point you may wonder why I am making such a big fuss about tracking back on the wings. I advise you to have a look at the following image below.
As the image shows Robben has dragged Buttner inwards and in the process left acres of space on the United left flank. This space is primed for Bayern LB Rafinha to run right into. He gallops into this space and is fed with a long cross field diagonal ball from the midfield. Now he has time and more importantly a lot of space to put in a cross. This is how Bayern scored. Rafinha was allowed space because Buttner could not leave Robben. Rafinha was fed the ball from midfield and then he put in a perfect cross from Mandzukic. Mandzukic set the ball up for Schweinsteiger who scored with a thumping half-volley. Some might argue that is a good goal, and they’re right, it is! However it is also an easily avoidable goal! It occurred because Moyes was too attacking! We were 1-0 up and instead of deploying Welbeck on the LW he allowed him to stay up top. This resulted in him not tracking back and providing Rafinha space. If Welbeck had been told to revert back to his original position on the wing than the goal could have been avoided. Moyes however gambled and left Welbeck up top in the hope we could get another goal! A Manchester United like approach for Moyes, however his gamble did not yield any results, this time. Against Bayern on Wednesday we must make sure that our two wingers are tracking back all the runs from the full backs. When we do get possession they must break together. Valenica and Welbeck are also blessed with supreme pace and could out run their opposing full backs, who would be commuted forward. On the counter they must exploit the open space. They must get behind the Bayern back line! For that to happen they need the perfect through ball from Kagawa who will have to be on top form. For this strategy to be effective though they need to break together. If both attacked together then Bayern would have to cover an extra man and would have to track his run as well. This would result in Bayern getting stretched. The man on the ball could then put in a cross to Rooney against a vulnerable and stretched Bayern back line. I have written a lot more about scoring against Bayern on the counter and the importance of Welbeck here. Keep the Defensive Line Consistent Despite the lack of possession being a problem for United, it was a passive problem. Bayern are heavily reliant on their wide players, Robben and Ribery to unlock the opposition. Both Manchester United full backs halted the progress of their opponents and nullified most threats.
The graphic shows Arjen Robben, venting his frustration. Only 1 of his 6 attempted shots was a threat. The only threat was excellently dealt with by De Gea. The rest simply gifted us back much needed possession. The nullification of these two wide men is one hell of a task that no full back looks forward to. However our men Phil Jones and Alexander Buttner stepped up to the plate and made Robben and Ribery look ordinary for the most part. I would like to congratulate Buttner in particular, who despite speculation put in a fantastic shift and tamed Robben. He was later quite rightfully nominated for Man Of The Match. In central defense Vidic and Rio rolled back the years and defended like the unit that had once made them an impenetrable force. Vidic in particular was magnificent. The ruthless Serbian reminded every single Manchester United supporter why he will be missed. He was a rock at the back, completing 13 clearances and making 2 match winning tackles deep in his own box. However his real moment of glory came in the 58th minute when he expertly guided a Rooney corner into the back of the Bayern net to give United the lead. If we wish to qualify for the semi finals a water tight defense will be required. All four of the Manchester United defenders put in excellent displays and earned the right to start again next week at the Allianz. Key Points
Thanks for reading my post and please feel free to leave me feedback and your suggestions in the comments! This post was written by Rafae Qazi and you can follow his Man Utd Blog here. |
| Are United becoming the new Arsenal? Posted: 04 Apr 2014 08:53 AM PDT
There are plenty who feel Moyes should have been sacked ten times over. Others feel he needs time, some claiming that giving him until Christmas would be a suffice period to elapse for him to turn things around. After all, he has been awarded a six year contract; to sack him after less than a year would be ludicrous, right?
There would be no sense in sacking David Moyes before the summer in my opinion. The season, domestically, is over. We are playing for pride in that aspect. But, credit where credit is due, we are still in Europe. Having drawn the best team in the world, we are involved in one of the few ties that remain on a knife-edge following leg one. So let's see where that takes us. But when summer does arrive, the board will have to assess the campaign. Should the miracle happen and we win the Champions League, is that enough to take the heat off of the manager? Or is David Moyes destined to follow the path of Roberto Di Matteo, and find himself jobless after conquering Europe? I believe, if we were to become Kings of Europe again, it would save Moyes. But if, as predicted, the journey in Europe comes to an end at the Allianz Arena, there may be slightly tougher questions for Moyes to answer at his end of season assessment. In that case, the season has been an unmitigated disaster. There is no hiding from that for anyone. It's been verging on shambolic at times and I, nor I'm sure any of you, wish to see another like it. However, if the noises coming out of the club are to be believed, the board will keep faith in 'The Chosen One', for a little longer at least. The question coming from many quarters then would most likely be, why? Well that's obvious boys and girls. It's because United have a tradition of sticking with their manager. But is that really our tradition? The notion clearly comes from the fact that our previous manager, who just so happened to be the greatest of all time, was at the club for over twenty six years. It's well documented that he didn't get off to the best of starts and, arguably, could have lost his job, but alas, the club kept faith. But football was a different game back then. Success was not on such a tight timescale and the patience of fans had a slightly longer lifespan. Not only that, but Alex Ferguson was a proven winner. He'd broken the Old Firm dominance in Scotland and had even taken Aberdeen to European success. In a nutshell, based on his track record, he was more than worth being patient for. As I've mentioned in my previous article, 'The Chosen One', my first concern with David Moyes being appointed was that he held no such success. Sure, he'd stabilised Everton and established them as a top ten Premier League side, but there was no real progression year on year. There was nothing on his C.V that stood out and said: 'This is the man to replace Sir Alex Ferguson'. But, nonetheless, the appointment was made and many fans fears have come to fruition. Any manager of a top Premier League side with the record of David Moyes this season would most definitely have been sacked by now. Anyone but Arsenal, that is. This so called tradition is being used as a reason by the United board as to why Moyes will keep his job into next season. But football has changed. It's a results business more than ever and success must be instant. Sir Alex knew that, that's why he kept his job for the length of time he did. Not because United were patient with him, but because his record was enviable. He was a relentless winner and because of that, our expectations as fans became higher. I'm worried that United are going to fall into a trap of blindly following a tradition, that isn't really the club's tradition. Backing a manager that isn't up to the job, in the interest of not being like every other football club out there. Sir Alex was a one off. Football has changed dramatically and you must move with it. Otherwise, you stagnate. We are becoming what Arsenal have been for the past decade. When 'The Invincibles' broke up, Wenger failed to replace them. In the time between him building that team and it dispersing, football had moved on. Transfer fees had gone up a level, as had wages, as had player's attitudes. Wenger hasn't quite seemed able to accept that and has desperately tried to find the winning formula through old methods. If you look at their trophy cabinet from the past nine years, you'll see it hasn't worked. Sure, they have come close on more than one occasion, but that club's tradition of winning trophies has been well and truly blown out of the door. They may well win the FA Cup this year; in fact they must, but does that make all those trophy barren years justified? Arsenal are frightened to sack Arsene Wenger. It comes partly from respect for the work he has done at the club, which no one can deny has been terrific to a point. But Arsenal are another team that pride themselves on sticking by their manager. Effectively, Wenger won't leave, until he says he's going. It's a scary path and, by sticking by Moyes, I worry that it's the same one that United are considering heading down. The club cannot be scared to make a decisive call on the manager's future; it's the same principle as a football club not being held to ransom by a player. The club's incredible history is not about sticking by a manager, it's about having incredible men at the helm who built incredible teams. Moyes' appointment of course was heavily influenced by Sir Alex Ferguson. I would love to know his frank and honest feelings of what's happened this season and where he would place the blame. One thing is for sure, none of it is his to take and the fans who aimed abuse at him recently at Old Trafford should be ashamed of themselves. But, having read his book, one of the running themes through it was his acknowledgement that he can never admit when he is wrong. It is something we will never hear him say in relation to David Moyes' appointment, I'm sure of that, and, who knows, it may yet prove to be the correct decision. However, if, as many believe, things don't pick up, someone is going to have to bite the bullet and make the correct decision by pulling the plug on Moyes' reign. The sad aspect of it is that that decision will come when the matters on the pitch spill over and have a detrimental effect on the Glazers' bank balance. My prediction is that Moyes will keep his job and lead United into the 2014/15 season. But it surely must be on the condition that, come Christmas, we are up challenging at the top of the league. Not top four but top two. It's decisions today that can have an effect on the ultimate future of a football club. We made the right one all those years ago by sticking by a winner like Sir Alex and must be cut throat now in our dealings with David Moyes. Manchester United is unique. Not because we have some sort of loyalty to our manager, but because we always succeed. Now that's the kind of tradition we must stick by. Greg |
On Tuesday night, Manchester United put in an admirable performance against the reigning European champions, Bayern Munich to earn themselves a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. The desire and discipline shown by the players was crucial to United’s success. However equally as essential was the way manager David Moyes set up the team. In this post I will be discussing how David Moyes set up his team at Old Trafford and what he must do to help Manchester United qualify for the Champions League Semi-Finals on their road to Lisbon
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