Manchester United bounced back to winning ways and top 6 after a 3-1 win vs Burnley at home. The win came at the back of a solid 1st half performance where they scored 3 goals but conceded a one in the process. The 2nd half was lull without much goal mouth action with United seemingly focused on securing the 3 points. Here are my takeaways from last night's match ;
1. The Changes
Ralf Rangnick made as many as 6 changes from the starting eleven which drew at Newcastle. It was one of the rare occasions of seeing Cavani and Ronaldo start together. Luke Shaw and Aaron wan Bissaka came back into the line up, as did Jadon Sancho and Nemanja Matic. And the changes bore fruit. Burnley though attacking and creating good chances in the first few minutes, were completely blown away by a 30 minute storm. Bailly started at the heart of the defense in place of Varane. Greenwood started on the left side of the midfield while Sancho was on the right, although both the wingers interchanged their positions brilliantly during the match and warded off any chances of being predictable. On the ball United played 4-2-4 with McTominay making good attacking runs. Off the ball they played a 4-4-1-1 with Cavani playing as a number 10.
2. The Defense
Man Utd's defense has been heavily criticized this season, and rightly so. Against Burnley, they were shaky in the first few minutes but were largely untested. Shaw and wan Bissaka made excellent overlapping as well as incisive runs complementing the wide midfielders and stretching the field of play. Shaw had 84 touches in the entire match and a passing accuracy of 89.3% while wan Bissaka had 81 touches and a 76.4% passing accuracy. Although they advanced well with the ball, the crossing was extremely poor with 23% of the crosses reaching their targets. They also lost the ball too much with Shaw losing it 19 times and wan Bissaka at 14. Such mistakes can prove to be costly creating turnovers higher up the pitch against better sides.
Maguire was shaky, yet again. He's been searching for consistency, but will be held responsible for the 1st goal, where he should have squeezed in on Lennon, instead of backing away. He lost the ball 12 times, and had 6 out of his 11 attempted crosses reach their target. His partner for the night, Eric Bailly had a bittersweet match himself. He gave the ball away for the 1st goal but made up for it through some crucial blocks and interceptions. Bailly could make only 3 of his 8 attempted long passes successful, while loosing the ball 10 times.
3. The Wingers
Sancho and Greenwood were excellent on the wings. Greenwood played a huge role in the 1st goal, drawing the defenders towards him before passing it to Ronaldo for assisting McTominay. Rangnick seems to have a genuine likeness towards Greenwood, and though he still remains very young, he was entrusted with the corner taking responsibilities. Such lively performances would only encourage this young lad to become better in the future. Sancho was equally impressive, if not more. He and Greenwood interchanged placed with perfection, with their skill and energy being the hall mark of their performance. Sancho was a bit of initially, but came good with a brilliant run which resulted in a Ben Mee own goal. All in all he had 63 touches, 91.3% passing accuracy, 75% crossing rate and lost the ball just 10 times. Scary hours indeed!!
4. The Front Two
Ronaldo and Cavani started together, and boy did they complement each other well. Cavani is the perfect mobile pressing forward to Ronaldo's predatory role. Cavani dropped deep frequently and played in a number 10 role. He won all his ground duels, had 81% passing accuracy and lost the ball just 5 times. Ronaldo on the other hand, was lively, in stark contrast of his game at Newcastle a few days back. He missed 2 big chances before slotting it home from close range into an empty net. With that being his 47th goal of the year, his longevity is to applauded and admired. He had 46 touches and had 5 shots in total with 1 being on the target, and had an unlikely assist too. One can only hope he won't be berated for not clapping the fans after that performance.
5. Scott McTominay
Once in a while he drops these performances to show what he is capable of. Scott McTominay was undoubtedly my man of the match from last night. Playing as a box to box midfielder, he advanced with the ball into dangerous spaces, and took great shots from distance as well. His 1st goal was beautifully placed, while his second long ranger deflecting off the post helped Cristiano to score the second goal. All in all, he had 75.4% passing accuracy, 77 touches, won 6 out of 11 duels [both ground and aerial] and lost the ball 20 times.
6. Ralf Rangnick ball
Tuchel wasn't exaggerating when he said he took inspiration from Ralf Rangnick, for , their styles are so so similar. Matic played the role of Jorginho in breaking the play, and recovering the ball, as well as provided extra height on set pieces. The wingers interchanging positions, the full back making deep incisive runs, 2 strikers, one mobile the other a target man and most importantly, a ball carrying box to box midfielder. Yes, in my opinion, McTominay was the N'Golo Kante for United last night. The differences? The lack of collective pressing, slacking off the 2nd half, a shaky defense, and an obvious gulf in quality. United are loosing the ball way too much, even against sides like Burnley and Newcastle, creating huge number of turnovers which will be punished by the bigger teams like City and Liverpool. Rangnick needs a defensive midfielder a in January to let McTominay play his game, Matic is good but isn't getting any younger. The defense need a telling off as well, small mistakes like that will be fatal against big teams.
7. An Uneventful Burnley
Comments
Post a Comment