Yesterday was Manchester United’s worst performance since the Brentford game. Yet we came away with a draw and given the chances we had late in the game we could have sneaked a win (although that would have been undeserved in my opinion).
I think it was possibly a combination of over-confidence from our part, up against a team that haven’t won in the league since the opening day. However, they do have that new manager bounce with Sean Dyche in the hot seat now, with him having had a week to 10 days to implement his changes and lift the atmosphere.
No idea how accurate it is, but it does feel like we end up playing at least half a dozen games each season up against a club that have just replaced their manager and are experiencing that new manager bounce.
What I do think though is even in this poor performance and disappointing result we can still find positives.
Last season we would not have found the character to come back after quickly going from being in front to being behind in the space of 5 minutes. We showed a fight that just wasn’t there last season. We also didn’t panic or rip up the plan, we just dug in and kept doing what we know works for us if can get on the front foot.
The only real negative I will draw from the game is Dalot’s continued struggles when playing LWB. This system relies on the wingbacks to push high, not just to put us on the front foot in attack, but to also prevent the opposition from being able to push high down the flanks.
Dalot has a tendency, particularly at LWB, to sit deeper which invites pressure down that flank. Most teams play with a back four, meaning they have potentially two players to attack down each wing (a full back and a winger) . If our wingback stays deeper then they can push forward and make it a 2 Vs 1 out wide, which results in a lot of attacks happening down the flanks.
The 3-4-3 formation works by congesting the middle forcing teams to play down the flanks. Amorim’s solution to this is to play his wingbacks high pinning the full back deeper which in turn forces their winger to stay deeper to help their fullback out. If your wingbacks are occupying two players out wide then you will have a numbers advantage in the middle, creating a free man in more dangerous areas.
This is why Amorim has preferred to convert wingers into wingbacks rather than fullbacks. Because their natural tendency to attack helps his side out BOTH in creating chances and limiting the oppositions ability to get forward.
Dalot clearly feels more comfortable getting forward to attack and pressing higher on the right, which is why he is fine when he plays RWB (although Amad’s output in the final third clearly puts him ahead of Dalot) .
Dorgu is good at doing what the manager wants, but lacks consistency. Which is normal for a young player, we need a more consistent attacking threat at LWB if we are to be able to become more dominant and consistent in our performances