History repeating itself?
Two defeats for the red half of Manchester. Will it end up as something more than just two blips? Below are the teamsheets during the last two blips.
Versus Wolves
Versus Palace
Within 180 minutes in total (minus stoppage time), Solskjær might have gotten tactically wedgied. While it's right to say football is a human being's game, there's nothing humane about the lack of intelligence coming from a bunch of people. Let's get straight to the point here: Did these fans know anything about the opposition? No one is saying a penalty miss or two wouldn't cost the team, but the whole incident was effectively a case of the dog eating the homework. Below are the teamsheets of the opposition during the two blips.
Wolves' teamsheet
Palace's teamsheet
If Man Utd fans were guilty of sniggering at Liverpool two seasons ago, then retribution may have arrived a tad too early. Be it 3-4-3 or 4-5-1, it's obvious the opponents were out to prevent Utd from creating any semblance of offensive momentum. We all should know Roy Hodgson by now, he's no believer in footballing aesthetics.
Erm, no. John isn't referring to this.
As for Wolves, the Man Utd match wasn't the first time Nuno Espírito Santo deployed a 3-man backline. In fact, he's been doing that since day 1 when Wolves were still bumming around in the Championship. Simply put, one could say he's a back-3 specialist. The defeat suffered was no coincidence. If you have a back 3, it means you should be preventing the opponent from starting the counter-offensive from the middle 3rd. If you're someone who tried the fish-and-chips football, it means parking the humongous fish-and-chips van in front of the goal so that Jesse Lingard couldn't do a single thing despite allowing so much space to run. Solskjær's inability to break down either a stubborn midfield or an equally stubborn backline comprising of 9 outfield players shouldn't be dismissed as just two blips. The other bunch of red shirts should know what John L'Otter was referring to.
Two seasons ago, Liverpool got a problem with Die Gegenpress. Against teams NOT out to park a cluster of rocks in front of goal, it can easily work wonders. Against teams choosing to do so, however, was a chief factor behind the Kop having to wait for another year. Actually, the correct duration in silverware purgatory should be 2 years. Champions League didn't count in John's books because the red bird bottled it again like its blue brother in Wales. To be honest, last season was worse than Stevie G's fall from grace considering how close last season's team was compared to Brendan Rodgers' era.
Well, at least Liverpool got itself a smaller pot of gold after following the rainbow. The leprechaun was too strong in his native cluster of rocks, though.
The possibility of Man Utd staring at the start of its own Liverpool shouldn't be dismissed. Looking at the starting lineup actually exposed the fallacy of Old Trafford's Jarl. Against teams out to emulate Trump by building a wall, it's only logical to utilise a master passer of the ball. This is NOT to say there's no Plan B. It has always been there, we're talking about this guy below.
Granted Solskjær might have preferred his football to be faster and prettier, but the question here should be this: Is there any other player in the dressing room able to prove his class by stabilising the game, dictating the tempo, and passing the ball? Lingard isn't that kind of player while Andreas Pereira only featured once. Incidentally, that's the only match Utd won so far out of three.
This was the starting team against a team which got sucker-punched 4 times.
Going by this article, it seems that Pereira does have the potential. The problem, however, would be his nerves.
How a bastard's strategy can work
A bastard's strategy involves three lines: The first would be the artillery, the second would be the infantry, and the last line would be the cavalry. While Scottish McTominay's presence should be more than capable of freeing up Le Chevalier Noir deployed alongside with him, the question would be whether there's a need to add in one more ball anchor. It's one thing passing the ball from the deep, quite another to split open the defence with a single pass. Focusing the fulcrum of passing at the four by two is nothing less than a risk. All the opposition needs to do is to look at the teamsheet. John wouldn't be surprised if Nuno and Roy were emboldened by seeing Lingard instead of... Pereira? If Mata is to start, then the most ideal formation may well be 4-2-3-1 instead of 4-3-3. Then again, 4-2-3-1 is more of a variation of 4-3-3 and 4-5-1. One of the challenges behind making a strategy focusing on all-out mobility offensive would be coming up with an effective ball anchoring approach. When you have four such players plus a black knight, it's inevitable that the one in charge of distributing play would be under a lot of pressure. It's up to Solskjær to decide whether Scottish McTominay's youth would result in composure. It's actually a gamble which may well make or break Utd's season within one-third of the fixtures. Whenever they say if you're good enough, you're old enough, it's nothing more than one side of the quarter. The other side? If you're old enough, it means you should be good enough.
No one says they're good at duels
In another part of the English north, Middlesbrough may well be staring at a hard fight ahead. Ask John and he'd prefer Woodgate to be given two seasons to reach promotion. At this point, we're not good enough. Why get up there only to fall back down? It's like skydiving. You don't assume you won't die if the parachute is faulty. Actually, you'll die. One aspect of the match stats has to be the most disturbing moment for any Boro fan. Including John.
Let's be honest here. Do you think Boro deserves promotion if the aerial duels win rate stays this way? While there are indeed teams in the second flight out to prove a point by going against the norms (Eddie Howe has to be the most famous name under this category so far), the breakneck pace of the game there means aerial duels are a must for every team. To highlight how bad things can be if nothing is being done, consider the fact that Blackburn's manager is Mogga and we all know how insanely swashbuckling his brand of football can get. If West Bromwich under him could get relegated due to idealism, Blackburn winning aerial duels could easily say something about us.
This comes to mind whether goals come easier under aerial pressure or the other way around. There seemed to be something shaky about the team and you can't fault Woodgate for giving the team something to grapple with. In fact, John wouldn't be surprised if losing aerial duels was the driving force behind our sluggish start so far. And that's the one thing Woodgate needs to address. In fact, if there's only one thing he could afford to do so, it'd be this. Considering that Woodgate effectively inherited Pulis' backline, losing aerial duels looked more like an absurdity than at least 3 blips in a row.
Case in point: If Blackburn could win the aerial duelling, then so can Bristol City.
How a bastard's strategy can work
Boro's form so far is a tale of two Northern Irish. It's nice to see Woodgate attempting a 3-man mobility offensive in the form of Britt Assombalonga, Ashley Fletcher, and either Marvin Jonno or Mr Browne. But you don't expect offensive momentum to go your way if the backline is unable to send a message of motivation and assurance. After all, it's only human nature to watch what's behind.
And speaking of the backline, Woodgate may have pulled off a strategic blinder by deploying his fellow Jonny at the right back. A central mid by default, who'd imagine Howson to operate efficiently at a position which he never tried before on a competitive basis? John may be wrong here, but he didn't remember Howson playing anywhere beyond the middle 3rd. Woodgate might have discovered an effective way to play the ball from the back. Imagine what's going to happen if this didn't work out.
Depending solely on Howson in this manner is not going to solve the aerial duelling problem. If Woodgate wants to play the ball from the back, he'd need a ball-playing centre back to compliment his fellow Jonny. Do we have such a player? The answer is yes, he's Big Fry. But there's a problem: He has to prove his composure first.
In the midfield, Woodgate would most likely have a decent idea on his permanent 3. That is if there's anything to go by from Vickerman's article. Add in Lewis Wing and we'd have a promising engine room raring to go. However, that's not going to solve the aerial duelling conundrum. This could be where Georgie Saville comes in.
Right now, the ball anchor comes from the right side of the defence. After all, Howson's most prominent strength may possibly be his passing game. But that's not going to address the question of who should be the midfield ball anchor. This comes to mind whether Woodgate would have to swallow his pride.
The attacking 3 has to be the most consistent fixture in the team so far. If there's any reason behind the jitters and creepers in the final 3rd, it's very likely due to the backline unable to ease the pressure off them. It's very clear for all to see what Woodgate wants in terms of the firepower. One central striker (i.e. Assombalonga), one fast winger (i.e. Fletcher), and an attacking midfielder (i.e. either Marvin Jonno or Mr Browne). The last part of this mentioned attacking 3 is what John was talking about just now. Should he slow down the pace so that the team can have a better time in keeping calm and composed? Or to put it simply, should Georgie Saville start as the third man in the attacking 3 alongside the other two?
Yes, you can say he didn't have a decent game against Millwall. However, his energy and ability to play in a false 10 role mean the ability to hold down the ball effectively. But there's a problem: He's a left-footer. This means the question of whether Fletcher can be deployed at the right even though he's more commonly known as a left-winger. Apparently, the answer is yes.
Assuming we're talking about a middle 3 of McNair, Clayton, and Wing. this means we're looking at one defensive mid deployed nearer to the back 4 due to Paddy Mac and L-Wing belonging to the aggressive type. Simply put, there has to be a ball anchor somewhere in order to maximise the efficiency. With Saville playing as a false 10, this means taking the pressure off the back while enabling two running men to boss the show in the middle 3rd. Adding in Howson and Big Fry at the back and we'd have three ball anchors instead of just one. Would the offensive momentum be slower? Yes. Would it contribute to easing the pressure off the back? Hopefully so. Would we have less problem scoring goals if stability from the back to front can be achieved? You can bet Hodgson's tenner on that.
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