Build-up from own third
Build up is where I think United have been beaten most consistently, from Amorim's inverted centre-back and the failed attempt to bait presses centrally to the switch to going long from the goalkeeper that bypassed the first two phases entirely.
The posts
- Opinion Carrick's struggles don't vindicate Amorim or Ten Hag The nostalgia for the previous two managers ignores that their problems were ideological, not executional, and that recruitment was built around the same flaws.
- Tactical analysis The Carrick approach Carrick’s in-possession ideology is detailed in the first two phases and deliberately loose in the final third; the worry is out of possession.
- Tactical analysis United gone long Long passes have doubled and own-third touches have collapsed: the numbers behind United's direct build-up, and its limits against compact blocks.
- Match analysis Are Grimsby better than Arsenal? Arsenal pressed high but passively, Fulham refused the bait and overloaded midfield, Grimsby pressed man-to-man: one system, three different results.
- Tactical analysis Amorim's build up: the fatal flaw The inverted centre-back is only part of it: why Amorim's goal-kick structure fails in a league where 47% of games come against elite pressing sides.