Are Grimsby better than Arsenal?

Why did United look very good against Arsenal, poor against Fulham and very poor against Grimsby? At first glance, it doesn’t make sense - but only if you haven’t been watching the games under Amorim. In fact, United usually look OK against top sides that want to attack and press high in order to score.

Since Amorim’s build up patterns are based on baiting in central areas and wide overloads or going direct, it suits us when a team is willing to press from a high block. That gives us an opportunity to use numerical advantages out wide, to quickly transition through those areas. 

Especially if they’re not very effective at blocking us: in the 1st half, Arsenal struggled to figure out what to do with our WBs, often leaving them unmarked. Furthermore, Arsenal took an early lead and were more than happy to sit back, as they are known to do. That’s why it was easier for United to build and progress.

United tend to struggle when:
🔴 teams use an aggressive, m2m press, pinning our WBs back and closing down buils up lanes (Grimsby)
🔴 teams refuse to take our bait, waiting for us in a mid or low block, forcing us sideways or long all the time (Fulham)

And then there are the out-of-possession issues, exploited by Fulham. Since we tend to use a 5-2-3 block in which the CBs and CMs have to man-mark, it’s easy for teams to manipulate it and overload our midfield. Which is exactly what Fulham did for most of the game, using Iwobi as an outlet between our forwards and midfielders, bypassing 6-7 players with 1-2 passes.

In short:

- Ars pressed from a high block, but were slightly passive & disorganized, leaving our WBs unmarked in the 1st half
- Ars took an early lead and were content to sit back & concede territory, as Ars do
- Fulham made an adjustment after 15 mins to match our 3-4-3 shape & overload midfield areas (mostly through Iwobi)
- Fulham forced us long or sideways, not taking the bait to allow us to build
- Grimsby used an aggressive M2M press, risky & imperfect, but effective enough

There is no grand conspiracy nor a magical explanation. This is how United have played for months now, with the exact same flaws and issues. People with poor tactical understanding are always inclined to use player mentality or lack of quality as the explanation for everything. 

Mentality surely plays a role - if you’ve been one of the worst teams in top 5 leagues for 9 months, it takes a toll. But the #1 problem here is a tactical system that even a League Two club was able to exploit. There are no new players that can mask this fact.

Unless Amorim makes radical changes immediately, the end is near.