How Ten Hag's initial success created a ghost
The compact block, primitive baiting and vertical attacking that worked in 2022/23 became the end product rather than the pathway, and United never moved past it.
In 2022 / 2023, his first season at United, Erik Ten Hag created a pragmatic tactical model that maximized individual quality and got great results, until it started collapsing. And 2 years later, United are still haunted by it.
The model relied on a compact mid / low block off the ball and quick vertical movement on the ball, an effective cocktail of box defending and fast attacking of the opposition's box. There were important differences between that and what Ole did in previous seasons.
While Ole was looking to win the ball in the midfield, compressing it with a high defensive line, ETH was content to soak up more pressure and rely on reactive box defending. Why? Because the model actually invited teams to press us, so that we could play through them. We wanted Licha and Shaw to have time on the ball, baiting opponents into high pressing.