Pressing| Why did we wait till the second half.

[Adisa]

Especially in the big games, it seems to be a secondary tactic.
The only times I remember us doing under Mourinho are
First 15mins against Liverpool vat Anfield last season.
Chelsea last season at OT.
Arsenal at OT last season.
First 20mins against Arsenal this season.
And Second half today.
During all these periods, we look a far better team than we usually do against the big teams.
Why don't we use it as a primary tactic more often?
We are often guilty of data off against mid table clubs away from home.
Another opinion I want to garner.
Do you guys think the decision to stand off Chelsea in the first half, came from Mourinho? It was a game we were under pressure to win, I would have expected us to start on the front foot.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Makes such a huge difference when we win the ball higher up. feck, we do the same thing (sit back) away from home and we're shit when we do.

 

[buckooo1978]

if we aren't pressing aggressively it has to be a managerial instruction

it's not like the players decide themselves

 

[meamth]

Conservative pressing, meaning to store stamina so we can have a go at them later. This is to get that important goal at the most important time.

Unlike Liverpool who will lose that intensity and will mostly concede goals at the last minute.

 

[Adisa]

if we aren't pressing aggressively it has to be a managerial instruction

it's not like the players decide themselves

Not doing so to me, looks counterproductive.
Our best periods in the big game have come when we do it.

 

[cyberman]

Chelsea messed around at the back which forced us to come out.
I've never seen a keeper have to many touches between the 45th min up until we scored.

 

[Kostur]

Maybe we've had more pressing matters?

 

[Adisa]

Conservative pressing, meaning to store stamina so we can have a go at them later. This is to get that important goal at the most important time.

Unlike Liverpool who will lose that intensity and will mostly concede goals at the last minute.

There's been a lot of big games we've not even done it at all.

 

[VancouverUtdFan]

Complaining | Why do some do it even after a brilliant performance?

 

[Raoul]

I think Mourinho wanted to absorb their pressure and hit gradually build up our attack and maybe got one goal. After realizing that wouldn't work after we conceded, he obviously went into HT and told the players to absorb less, press more, and be more aggressive on counters.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Conservative pressing, meaning to store stamina so we can have a go at them later. This is to get that important goal at the most important time.

Unlike Liverpool who will lose that intensity and will mostly concede goals at the last minute.

This.

It seems like there are posters here who wants us to play like Liverpool, high pressing all 90+ minutes, all the time.

I like high pressing tactics, but it's not rational to do it at every games, full 90+ mins every season.

 

[buckooo1978]

Not doing so to me, looks counterproductive.
Our best periods in the big game have come when we do it.

yes I agree

we look our worst when we sit back and attack slowly

when we are proactive, play with energy and movement and attack quickly we are a different side

it does beg the question - does Mourinho not see this?

the second half the intensity improved but the movement of Lukaku and Lingard made the difference I felt

I suppose the question is...do we work hard enough? Here's a table of km covered on average and we are bottom - https://www.premierleague.com/news/510837

 

[meamth]

There's been a lot of big games we've not even done it at all.

Mind if you tell me which game is it ?

 

[krazyrobus]

I imagine it's to conserve energy.

 

[el3mel]

Can't we win a game and celebrate without complaining about something ?

 

[Ramshock]

Especially in the big games, it seems to be a secondary tactic.
The only times I remember us doing under Mourinho are
First 15mins against Liverpool vat Anfield last season.
Chelsea last season at OT.
Arsenal at OT last season.
First 20mins against Arsenal this season.
And Second half today.
During all these periods, we look a far better team than we usually do against the big teams.
Why don't we use it as a primary tactic more often?
We are often guilty of data off against mid table clubs away from home.
Another opinion I want to garner.
Do you guys think the decision to stand off Chelsea in the first half, came from Mourinho? It was a game we were under pressure to win, I would have expected us to start on the front foot.

Football: There's two teams

 

[bosnian_red]

Think it's simply due to what Mourinho likes them to do. He likes sitting back and keeping it tight and just not making mistakes in terms of shape and concentration. Being on the front foot and taking control and being proactive is "more risky". That's what we need though, because we are awful at sitting back and only do well when we do take the front foot.

 

[meamth]

One more thing to point out other than conservative pressing is we don't have the players like Liverpool have.

Almost 8-9 of their starting 11 has high pace rating. Which is the result of their type of signings for years.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Can't we win a game and celebrate without complaining about something ?

Even the players and the staff are going to be going over what they did wrong after the match.

 

[el3mel]

Even the players and the staff are going to be going over what they did wrong after the match.

It's a big game in Premier league. I don't think a team will dominate the full 90 minutes if both teams want to push for the win. Usually these big games came in transitions.

 

[rpitchfo]

I wouldn't say we were pressing in the second half. At least not how I would define it...closing down angles with two players at a time...15 seconds to win the ball back etc etc. I think we just pushed up a little bit.

 

[breakout67]

Because Martial is a piss poor presser of the ball and pressing starts from the front.

You might have noticed that off the ball, Martial was often in the striker position, while Lukaku/Sanchez would take up a no.10 position to support him. This was to accommodate that Martial is a poor presser, so he was put into the no.9 where pressing is less intense.

 

[Marcky411]

This tactic comes straight from Mourinho, as soon as the team seems to be attacking and getting on the front foot leaving a bit more space in behind he gets nervous and puts on the break. We saw it with subbing of Sanchez for Bailley and that wasn’t the first time he has done that. Luckily for the disallowed goal otherwise who knows what would’ve happened in the last 5 min.

Very glad with the second half press unfortunately it was very short, lasted 5 min, and then went back to standing off the player, would’ve preferred it to be longer, might’ve got more out of the game. Glad to see more aggression in the second half and happy with the 3 points.

 

[Catt]

Complaining | Why do some do it even after a brilliant performance?

I think we see that the team tend to play better and get results when we do this. We need to do it more.

 

[Adisa]

Complaining | Why do some do it even after a brilliant performance?

How am I complaining?
I'm just asking why we don't press more often.

 

[PlayerOne]

I think the players were a bit too nervy until we scored the first goal. That goal changed the game for us. Players looked more confident and settled after that.

We do seem to start games poorly though, it needs to be looked at.

 

[el3mel]

How am I complaining?
I'm just asking why we don't press more often.

Fact is in general we're not a high pressing team like Liverpool and City for example. Most players press on their own but not our general tactics. We only press as a team when the manager tells the player to do so. We needed the game today and conserved the energy during first half so we pressed in second one. However we're not a high pressing team in general.

 

[Judas]

I think the players were a bit too nervy until we scored the first goal. That goal changed the game for us. Players looked more confident and settled after that.

We do seem to start games poorly though, it needs to be looked at.

That's the story of our season and it's not good enough. If we played like we're ahead from the start of games, we'd be in a much better position.

We seem to wait till the last twenty minutes in a lot of games to look like a team, it's odd and frustrating.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I'm not bothered about us adopting high pressing tactics for 90+ mins as they are just that, a tactic, not a sure-fire way to win and look fabulous in every game. We've all seen what happens when they don't come off and teams are left exhausted in the final periods of games, or the opposition lets a pressing team have the ball and they struggle to do anything against a packed defence.

What I would certainly like is more controlled intensity in certain areas of our play. McTominay and Matic did well in the second half but I was concerned to see a few quick passes unlock us over and over, or else players like Christiansen and Willian marched through relatively untroubled. If we want to be a defensive steel trap, fine, but there are ways to achieve that that we aren't good enough at yet.

 

[automaticflare]

I honestly think this was a ploy from
Jose.
It is why we were so conservative midweek.
Chelsea played Barcelona and were running like crazy. They visibly physically drained in the second half while we still had energy and that is perfect time to press the opposition.

 

[Adam-Utd]

It's 100% a Mourinho tactic, and it's something that doesn't suit us at all.

No coincidence that we started playing better once Chelsea scored, the roles reversed.

 

[Trizy]

Complaining | Why do some do it even after a brilliant performance?

High standards and rightly so. We're supposed to be the pride of England and dominate, not the shite we've served up lately.

 

[GM K]

I wouldn't say we were pressing in the second half. At least not how I would define it...closing down angles with two players at a time...15 seconds to win the ball back etc etc. I think we just pushed up a little bit.

What we did well in the second half was to keep the ball and circulate it better. Doing this always makes a big difference to our playing quality. We just don't do it nearly enough.

 

[Janson]

I think it's the players that decided to press, because they're tired of Mourinho not coaching them. They saw that City do it, and that must be why they are so good.

 

[desmondisback]

Complaining | Why do some do it even after a brilliant performance?

Kidding themselves | Why do some do it after a less than brilliant performance?

 

[ghagua]

Going a goal was the wake up call. If we had gone in 0-0 at half time, I think we would have seen the same of the first half in the second.

 

[NotQuiteManc]

We have seen Dortmund and Liverpool already. They cant do it the whole 90 minutes as it they wouldnt last the whole game anyway. Which is he reason why Liv always concede late goals.

Plus it is not a Cup final. I can understand if it is the UCL Final but not the whole league season. Maybe someday when United becomes a strong team again with strong backups. At the moment, the team aspect is still building with star individuals.

 

[harms]

This tactic comes straight from Mourinho, as soon as the team seems to be attacking and getting on the front foot leaving a bit more space in behind he gets nervous and puts on the break. We saw it with subbing of Sanchez for Bailley and that wasn’t the first time he has done that.

It was a direct answer to Giroud substitution — they've had 2 strikers against 2 center backs, and you always want to have a numerical advantage in the center, it was more than justified.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Boxing isn't necessarily the easiest comparison to make, but I'm reminded of Floyd Mayweather and that fight versus McGregor as well as others.

The ability to soak up pressure reasonably comfortably, the kind of tactics Jose makes us use esp away games, is hard..its a mental stamina and discipline. If we do it well we are on the path to good defensive foundation . For all the talk about United's history of attacking football, our best teams have relied on equally excellent defenses to support them. We don't have that kind of back line. So sitting back is likely to help in that regard as well - improve our defense, reduce mismatches.

 

[DevilRed]

Didn't Mourinho mention in his post match comments that the players were "adjusting" to pressing in the first half. Probably because we played quite a different formation than usual today.

I do agree that we look miles better when we press effectively. Just look at arse away this season for the perfect example.