kundalini
Full Member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2004
- Messages
- 5,755
Copy what City do in the final third. It relies heavily upon players knowing in advance how the move is likely to develop, so they can be in the right position when the ball arrives.
So a player in a fairly central zone about 10 yards from the opposition penalty area, ideally Pogba, but possibly Lingard or Fred, may even Pereira, receives the ball, then a wide player or full-back, or even another central midfielder, makes a run between the opposing full-back and central defender, the ball is played over the top, into the small space behind the defence, the player who receives the ball, does a first time cross across the face of the goal, which is finished by either the striker or the winger from the other side. For United, one of the main problems this season has been that both Rashford, and to a lesser extent, Martial, have been far too slow to react to developing situations so have either arrived too late or failed to react at all.
One approach United have used with some success is to pass the ball to Martial positioned near the edge of the box, with a runner, which could be the player who made the initial pass or another player, looking to receive a first time pass from Martial that allows him to break into the box. This tactic won us both the penalty awarded for a foul on Pogba against Wolves (pen was saved) and the penalty awarded for a foul on McTominay in the Palace match (Rashford's pen hit the post). In the Norwich game, there appeared to be a good understanding between Martial and Rashford, which enabled them to create good chances for each other.
Even on a more basic level, simply having a player positioned in front of the near post whenever Dan James is likely to cross the ball, makes the difference between a defender clearing the danger and Lingard creating the chance for Greenwood to take a shot that required a decent save from the Spurs keeper; even that relied on Spurs' near post defender missing the ball.
Another situation that could work for us is to try to repeat the goal that Greenwood scored against Sheff United from Rashford's pass. De Bruyne gets lots of assists for similar passes. Play the ball between the keeper and the opposing defence and get our attackers to try to score from close range. Wan-Bissaka has tried this numerous times but has yet to find a precise enough cross.
Really our biggest issue is getting Rashford and Martial, also whoever is playing no 10, to recognise a particular situation almost immediately, then sprint into the appropriate zone, to get on the end of the cross or pass. For some reason, it just doesn't seem to have registered in their brains at the moment. Dan James keeps firing crosses across the face of the goal with no United player making a serious effort to get there.
Given that Solskjaer has mentioned the issue of scoring from close range, on numerous occasions this season, I imagine they are working on it in training but for whatever reason, they are struggling to produce it during matches.
I think bringing in 3 new players, plus Martial being used centrally, McTominay and Pereira being relatively inexperienced, has meant that in most areas of the pitch, we are still building an understanding between the players. Moves break down because Dan James plays the ball to Mata, hoping for a one-two in order to get behind the opposing defence, only for Mata to have wandered off, so an opposing player receives the ball instead. This happened at least twice in the Newcastle away game.
Hopefully in the 2nd half of the season, we will see more instances of United players correctly anticipating what is about to happen, and far fewer misunderstandings.
So a player in a fairly central zone about 10 yards from the opposition penalty area, ideally Pogba, but possibly Lingard or Fred, may even Pereira, receives the ball, then a wide player or full-back, or even another central midfielder, makes a run between the opposing full-back and central defender, the ball is played over the top, into the small space behind the defence, the player who receives the ball, does a first time cross across the face of the goal, which is finished by either the striker or the winger from the other side. For United, one of the main problems this season has been that both Rashford, and to a lesser extent, Martial, have been far too slow to react to developing situations so have either arrived too late or failed to react at all.
One approach United have used with some success is to pass the ball to Martial positioned near the edge of the box, with a runner, which could be the player who made the initial pass or another player, looking to receive a first time pass from Martial that allows him to break into the box. This tactic won us both the penalty awarded for a foul on Pogba against Wolves (pen was saved) and the penalty awarded for a foul on McTominay in the Palace match (Rashford's pen hit the post). In the Norwich game, there appeared to be a good understanding between Martial and Rashford, which enabled them to create good chances for each other.
Even on a more basic level, simply having a player positioned in front of the near post whenever Dan James is likely to cross the ball, makes the difference between a defender clearing the danger and Lingard creating the chance for Greenwood to take a shot that required a decent save from the Spurs keeper; even that relied on Spurs' near post defender missing the ball.
Another situation that could work for us is to try to repeat the goal that Greenwood scored against Sheff United from Rashford's pass. De Bruyne gets lots of assists for similar passes. Play the ball between the keeper and the opposing defence and get our attackers to try to score from close range. Wan-Bissaka has tried this numerous times but has yet to find a precise enough cross.
Really our biggest issue is getting Rashford and Martial, also whoever is playing no 10, to recognise a particular situation almost immediately, then sprint into the appropriate zone, to get on the end of the cross or pass. For some reason, it just doesn't seem to have registered in their brains at the moment. Dan James keeps firing crosses across the face of the goal with no United player making a serious effort to get there.
Given that Solskjaer has mentioned the issue of scoring from close range, on numerous occasions this season, I imagine they are working on it in training but for whatever reason, they are struggling to produce it during matches.
I think bringing in 3 new players, plus Martial being used centrally, McTominay and Pereira being relatively inexperienced, has meant that in most areas of the pitch, we are still building an understanding between the players. Moves break down because Dan James plays the ball to Mata, hoping for a one-two in order to get behind the opposing defence, only for Mata to have wandered off, so an opposing player receives the ball instead. This happened at least twice in the Newcastle away game.
Hopefully in the 2nd half of the season, we will see more instances of United players correctly anticipating what is about to happen, and far fewer misunderstandings.
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