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Can't say I disagree.
Jose's tactics at United | Acrophobia discussion
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
Can't say I disagree.
Hope to see Mourinho lashing out at him too.
Really can't say I disagree, especially on Fellaini's part
I've been told that Jose Mourinho is a great defensive coach but based in the evidence that is far from true.
A picture says a 1000 words
There is no evidence of any sort of coaching in the way Manchester United play. No pattern of play.
The Sevilla player has the ball about 10m inside his own half, no Manchester United player presses him, they are all running back towards their goal whilst at the same time not covering any of the passing lanes, almost in a straight line so a single pass can split 2 lines.
The amount of options to progress play and generate dangerous situations behind the opposition line is too many.
He is not in the same league as Simeone and even rafa Benitez when it comes to defensive organisation.
A picture says a 1000 words
There is no evidence of any sort of coaching in the way Manchester United play. No pattern of play.
The Sevilla player has the ball about 10m inside his own half, no Manchester United player presses him, they are all running back towards their goal whilst at the same time not covering any of the passing lanes, almost in a straight line so a single pass can split 2 lines.
The amount of options to progress play and generate dangerous situations behind the opposition line is too many.
He is not in the same league as Simeone and even rafa Benitez when it comes to defensive organisation.
You couldn't of picked a worse picture tbh. You chose a picture where we were one nil down, and needing two goals at 73 minutes.I've been told that Jose Mourinho is a great defensive coach but based in the evidence that is far from true.
A picture says a 1000 words
There is no evidence of any sort of coaching in the way Manchester United play. No pattern of play.
The Sevilla player has the ball about 10m inside his own half, no Manchester United player presses him, they are all running back towards their goal whilst at the same time not covering any of the passing lanes, almost in a straight line so a single pass can split 2 lines.
The amount of options to progress play and generate dangerous situations behind the opposition line is too many.
He is not in the same league as Simeone and even rafa Benitez when it comes to defensive organisation.
Do you not think we would throw a few more players up field and take more risks when in that position?It doesn't work in the high level anymore. You can win sometimes but its not effective as a long term strategy. The only way to deal with pressing teams is to battle for the ball possession against them.
People pick and choose fits their bias, unfortunately.You couldn't of picked a worse picture tbh. You chose a picture where we were one nil down, and needing two goals at 73 minutes.
I dont know any scientific study about the subject but i trust in my eyes: i never saw a taller player with the same skill set as Hazard, Romario, Messi, Maradona, Neymar, etc. In general those giants will relly in the technique: passing, shots, football IQ, etc.
Except it always does. When any team presses you, the best working solution is the long ball. That is what makes the entire structure of press redundant since the ball is in the air. Even Guardiola does it against intensely pressing teams.
We won 6 points at home by playing long ball against Liverpool and Tottenham, both great pressing teams.
What’s considered a tall player? 1.80?
Are you expecting to win some specific games or win titles? That is a small club strategy. Any top club should be ashamed to even think about that.
Not necessarily. Pep for example regularly uses Ederson's accurate long balls to break the press teams have at times tried to employ on his back four to disrupt his system of play.
What small teams do is make long hopeful punts upfield. Aiming to create aerial battles and seconds ball situations. Yet a big team deliberately playing a long ball strategy would play long, accurate balls to outlets further up pitch. Usually to channels or someone's chest. Or to an aerial player guaranteed to win the ball and accurately bring others unto play.
Maybe i'm misunderstanding the comments of the other usuary but my point is: to relly in long balls as your fundamental strategy is not effective anymore. If the basic of your team is to press high and having heavy possession, then you can ad long balls sometimes. But if long balls is your main answer against pressing teams, yes you can win some games, but it will rarely work against the best sides in the world and Man United should be willing to win the Champions League.
Don't get me wrong I've always been Jose Out. Mourinho comes in here not to give us an identity of football. His way of 'Winning' is to nullify the opponent. Under Mourinho we will never have a proper identity, every game will be different from the other. Our players would only be trying to enact the specific instructions Mourinho detailed out from his scouting report.
Its not sustainable, I agree. But I am fine with a long ball here or there *IF* executed properly.
To be frank, I'd have even accepted long ball strategy against Sevilla, but we didn't use it effectively despite Fellaini being for the most time on the pitch. That sounds worrying, but this is how Mourinho operates. He was never a 'tactician'. I wouldn't be surprised that all these tactics and park the bus setups are devised by Rui Faria, and Mourinho is just there to provide motivation and extremely in-depth scouting report [which he was known for since beginning!] Which is why he doesn't sack them even when they repeatedly fail at clubs!
The big issue for Jose is the aesthetics of his football. His tactics are usually spot on, when they work, they are great fantastic tactical masterpieces of defence and counterattack, when they don't they are tumescent, poor on the eye shite. But the reality is, the difference between it working (Liverpool) and bombing (Sevilla) is something as simple as taking an early chance when it comes, a fall of the ball here or there or an individual howler that sees you concede.
He's not a bad manager, but there will always be performances like this under him, when he doesn't have Ronaldo or on form Hazard.
He's a great tactician but he's also a big game coward. Those same tactics that are great when they come off are usually built on fair instead of confidence. this is going to be his big issue during his stay at United. You will never accept being happy to play like this at Old Trafford.
Jose will not bend to the whim of the club/supporters and I can't see the fans every accepting being happy with 30% of the ball and a smash and grab home win vs your rivals. It doesn't frighten the opposition, against those tactics teams aren't beat when they go on the pitch but hopeful. Teams should be shitting themselves coming to Old Trafford, but despite Jose's phenomenal home record (even at United.) I haven't seen a single team bend over and accept defeat (even early in the season when you were 4-0ing everyone) before a ball is kicked the way they used to.
To get that back you need to start bullying teams, destroying teams and making teams think "When we go to Old Trafford we have to hang on for our lives."
This is something Jose won't do at United and his football seems to get worse as the season goes on.
United and a great club, Jose is a great manager, but you don't seem to be a great match.
He's not a bad manager, but there will always be performances like this under him, when he doesn't have Ronaldo or on form Hazard.
He's a great tactician but he's also a big game coward. Those same tactics that are great when they come off are usually built on fair instead of confidence. this is going to be his big issue during his stay at United. You will never accept being happy to play like this at Old Trafford.
Jose will not bend to the whim of the club/supporters and I can't see the fans every accepting being happy with 30% of the ball and a smash and grab home win vs your rivals. It doesn't frighten the opposition, against those tactics teams aren't beat when they go on the pitch but hopeful. Teams should be shitting themselves coming to Old Trafford, but despite Jose's phenomenal home record (even at United.) I haven't seen a single team bend over and accept defeat (even early in the season when you were 4-0ing everyone) before a ball is kicked the way they used to.
To get that back you need to start bullying teams, destroying teams and making teams think "When we go to Old Trafford we have to hang on for our lives."
This is something Jose won't do at United and his football seems to get worse as the season goes on.
United and a great club, Jose is a great manager, but you don't seem to be a great match.
We played exactly like that against City at OT this season.
Like Rio said big teams don't pick and choose when to turn up. They turn up consistently, whether it be title challenging teams or relegation sufferers. Mourinho sets up his team perfectly for Liverpool and then in 3 days he can't get his best xi against Sevilla. To call Mourinho a 'great' tactician is like cherry picking. His ideas have become stale and modern football has passed him by. United's bowing out of Round 16 was inexplicable. I think Mourinho of yesteryears would have smashed and grabbed away at Sevilla and parked the bus at home for a draw. I just couldn't understand how we gave up the away goal advantage to Sevilla, and after that were as callous as Tuesday. Lvg level madness.
Watch the 60 seconds leading to the first goal. It wasn't any better than the picture above. We couldn't play the ball out of our own half to save our lives and eventually we lost it and they scored, while slicing our whole non-existing shape in 10 seconds. That was some amateur stuff that you would expect to see in the MLS, not from United at home in a CL knockout game.You couldn't of picked a worse picture tbh. You chose a picture where we were one nil down, and needing two goals at 73 minutes.
There’s a simple explanation for Jose’s approach against Sevilla. As long as we’re facing an opposition he thinks is a threat to us, he’ll go defensive.
The key for us to invest in players that brings the overal quality of our 11 higher. We still lack a quality centerback, left back, and right winger.
The key for us to invest in players that brings the overal quality of our 11 higher. We still lack a quality centerback, left back, and right winger.
My point is. Deliberate accurate long balls either to channels or to the man (not to cause mere aerial duels) will ALWAYS break the press a pressing team puts on you. I don't care how good they are. The problem is most teams panic rather than keep composure to pick an accurate out ball whilst pressed. Feeding into the false impression that its the wrong strategy.
People constantly overlook the fact that a pressing team must maintain a dangerous high line to keep the press effective. Meaning unless they are blessed with a defence as good as Milan's that Sacchi built and drilled, you will always be able to hit them on the break with a deliberate, planned long ball strategy.
Frankly, whenever facing a pressing team better at keep ball, its best to play your wingers and strikers high and on their last defenders and never allow your wingers to be forced deep into your defensive block. Then its paramount you win back the ball near your box aggressively and spring the counter attack whilst there full backs are high and overlapping. The effectiveness of the strategy can be seen with how a Leicester City captured an EPL title whilst consistently having less possession than their opponents. Now imagine having world class players capable of top notch long passing like Pirlo, Scholes or Xabi Alonso and a team dares to press you, when you have pace in attack. You will be able to sit deep, then punish them thoroughly whenever you win back possesion during transitions of play. Kind of like Ancelotti did to Pep when his La Decima winning Real Madrid side hammered Bayern. Or even better how Brazil whipped Argentina in the confederations cup in 2005.
If you dare to fight fire with fire against a pressing team better at keep ball than you, you are likely 9/10 times to get a hiding you will not easily forget.
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