First half, despite scoring two goals, wasn't great.
First of all, our build up play still needs a lot of work. I lost count of the times Lindelof threw his hands up in frustration because he had no options. Pogba and McTominay dropped to receive the ball, but the same problems occurred, in that we struggled to break the lines. On the odd occasion we did, Mata was pressed and unfortunately, wasn't strong enough to keep possession.
Off the ball, I also thought we were quite poor. Didn't seem to press with the same intensity as we did against Perth. When we did, it wasn't as a unit, and when Leeds played the ball through the lines, our midfield and back line had too big of a gap between themselves. That leads me onto the importance of a holding midfielder, with the tactical and positional awareness to intercept any threatening passes through the middle.
McTominay, whilst he's got good energy and pressing ability, does not defend behind him. Playing that position will definitely improve him in that regard, but at the moment, the Pogba/McTominay partnership seems quite fragile defensively, in my opinion.
Having said that, like I said, the positives were that we scored two very good goals. The second one being a fantastic counter, which, with players like Pogba, Rashford, Greenwood and James on the pitch, is the way we should have set up.
Second half I thought we were a lot better. We had more control of the game. Not just in possession, but out of it. That may have been majorly down to the fact we had a new XI, with Leeds continuing with most of their players to about the 70th minute, though. However, I do think the introduction of Gomes and Lingard changed the game for us. Despite the latter being quite poor, the both are one touch link players, in comparison to Greenwood and James, who are more dribblers/runners off the ball. This meant our midfield rotation was a lot better. It meant that when Matic or Pereira (who I thought had a great game) looked up, they had the options of the full backs, with Lingard and Gomes finding space in between the lines or dropping deep to receive the ball.
Going forward, if we want to keep that balance of possession/counter attacking, then we need to find the right balance. I personally feel that if we're going to continue with the 4231, then we should always have at least two ball players in the behind the forward and one player who dribbles/runs in behind.
First of all, our build up play still needs a lot of work. I lost count of the times Lindelof threw his hands up in frustration because he had no options. Pogba and McTominay dropped to receive the ball, but the same problems occurred, in that we struggled to break the lines. On the odd occasion we did, Mata was pressed and unfortunately, wasn't strong enough to keep possession.
Off the ball, I also thought we were quite poor. Didn't seem to press with the same intensity as we did against Perth. When we did, it wasn't as a unit, and when Leeds played the ball through the lines, our midfield and back line had too big of a gap between themselves. That leads me onto the importance of a holding midfielder, with the tactical and positional awareness to intercept any threatening passes through the middle.
McTominay, whilst he's got good energy and pressing ability, does not defend behind him. Playing that position will definitely improve him in that regard, but at the moment, the Pogba/McTominay partnership seems quite fragile defensively, in my opinion.
Having said that, like I said, the positives were that we scored two very good goals. The second one being a fantastic counter, which, with players like Pogba, Rashford, Greenwood and James on the pitch, is the way we should have set up.
Second half I thought we were a lot better. We had more control of the game. Not just in possession, but out of it. That may have been majorly down to the fact we had a new XI, with Leeds continuing with most of their players to about the 70th minute, though. However, I do think the introduction of Gomes and Lingard changed the game for us. Despite the latter being quite poor, the both are one touch link players, in comparison to Greenwood and James, who are more dribblers/runners off the ball. This meant our midfield rotation was a lot better. It meant that when Matic or Pereira (who I thought had a great game) looked up, they had the options of the full backs, with Lingard and Gomes finding space in between the lines or dropping deep to receive the ball.
Going forward, if we want to keep that balance of possession/counter attacking, then we need to find the right balance. I personally feel that if we're going to continue with the 4231, then we should always have at least two ball players in the behind the forward and one player who dribbles/runs in behind.