What? 8 on Hazard? Herrera was enough.Something like this I believe.
Tactical Masterclass
- Thread starter ivaldo
- Start date
I felt the same way at the bridge in the cup game. We were looking so tactically perfect in that game until we lost Herrera.
He's had a problem with a few and though we may try our hands at predicting what's going on in training, we really don't know. Martial, Mkhi and a few others have been urged to up their games and a few have reacted like Rashford and Lingard. I remember Martial being asked why he was not scoring more a while back and he said: "because he wasn't playing enough" - with a fecking smirk added to that; Sometimes it is the attitude Mou wants to change.
Incredible team performance, Mourinho outsmarted Conte in every possible way. Herrera was absolutely phenomenal, pulled the strings, nullified Hazard, and scored a goal. But the whole team effort deserves credit for this win. I was certain that we would get smacked, given the fact that we drew consistently on our ground.
I loved how quickly Jose deployed Carrick. Almost instantly.
I was getting concerned when Chelsea changed shape, added Fabregas and dropped Kante a little deeper. It seemed to take Lingard and Rashford forever to get to grips with the new shape and for a few minutes Kante was getting loads of time on the ball.
I was getting concerned when Chelsea changed shape, added Fabregas and dropped Kante a little deeper. It seemed to take Lingard and Rashford forever to get to grips with the new shape and for a few minutes Kante was getting loads of time on the ball.
I think this performance will serve as a boost that the club needed to go forward. Today was not just about beating Chelsea. It's about a complete masterclass by José, showing he still got it, to those fans and even some players, which, understandably, doubted his capabilities.
Yip. I hope they win it.
Might be me but he looked relieved in his post match interview & press conference. Almost reborn.
this interview
first time he's been happy in a year.
This is a man who has won and experienced almost everything: titles, cups, countries, sackings, rejections, humiliations. So it would be really difficult to move his needle.
All those sneers since the 2 chelsea defeats, especially from Chelsea fans would have hurt.
So this win was a small form of redemption and validation so I'm really glad he enjoyed it - the miserable old man.
I was thinking today post game as good as the win was I'd love to lift another trophy this season with the EL.
Another final and a chance of a trophy we have never won. Would be a great end to the season.
For him, players and fans alike. Lets hope.
I hope so. I think the losses earlier in the season to the chavs played a big part. Every single player in the team played so well. This was the best performance since SAF left.
Despite the odious spurs fans on here I hope they go on and win the league. Mostly because I know quite a few Arse fans who would implode if that happened.
Can't be denied we have a great chance, for his first season a domestic (or two if we're being petty) and European cup is not a bad return!
One thing is for sure, I was never this excited for the end of the season under the previous two frauds.
I remember Zlatan once saying the difference between Mou and Pep is you feel like you would go to war for Mourinho and honestly only today I felt that from the players.
This is the most I've been pleased with a performance as a team in a long long time and every player was perfect today, I dont think I noticed one mistake from anyone defensively and they all played like warriors. Also a big sign of his character dropping Zlatan and showing him noones name is guaranteed.
I hope Spurs can pile the pressure on now and go on to win it...anyway this formation I think really suits us and should play more often.
This is the most I've been pleased with a performance as a team in a long long time and every player was perfect today, I dont think I noticed one mistake from anyone defensively and they all played like warriors. Also a big sign of his character dropping Zlatan and showing him noones name is guaranteed.
I hope Spurs can pile the pressure on now and go on to win it...anyway this formation I think really suits us and should play more often.
There were two key areas for me today where he won us the game.
Firstly by glueing Herrera to Hazard he completely shut down their main outlet and stubbed out the "create something out of nothing" get out of jail free card they've used in various games this season. With that taken care of it became a very simple game defensively. Just a case of holding shape and snuffing out danger.
The second trick was to put Lingard and Rashford together in attack. They spent the whole game shifting from wide to central positions and made it an absolute nightmare to organise against. Cahill and Zouma wanted to push up and leave Luiz space to sweep and they both made that impossible, dictating Zouma and Cahills positions with their movement and forcing Luiz to step up into the line for fear of playing one of them onside as they often pressed wide and made it impossible for him to hold a line on both of them.
They also refused to give Luiz any time to pick out a pass. As soon as he was on the ball, one of them would be snapping at him while the rest of the team pressed his options.
Firstly by glueing Herrera to Hazard he completely shut down their main outlet and stubbed out the "create something out of nothing" get out of jail free card they've used in various games this season. With that taken care of it became a very simple game defensively. Just a case of holding shape and snuffing out danger.
The second trick was to put Lingard and Rashford together in attack. They spent the whole game shifting from wide to central positions and made it an absolute nightmare to organise against. Cahill and Zouma wanted to push up and leave Luiz space to sweep and they both made that impossible, dictating Zouma and Cahills positions with their movement and forcing Luiz to step up into the line for fear of playing one of them onside as they often pressed wide and made it impossible for him to hold a line on both of them.
They also refused to give Luiz any time to pick out a pass. As soon as he was on the ball, one of them would be snapping at him while the rest of the team pressed his options.
Actually, Lingard was on the left and Rashford on the right.Something like this I believe.
Seriously, I think what best describes it is a 4-4-2, where Herrera and Darmian plays as fullback/midfielders (à la Guardiola) and Valencia and Young as wingers.
Finally, the Mourinho master class in a high stakes game with all the ingredients of vintage Jose, the most important one being absolute dedication from each and every player to their roles in the team and their jobs on the day.
Great to watch. Hopefully it's a sign of the penny finally dropping, and better days to come. If we can work our way into the top four from here!
Great to watch. Hopefully it's a sign of the penny finally dropping, and better days to come. If we can work our way into the top four from here!
Yeah this was how I read Jose's tactics too. It was really important getting Lingard and Rashford to press their CBs, esp Luiz. Not only only prevented him from picking his pass, it also forced him to make errors when out of position. We created a couple of chances in the first 10 mins due to that.
In addition, Young's presence pushed Moses back, so much so that Conte switched him to the left midway through the first half. But that didn't work well for them as we had Valencia there anyway. Young's presence on the left allowed Darmian to tuck in and ensure Pedro doesn't get behind him much.
Fellaini did a great job in MF too marking Matic and breaking up play. Pogba was marking Kante, which helped our three-men mf were dominate the mf battle. Herrera man-marking Hazard out of the game, gave Valencia the freedom to go up and provide a reliable outlet for our attack.
Our CBs were class too. Bailey and Rojo were a tight unit and very importantly, kept their heads and didn't let Costa bully them. They communicated well throughout the game. De Gea didn't have single save to make but every time he got the ball he passed it upfield quick and well which helped to press Chelsea back.
Thoroughly enjoyed this Jose masterclass!
Against lesser teams, obviously we will dominate and focus on creating our own attacks.
But against better teams, counter attacking football does seem to work well and is certainly exciting to watch. I love to see us score goals from fast counter attacks. Turning defence into attack (and a goal), makes for a fantastic watch.
How do we solve the CAF hero Zlatan problem? He is slow, trudges around the field, does not help in pressing when we don't have the ball. We practically have 10 men on the field when we dont' have the ball, there is a limit to what magic Jose can do with that. It worries me that a man of his experience sees it necessary to play Zlatan as much as he has this year, makes me wonder if the kids have it in them or could it be a case of just Jose trusting an soldier.
You need Zlatan against teams that come to Old Trafford to park the bus. In the big games like this Chelsea game, the opposition comes out to attack and that leaves a huge space behind for pace-abusers like Rashford to explore.
I think Jose will repeat this tactics at the Etihad, WHL & the Emirates. I fully expect Zlatan to return for the games against the bus-parkers at OT. Rashford against Kompany next week should be an interesting one.
Good comparison. The best thing about that tactic was when Giggs revealed that Sir Alex told him several weeks prior to the match to prepare to play in central midfield against Chelsea. Today it felt like Mourinho did the same.
Exactly. Most CBs in the EPL do not try to playmake like Luiz. For most of our matches we dominate possession and the opposition sit back very deep, leaving little space for Rashford to run behind.
What was great about today was that Jose showed that he is willing to drop his star players such as Zlatan and Mhki if the tactics warranted him doing so. This is one huge positive for me.
Loved the performance, and also think it was not anything like that famous Jose win against Anfield.
In that match, Liverpool kept on taking shots from outside the box and had the majority of the ball throughout the match. Yesterday however we had dominated the possession and created the best chances.
It wasn't a defensive performance, it was just a complete performance in which we outclassed the best team in the League this season.
In that match, Liverpool kept on taking shots from outside the box and had the majority of the ball throughout the match. Yesterday however we had dominated the possession and created the best chances.
It wasn't a defensive performance, it was just a complete performance in which we outclassed the best team in the League this season.
Reminded me of the Fergie teams versus Arsenal. Jose schooling Conte. All the talk Alonso and TC out affecting them was embarrassing as we had been dealing with this all season.
Yup.
Gary Neville made the same point too saying that those injuries shouldn't excuse Chelsea's performance. United and Liverpool have been dealing with injuries too. Spurs have Harry Kane out and they still look fantastic.
Perfrct game from Mourinho and the players! This was reminiscent of PSG at home against Barcelona (from this season) in the sense PSG never gave Barcelona a chance. I can't remember the last time that every outfield player had such a good game! What makes it sweeter is that we pulled it off with squad players like Darmian, Young and Fellaini starting and a front two of Lingard and Rashford who absolutely harassed Chelsea's back 3.
More of this please.
More of this please.
Couldn't have expressed this better myself. Every player went to war yesterday, even Darmian!!
It's so funny, woke up waiting for that horrible feeling after game day and expecting the usual vulture like posts from the hate mob. Then I remembered what happened 
Big game big result. I hope now we have the key to getting the away win vs City. That would be perfect JM. If we play like this against City it will be even more comfortable
Big game big result. I hope now we have the key to getting the away win vs City. That would be perfect JM. If we play like this against City it will be even more comfortable
This quite rightly should be remembered in a few years as a tactical masterclass as opposed to just another game. Magnificent.
I really like that the players are taking responsibility for the tactical application. Something that was missing under Van Gaal, you knew every time they stepped foot out of position for a millisecond they, in their own minds were thinking and playing like "oh shite I am going to get spiked for this in the dressing room".
Refreshing and enjoyable.
Refreshing and enjoyable.
DDG
Bailly Rojo Darmian
Herrera*
Valencia Fellaini Pogba Young
Rashford Lingard
* man marking Hazard
Darmian was also man marking Pedro
A word for Fellaini who has endured considerable taunts from all including his own fans; I don't think I saw him lose the ball once, was on Matic the whole game and was fecking tackling everyone he can see! What a magnificent performance. Kudos, big Fella.
United were lucky
Played on the counter
Were fresher than tired Chelsea
and Mourinho is a c**t
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/so...her-smash-and-grab-classic-1.3051151?mode=amp
I know
I know
Played on the counter
Were fresher than tired Chelsea
and Mourinho is a c**t
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/so...her-smash-and-grab-classic-1.3051151?mode=amp
I know
I know
Well two of those are right. The article itself is bonkers. The tiredness calculus in particular is comical nonsense.
We've got a match every 3 days whereas they get a week of rest.
He said flatly before the game he had to drop them in order to rest for Eur...oh nevermind everyone played a great game either way.