“Everything is going wrong” – David De Gea, Man United
A brutally honest assessment from Man United’s number one in his post-match interview following Manchester United’s sorry defeat to Newcastle on Sunday. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men continued their dismal away form, extending their time without victory even further from that magnificent night in Paris – which seems a long time ago now. United have now lost their third game in the Premier League this season, slumping to 12th in the table. The 1-0 victory for the Magpies lifted them out of the relegation zone.
In this tactical analysis, we look at the tactics deployed by Steve Bruce and provide an analysis of where the attacking issues lie in this Man United team.
Lineups
Steve Bruce opted for a familiar defensive shape, with the intention of frustrating the visitors. He implemented a rigid 5-4-1 system, consisting of Jerome Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Fabian Schär as the centre-backs. This additional centre-back assisted in covering the movement in the half-spaces and also prevented overloads on the wings. Homegrown brothers Matt and Sean Longstaff started as the central midfielders. Their role was to provide stability to the defensive shape and use their narrow positioning to block passing lanes into the front men, which they did expertly. New signing Joelinton started as the lone striker- he was used as a target man during an offensive transition, supported by Miguel Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin.
To read the full tactical analysis of this match – click here
If you love tactical analysis, then you’ll love the digital magazines from totalfootballanalysis.com – a guaranteed 100+ pages of pure tactical analysis covering topics from the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and many, many more. Buy your copy of the October issue for just ₤4.99 here
