THE BREAKDOWN: MAN UNITED 21/22
From December 2018 to the end of 2020/2021: Manchester United were consistently top 3 in the league under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and were Top 4 in the league when looking through the prism of Expected Goals for and against. However, this season there has been a clear deterioration which has inevitably resulted in Solskjaer losing his Job.
In his place comes Legendary German Club builder in Ralf Rangnick, known for his work at RB Leipzig and TSG Hoffenheim as well as being manager of Schalke 04 as they reached the 2011 Champions league SemiFinals.
What went wrong? Why did it so suddenly go south for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?
United had a number of tactical issues that were made to look proportionately worse due to the poor personnel in midfield, the imbalance of the squad and the lack of sufficient work-rate and defensive discipline from the front line.
The Urban Myth has been to attribute a large part of the collapse to Cristiano Ronaldo, and while some of it stems from the signing of the Portuguese, it has to be said that United’s Issues go deeper. In this Article, we will take a look at some of the issues, namely
- Flawed Setups
- Poor Rest Defence
- Mis-Profiling of Sancho
- The Ronaldo defending Issue
1. FLAWED TACTICAL SET UPS
One of the biggest strengths of Solskjaer up until this season was his ability to get the tactical set ups (particularly defensive shape) spot on in big matches.
The Excellent Pressing deployed by United against Villareal in the UEL Final, the shutout of Manchester City at the Etihad, the win at Le Parc des Princes over PSG or the Impressive pressing and off the ball scheme deployed vs Tuchel’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when United were injury-hit are all examples of Solskjaer’s propensity to get it right.
This season however, some of the tactical set ups have been flawed which has seen United get hammered regularly.
Against Villarreal, United opted for a bizzare 4–3–3/4–1–4–1 which meant that united got opened up regularly in the first half due to the separation between the front 5 and back 5.
In this clip, u can see the lack of pressure on the CB’s due to united’s set up and the man marking by Bruno and Pogba resulting in united getting forced back easily and Villareal being able to play through united with acres of space on either side of Mctominay
Against Liverpool, the disjointed nature of the press and the lack of compactness resulting in United playing in what was basically a de-facto 4–2–4.
United’s distances from back to front were horrendous and the pressure on the most creative LFC players (fullbacks) was almost non existent, leading to the demolition job.
Against City, united played in a 5–3–2 block with no pressure from the front.
As is illustrated in this analysis, city found huge spaces with regularity on the sides of the united midfield 3 in the half spaces with the back 5 pinned back by City. Cancelo, walker, Bernardo, Kdb repeatedly recieved in this areas with united unable to get anywhere near them
2. POOR REST DEFENCE
A feature of United this season has been the decision by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to have his left back deeper and in more reserved roles as compared to last season, where they were overlapping far more regularly resulting in huge creative output by Shaw in particular.
This creates a distorted 2–3 shape in build up with the left back, one no. 6 and either a second pivot (most games where mcfred play) or right back (Villareal) in a band of 3 to provide 3 solutions vs a 1 ST set up.
This however, is a poor choice by Solskjaer and isnt a great set up for Rest defence.
United end up with the fullbacks too wide when the ball is lost and not tucked in and ready to counterpress like a De Zerbi/Guardiola esque set up due to the fact that united play a 4–2–3–1 and the fullbacks are normally occupying wider positions in build up.
This ends up leaving the pivot usually with acres of space to defend single handedly, with the right side quite often exposed
Here, Pogba and Mctominay respectively avoid diving in which delays counter attacks but Leicester and Villareal respectively have acres of space to launch counters, using Vardy and Danjuma as outlets.
Both Pogba and Mctominay are unsure whether to press due to
A. poor workrate from front players resulting in Opposition players facing play B. acres of Space due to empty midfields
Another issue with this structure is its tendency to isolate Fred in the pivot with acres to defend. Fred can be a problematic pivot player anyway due to his tendency to dive into challenges/duels. Ideally, A player like Fred should be playing as an 8 as he is unreliable in certain crucial aspects to be a pivot player.. What u definitely don’t want to do is isolate him as a de-facto no. 6 with acres to defend.
This structure has been demonstrative of United’s issues with sustaining pressure and their tendency to be involved in Basketball matches. Its also very clearly a decision made this season as can be seen in Solskjaer
3. MIS-PROFILING OF SANCHO
Its no secret that Sancho hasn't been utilised well by Manchester United. But why is that?
Well, to understand this, one must understand the way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man United has been built.
Man United when building from the back usually work with a front 4 or 5.. with the Lw normally being kept high and wide on the far side to create 1v1s vs the right back.
United typically position each winger wide on the sides with the 9 & 10 in the 4–2–3–1 in each half space, forming a 4 man front line with only the central space left unoccupied.
A typical movement would be to build down the right before the RCB or right back plays into the double pivot. The double pivot player then finds usually the №10 in the Left Half Space who then looks for the LW in a 1v1 vs the Opposite Rb.
this movement from man united can be seen in certain goals as well.
the interesting thing in the goal vs newcastle is how visible the United 4 in attack is, with the utilisation of that right to left build up through the left half space.
2 other salient features visible is A. Shaw’s inverted position which is a common part of this season, and B. sancho’s wide position, ready to attack the opposite Rb in a 1v1.
However, This is where I feel Solskjaer has gotten it wrong with Sancho. Sancho has been profiled as a 1v1 winger working in isolations out wide vs the fullback commonly. He has been tasked with holding the width a lot this season with a lot of united’s movement’s and combinations featuring on the right this season and not left.
Against Newcastle, Sancho was seen out by the wing looking to commit the full back with limited amount of runs on either side of him, especially down to
Shaw playing a more reserved role this season (spoken about earlier in the article).
This is very different to what made him so special while he was at Dortmund. with his ability to beat players 1v1 but also play fast 1–2s and combinations with runners to eliminate defenders before finding teammates with slide rule through passes (notably linked with Hakimi, Reus, Haaland And Bellingham with such play)
Against Leicester again, Sancho was operate by the wing, and had a fairly quiet game all things considered. United looked to find him by building down the right before switching to the left or finding him through Shaw in his reserved, build up role.
His brightest sparks came with runners on either side though, on one occasion finding ronaldo and on another, Bruno with Shaw overlapping on the other side.
This isnt to say that Sancho is a dud when made to operate wider, holding the width and looking to target the opposite Fullback. In 18/19, Borussia Dortmund under Lucien Favre played more of a 4–2–3–1 with most commonly either Reus as a 10 and Alcacer upfront or Reus as a false 9. In this setup, Sancho often found himself playing more directly, with lesser players in close proximity looking to get after the opposite fullback.
In this video, U can see the kind of situations where Sancho is getting his g/a’s from. He is more explosive, direct, operating in isolations before finding his man. This is the Jadon Sancho that Ole fell in a love with back in 18/19 and wanted United to sign since the summer of 2019.
It sort off makes sense then that Ole has played Sancho in this wider role, hoping to see that explosive winger.
The issue however is that Sancho has evolved into a winger who plays in the pockets a lot more: playing in the interior roles of the 3–4–3 that Dortmund deployed in 19/20 for instance.
Solskjaer has mis-profiled Sancho and it isnt surprising that his best performances were vs Everton, Watford and Villareal. In the first of the 3, Sancho played on the left but with Bruno and ronaldo drifting over a lot more, Sancho was able to combine. In the other 2, Sancho played on the right, the flank which has seen more of United’s combination play and fluid interchanges this season.
Of course Sancho can and has operated in wider areas since 18/19 for Dortmund, but that isnt the same as being a 1v1 explosive winger Ala Raphinha/Sane/mid 2000s Ronaldo. Even his 18/19 version would often combine with an overlapping fullback or with the one of the 9 or 10 drifting across. It also must be said that, Sancho was more direct on the right than left, where he would look for combos with team mates and look to play people in. Ole has tried to use him as a direct winger off the left and not the right.
The failure to integrate a star signing who has been chased for 3 years is a worthy indictment of Manchester United in 21/22, and to be be perfectly honest Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson.
4. RONALDO & DEFENDING
Cristiano Ronaldo and Defensive work. It has been trodden over by fans and analysts galore since his arrival at Manchester United that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t press well or work hard when Utd are out of possession
This Graphic highlights the incredible defensive record that Ralf Rangnick’s RB Leipzig had but it also highlights the defensive collapse from United’s perspective this season.
For context, United are 3rd worst in the league for Expected Goals Conceded and 5th worst in the league for Goals against in 2021/22 using Understat’s Model
The very Same Manchester United was 4th best in the league for Expected Goal Conceded and 5th best in the league for Goals conceded in 2020/21.
United have been horrifically bad this season and although a lot of fans might not like it, Cristiano Ronaldo has a fair bit to do with it.
There are four fundamental phases in football excluding Set pieces, namely
- Attacking Organisation or Attacking,
- Defensive Transition (opposition Counter attacks)
- Defensive Organisation or Defending
- Attacking Transition (Your Team’s counter attacks)
Ronaldo’s contribution in the 2 defensive phases has come up short this season, with his Pressing numbers in the Utd Squad level with defenders as can be shown in this graphic by The Athletic.
A further Damning Indictment of Cristiano Ronaldo’s defensive work is that he is in the:
1. 1st Percentile for Pressures & Tackles amongst Forwards in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues
2. He is also in the 2nd Percentile for Pressures in the Middle and Attacking third, Showing how much he really undermines United’s attempts to Press High up the pitch. (Data from StatsBomb via Fbref)
NOTE: high 90s percentile = top class defensive work
while. single digit percentile means horrendous defensive work
COUNTERPRESSING
Ronaldo is particularly lazy in the counter pressing phase, and will often switch off and not bother to press the opposition to win the ball back even if he is near the play.
In this clip vs West Ham, he can be seen near the play but he doesn’t close any West Ham player down, making United’s Counter Press is ineffective. This passivity from Ronaldo allows West ham to progress down the sides and Counter attack behind the Utd players who are out of possession and attempting to press West ham players (for instance: AWB).
PRESSING/DEFENSIVE ORGANISATION
It isnt just his passivity while pressing/counter pressing which is an issue.
Believing that pressing is purely about running is such a big misconception. Effective Pressing teams also need players to obey triggers and be in the right positions.
when Utd Defend in a block or press high, Cristiano Ronaldo has this tendency to drift over to the CB on the far side from the ball. he doesnt move with the ball either, staying on that far side even if the ball is on the wing with the fullback.
This is not the way Ole ’s United have defended during his tenure: with both strikers in the 4–4–2 off ball shape pressing the cb if the ball is on that side or blocking the pivot if the ball is on the other side, in an attempt to force the opposition wide and use the touchline as a defender.
Against Man City, This lead to United’s 5–3–2 block being distorted into a 5–3–1–1- off sorts, with little pressure on the city inverted fullbacks or the centreback on the side of the ball: allowing them to switch the play from side to side and exploit the half spaces freely.
(referenced in the “FLAWED TACTICAL SETUPS” Section)
Ronaldo also has a tendency to do this when utd press high too, drifting over to one cb and pressing that CB if the ball is on that side while staying with the same Cb on the far side if the ball is on the other side.
This is fine if the opposition choose to build down the side Ronaldo is on, as then with the other ST/10 in Solskjaer’s two man defensive set ups (4–2–3–1 becomes 4–4–2 off the ball and 3–5–2 becomes 5–3–2) follows the pendulum set up and covers the pivot.
with the rest of the team following planned triggers and closing down the nearby options, united end up with a 6v5 overload on the side of the ball. United can trap the opposition and win high turnovers, resulting in greater territorial control and also chance creation.
When the opposition build down the other side to Ronaldo, they can and have often triangulated on the flanks: playing into the full back to attract the united press before then playing into the free pivot who ronaldo has not come back to close down.
This sort of play normally results in united getting overloaded 3v2 in midfield and teams able to play through the side for fun, with LFC, Leicester City, Man City exploiting Utd’s Feeble high press with ease.
It's important to stress that this isn't managerial instruction as in the matches that Ronaldo hasn't played, United haven't employed such a type of press or Block but have employed the set up i explained above.
United have looked better defensively without him with the exception of Wolves (Calamity performance by double pivot) which was a bit of an anomaly.
Fundamentally, i think the blame is a bit on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer too, as Ronaldo is an exceptional Goal scorer; only matched by a handful across the world. This means that he is a tool: flawed, far from the whole package like he is painted out to be but not an out and out problem.
I think from a holistic sense, United will be better without Ronaldo but its Ole’s job to devise a secondary defensive set up to mitigate the lazyness of One of the world’s finest goalscorers and not just put him in last season’s set up and hope he magically starts doing the needful.
Manchester United have been flawed in 21/22 from a tactical/ technical/mental viewpoint. An imbalanced, forward heavy squad without the requisite level of workrate from a lot of players (not just ronaldo) plus tactical mistakes by the manager has resulted in the collapse this season and Ole Solskjaer losing his Job.
These were just some of the flaws in Solskjaer’s Man united in 21/22. i might go over the others in another article (might).
Its now the beginning of the Ralf Rangnick era, as the former Lokomotiv Moscow Director of Football has to try and salvage this pretty abject 21/22 campaign. He will have to try and balance this top heavy squad, integrate his footballing philosophy into the players and avoid these mistakes that Ole has made.
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