MANCHESTER UNITED are looking to find a silver lining in their woeful season by winning the FA Cup but will need to beat Fulham in the fifth round on Sunday to move a step closer to that goal.
The Red Devils beat Ipswich 3-2 earlier this week despite being down to ten men, but are still flattering to deceive in many ways.
On today’s Tactics Exposed we break down why Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 is not working[/caption]
Bruno Fernandes’ ‘Steven Gerrard syndrome’ is both a blessing and a curse for United[/caption]
Rasmus Hojlund will need a big turnaround to prove he is the solution at Man Utd[/caption]
A young, talented Portuguese manager could prove a huge thorn in the side of Man Utd when Marco Silva‘s Fulham visit Old Trafford.
The Cottagers have gone under the radar for how good a season they are having, sitting in the top half of the table.
Meanwhile, Man Utd’s various shortcomings have been copiously documented with Ruben Amorim‘s system still failing to get the best out of this squad.
So how might the ex-Sporting boss look to tackle the next match against Fulham? Our latest episode of Tactics Exposed, in association with Betfair, should have all the answers for you.
Why is 3-4-3 not working?
Amorim’s 3-4-3 system worked wonders at Sporting Lisbon, winning two Portuguese titles and many other accolades.
It is yet to translate over to England, but why is this the case?
Well starting out with a simple answer, many of these players have never played the system before.
Manuel Ugarte, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt to a lesser extent are the only players familiar with the system, and the lack of specialists in various positions including central midfield and wing-backs are a huge issue.
So why does Amorim insist on playing 3-4-3? Well the idea is quite simple: Because the wing-backs provide overloads in all positions on the pitch.
When defending, you have a back five; when in possession, you have a four-man midfield instead of two; and when attacking, you have a front five.
Before signing Patrick Dorgu, United lacked a specialist wing-back.
Amad Diallo was tried out there before he was moved into the front three, Alejandro Garnacho did not work there, while Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are not quick enough to excel.
At Sporting the system worked so well because there was a lot of trust given to players.
We should note this was often against sides who many would consider inferior opposition, which is not a luxury as readily extended into the Premier League.
Ultimately, as Amorim has warned, it will take time.
Another reason this system is failing is that players are moving out of position, leaving them overloaded instead of the opposition.
For example, if a long ball is played into the right channel for Rasmus Hojlund to run onto – which prompts a wing-back, one of the tens and a midfielder to step up – when possession is conceded back to the opposition they end up being overloaded and exposed on the other side of the pitch.
This happened in five or six games against Ipswich, where Ugarte moved out to right wing-back to get the ball, but the wing-back was out wide, so he did not get the ball.
Fulham will doubtless look to block the passing lane off which will then leave them outnumbered in trying to find passing solutions.
This all comes from the simple fact United players are not being utilised properly when building up.
Is Bruno Fernandes overrated?
Our latest episode of Tactics Exposed, in association with Betfair, has given us the chance to directly answer some of your questions.
And one of the most heavily debated stars in the Premier League is Bruno Fernandes, as seen with Roy Keane’s explosive argument with Ian Wright earlier this week.
The raw numbers tell a story of Fernandes being the star man of Man Utd’s team, with six goals and seven assists in the Premier League and 23 goal contributions across 39 games in all competitions this season.
However, as is always the case in football, you have to look a bit deeper to find the real answer, which can often have more than one truth.
In one sense, the stats are completely right and you can’t fault his effort.
But in his duty as club captain, Fernandes is actually taking on too much responsibility and is therefore disrupting Amorim’s system which is actually quite rigid with defined roles for a number of players.
Fernandes has recently been the left-sided midfielder in the central pivot after moving back from one of the two attacking midfield roles. But that has created its own new problem.
In the system, the central centre-back, two central midfielders and striker should generally remain in a set position.
But Fernandes is doing something I will dub “Steven Gerrard syndrome”, where he is doing everything and putting the team off balance.
While it means he gets on the ball a lot and has a heat map across the entire pitch, Fernandes’ effort ends up creating an overload which favours the opposition.
Against Ipswich he would often move into the back three, therefore creating a four, which paired with Ugarte drifting out wide it ends up allowing the opposition to have many extra numbers in attacking areas.
So how do you fix this issue? As we mentioned earlier, it comes down to trust.
Most teams defend in a 4-4-2 shape, and if Fernandes remains disciplined by staying in his area, it can open passing lanes and create the overloads the Amorim system is designed to create.
Of course there is the argument Fernandes is only doing too much because those around him are not pulling their weight.
Again, this may be true, with many United players seemingly playing in a cowardly manner and lacking courage.
Fernandes needs to learn to trust his team-mates more by handing them more responsibility, but at the same time they need to step up their game to get near the 30-year-old’s level.
Rasmus Hojlund is not the answer, is he?
Our third comment on this edition of Tactics Exposed, in association with Betfair, dismisses United’s frontman Hojlund as not being up to the standard required.
The answer, like with Fernandes, is deeper than the surface level numbers show us.
His profile, a big, quick player who is handful for defenders, would indicate a player who should be perfect for the system. But goals are simply not coming for the 22-year-old.
Hojlund’s last Premier League goal came on December 7, 13 league games ago.
Yet the Dane has found himself to be an increasingly isolated figure by being forced to often battle a box of four players around him – usually being two defenders and two defenders.
Even the likes of Erling Haaland would struggle against those odds.
Watching him shows he is making lots of runs into the channel and running along the line of the defence, but he is simply not getting the ball in areas where he can be dangerous.
Joshua Zirkzee‘s spell as a No10 and the lack of true wing-backs have hurt the service for Hojlund.
You have to feel sorry for him, and it is no surprise he looks like a broken man.
His main challenge now is to shake off his current form and clear of lack of confidence and find a way to be more effective in his runs by conserving energy.
Man Utd need another striker to help Hojlund, whether that new ace plays alongside Hojlund or simply gives him a chance to be out of the first team for a bit by taking some of the pressure and workload off of him.
In their 2-1 midweek win against Wolves, Fulham ironically scored two goals typical of Amorim’s system; both came from their number nine, Rodrigo Muniz.
The first goal saw Muniz battle off two defenders to lay it off to one of the attacking midfielders before the ball was played to attacking wing-back Ryan Sessegnon who scored.
In the second half, the ball was played into a wide position with the No10 dropping into space before the No9 was played in on goal with a diagonal run. Another perfect Amorim goal.
It stands to reason that Fulham could match Man Utd’s 3-4-3 this weekend, like they matched Wolves, and show them how it is done.
Man Utd ratings vs Ipswich as Maguire saves the day after Onana makes case to be WORST ever signing
MANCHESTER UNITED eased their fears of the drop in a topsy-turvy relegation six-pointer with Ipswich.
The Red Devils triumphed 3-2 despite playing the second half with ten men.
A major cock-up from Patrick Dorgu and Andre Onana saw Ipswich take a third-minute lead through Jaden Philogene.
Then, after United had recovered to lead 2-1, Dorgu saw a straight red card for a poor challenge on Omari Hutchinson.
Philogene scored again to level it before the break only for Harry Maguire to nod in to be United’s saviour.
But who was United’s best player on the night?
Here, SunSport’s Phil Thomas reveals his Manchester United player ratings…
