RUBEN AMORIM has a new attacking threat at his disposal following a successful “tweak” to his Manchester United side against Arsenal.
The Red Devils shared the spoils with the north Londonrs thanks to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last Sunday.
Manchester United shared the spoils with Arsenal in last Sunday’s meeting at Old Trafford[/caption]
Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim was frustrated to not have bagged all three points[/caption]
But the attacking threat shown by Noussair Mazraoui will have pleased the Portuguese gaffer[/caption]
Amorim, however, wasn’t happy with his troops’ failure to hold on to all three points, which Declan Rice denied them of with a stunning second-half finish.
But he’ll be happy with the auxiliary attacking threat defender Noussair Mazraoui showed he can be on the right-hand side.
And in the latest episode of SunSport’s Tactics Exposed, our tactics expert DEAN SCOGGINS looks at how the Moroccan showed how he can be a versatile threat going forward when paired up with Alejandro Garnacho.
Here are four of Dean’s observations on Mazraoui from the draw…
1) Understanding with Garnacho
Garnacho is creating that indecision because he trusts Mazraoui’s decision making to give him the ball when he can and not go bombing up the outside and leave him in a dodgy position.
And also it means that Garnacho can then spring that counterattack when United win it back.
And we saw that three or four times where Garnacho carried the ball up the right in the first half.
At half time, fantastic from Amorim. What he’s done is just a subtle little tweak with their positioning to bring Garnacho wide to the right and running out to wing, and then Mazraoui going up the inside channel inside him.
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IT was a performance that would have pleased Ruben Amorim but a 1-1 draw with Arsenal does little to paper over the cracks at Manchester United.
On a day when the Old Trafford crowd protested the owners, the players stood up to show their remains life in a club that fans say is experiencing a “slow death”.
There was a lack of clear-cut chances in the opening 45 minutes as both sides goalscoring troubles continued.
A moment of magic was needed and Fernandes stepped up as he so often does.
Arsenal‘s wall was full of man mountains, but Fernandes found the power, dip and accuracy to beat David Raya with his free-kick – even if the wall was marched 11.2 yards back instead of the regulated ten.
Mikel Arteta’s side came out swinging in the second-half with their makeshift No9 up top, and it took a brilliant effort from Declan Rice to level the scores.
United were able to frustrate them and remain a threat on the counter but eventually had to settle for a point in a much-improved performance.
Here is how SunSport’s Martin Blackburn rated the United performances.
2) Making trouble
Mazraoui was [often] the free man. He found himself in a number ten position, a striker position and a right wing position.
He was the one causing all the problems and we saw the ideal Amorim scenario – [Diogo] Dalot, one wing back, crossing it to Mazraoui, the other wing back.
[The] save from David Raya probably should have been the winner for United because they played really, really well in that second-half period on the counterattack.They were comfortable out of position. And with the crossover of Mazraoui and Garnacho and understanding where each other are going to go, they caused Arsenal a real problem on that left-hand side.
3) Inside and outside threats
Oh, definitely, [this is the Mazraoui Manchester United they were signing].
And also, I think it’s a credit to Mazraoui that he’s done the job that Amorim has asked of him.
Amorim is having to tick a few boxes as we go through here.
They defended brilliantly against Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal away in the FA Cup.
Noussair Mazraoui was a constant threat on the right wing[/caption]
The defender caused the Gunners trouble thank to a great understanding with Garnacho[/caption]
Is Mazraoui playing as a proper fullback in a back five? They did that in the first half. So he did get up the right sometimes.
Mazraoui, he was the one going up the outside in the first half.
In the second half, they switch that over and Garnacho going wide and then Mazraoui is coming up on the inside.
He is a good baller in those positions. He can pick it up at number ten and he’s two-footed.
He can play between those lines as well.
And as we’ve said week after week, Amorim’s formation relies on wing-backs driving forward.
Otherwise, they’re just nullified. Mazraoui provided. That was really good.
4) Versatility
I think that he was an example [of a player who says to his manager], ‘Where?’ ‘Left back, boss? No problem.
‘Right back, boss? No problem? Wing back? Yeah I can do that attacking role. Second off? No problem. I’ll do that as well.’
