Welcome back to the blog!
If you’re too cool to click over to the about page, these blogs are going to be synopsis of the games through the structure of the iconic 4-4-2. Each matchday, I’ll give my thoughts on the game via 4 takeaways, 4 players worth talking about, and 2 things worth saying that no one else might be. I’ll wrap it up with some forward looking things. The fun of writing this blog is to let out the fan, don’t worry about being absolutely right, and be unabashedly biased.
Quick Summary for Context:
The Red Devils stride into Crystal Palace off 10 goals in 2 games, and come up with a 0-0 draw. Statistically it was a dominant game, and the first 65 or 70 minutes were evident that we were in form. We had about 5 big chances and the same plague of not being able to convert that we had prior to the international break came back to get us. Not much else to write about as far as recaps go, so let’s get into the 4-4-2.
4 Takeaways:
- Not often do I like to talk about player selections, and substitutions, but I think the apparent depth it is a key plot that is developing around this squad that we haven’t been able to see Ten Hag utilize really since he’s arrived. We don’t have the depth in a desired way where we are truly an injury or two away from starting our 3rd and 4th choice lineups, but what I mean is that we have the depth and players in form where Ten Hag can make decisions about how he wants the gameplan and gameflow to be dictated by whom. He’s not pigeon held into playing his best eleven players, but rather the best eleven players for the job. This was most evident by Eriksen starting over Ugarte in the midfield. We didn’t plan to press, we planned to possess and were willing to sacrifice the lack of out of possession work Eriksen provides for the in possession technical ability and more importantly decision making. The other thing is that we evidently have 6 players available for four spots up front. Rashford on the bench to start was a good choice from Ten Hag based on what happened when he came on. Hojlund could have been better but coming on after time away, we won’t criticize as much. Zirkzee coming off was the moment where we seemed to lose the attacking flow. While often seeming simple, his link up play through the middle was keeping attacks going rather than forcing difficult passes. Overall, I think the lineup was great and the substitutions were lackluster once coming on.
- Chances created were a huge part of the game, and it’s easy to get hung up on the expected goals and big chances statistics. I love stats, but I try my best to not let them tell me what to think as far as should have scored and whether we hate or love a player. I think there were 4 consequential misses in the game. The first of them was Garnacho’s 1v1 with Henderson who came up with a great save (which will be a running theme). Only real complaint I have on the take was that it wasn’t low or high but still placement forced a great save. Shortly after, you get another top notch save from Henderson on a De Ligt header that was low and hard off the corner. The header was textbook and you wouldn’t coach him to do anything differently. Goalkeepers get paid too, and Henderson’s positioning was superb to make the save. The third chance was the two shots two crossbars from Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes. A great pass threaded to Garnacho who hit a great strike first time that just didn’t get under the bar. The ricochet came to Bruno who hit it first time straight back into the ground, as you’re always coached to do, and the ball was unlucky to come up on the bounce and be kept out by the frame once again. Garnacho’s take was even more unlucky there when you factor in the size of the bobble right before he hit the ball, if that ball stays lower to the ground there’s no way his strike doesn’t stay under the bar. The final consequential miss was Zirkzee crashing the front post on an Amad ball across the six yard line where once again Dean Henderson was up to the task getting a vital touch wide to avoid both the goal and a streaking Garnacho at the back stick. Add in 3 more good saves from Henderson and Bruno missin the goal frame on a 1-2 with Zirkzee in the second half and you come away feeling as though we really just didn’t collect the 3 points we probably deserved.
- Tactically the takeaways are there. The system is creating chances and the players, all the way back to front, seem to be playing and enjoying the ball more than I’ve seen from us in Premier League matchups. I think what you’ll notice is that the gameplans under Ten Hag get more consistent when he’s not explicitly concerned about protecting an insufficient back line. What I mean is that the back four we started today doesn’t leave any defender where help has to immediately arrive otherwise you’re picking the ball out of the back of the net. Compare the back line to that of last year, where athletically we struggled to defend in a way that complimented either a press of the opponent or a fluid attack from the back. Many times we were wondering why there was so much space between the midfield and the back line last season and this season I don’t find myself having a similar complaint because Mazroui, Martinez, De Ligt, and Dalot can all run together as a unit and you don’t have 20 to 30 yard gaps between your center halves and everyone else. It’s small, but it is a stark contrast and is freeing us up to enjoy the ball more and dedicate more midfielders to the attack and the chances created/chances given up have both been trending our direction.
- The final takeaway is one that will continue to be here at the end of the main section of the blog until it gets turned around and that is winning the winnable games in the premier league. Will we look back in 6 months as we chase a top spot in the league and think about the missed opportunity to get 3 points at Sellhurst Park? Probably not, but will we look back at potentially the sum of several games like this and wish we had an extra five to ten points? I think the answer is emphatically yes. Winning is a habit, and I’m not being greedy with Crystal Palace on the road who starts three England internationals where a draw is a positive result. We just have to get into the true nature of being a side that gets three points when the three points present themselves. I do think some continuity in play here will help us and I’d much rather be in form like this heading into the Tottenham game than where we were coming off the Liverpool match.
4 Players Worth Talking About
- Nassiar Mazroui – He is without a doubt an absolute stud. He is a Cadillac player, smooth as you like, and what he’s provided us at right back is going to be monumental for the rest of the season. The part of his game that has impressed me the most is his ball winning around the halfway line, where he is generating extra possessions in a one man press kind of way. He’s not overly aggressive in the way that you think he’s going to be caught out on a smart turn, it is his timing that is impressive where he times the tackle to the opponents first touch and doesn’t let him spring out and gives himself a chance to take possession. Once he does win possession he is so smooth in not immediately turning it back over, often times he finds the feet of Amad (in the case of today’s lineup) and then immediately provides support to him to get control of the ball and set up an attack. It isn’t sexy work he’s doing but it is consistently playing winning football at the position that is enjoyable to watch a wing back with a complete game.
- Joshua Zirkzee – He’s playing really, really well. The stark contrast in him coming off and Rashford/Rasmus coming on was night and day and was more a testament to how well he’s performing and how well it compliments the attacking build up play. He likely should have had 2 assists and a goal today if it weren’t for Dean Henderson’s heroics and Bruno just missing on a beautiful combination play. If and when he starts generating the goals we’ve got a reliable option both for creating chances and scoring them.
- Bruno Fernandes – He should score soon. He’d feel better, I’d feel better, and I guarantee the noise around his performances will shut up. He’s not playing poorly on the whole, he’s just not the Bruno of the last 3 seasons as far as the final quality. It’d be a miss to not comment on how frequently he gave the ball away in the final half hour of the game, which does come back to his frustration about how his day was going and then just got wasteful as a result. I hope he can get a break against FC Twente and not have to play a full 90 for us to advance, but we will see what that holds. To beat Tottenham, we need Bruno to be sharp and turn these almosts into for sure goals whether as a supplier or as a finisher.
- Lisandro Martinez – The two foot stomp jump thingy was insane behavior. I have to talk about him because how absurd that choice was to do what he did. If you are reading this and haven’t seen what I’m talking about, give it a quick internet search. That tackle was intended to hurt or injure, and that is beneath Martinez, especially in a tie game away from home. I’ve played soccer my entire life, and I have seen some buffoonery happen on the field at the high school level but nothing that ridiculous. For as unlucky as we’ve been on the goalscoring side, we are fortunate that tackle didn’t make real contact and draw a red card and a several match ban.
2 Things No One Else Might be Saying
- If we can’t score these expected goals we will finish 10th in the table, if we score them we finish no lower than 4th.
- Clean sheets matter, and Onana finding the clutch moments is something we will need him to have moving forward as the back line is coming together and decreasing opponents chances.