In a thrilling lunch-time of football, Manchester United came from behind to beat Bournemouth 1-2.
It was a game of two halves as the Cherries dominated the first period of the game, but José Mourinho’s men showed great composure to rebound and played wonderfully in the second half, ending up with the big win. What did we learn?
1. Second Half FC
“I want to be a whole game team,” said Ander Herrera after the match. And taken out of context, that comment would likely draw a “well duh?” response. But if you’ve been paying attention to Manchester United this season, you’ll notice that they are making a habit of dominating in the second half.
Admittedly a lot of their second half domination is energised by their terrible first halves, based on the fact that in the Everton game where they played well in the first half and went 2-0 up, their second half was poor as they sought to hold on.
But when they open the game in a defensive mentality, as they have done against Newcastle, Chelsea and now Bournemouth, they get splayed all over the pitch by their opponents who expose them. Then they change things at half-time and go more attacking, and things work.
United were completely overrun in the first half by Bournemouth, were extremely lucky to go in at 1-1, but they came out of the break swinging. They looked like a proper football team again, chasing the game, with real focus. This worked (and works) because it plays to the strength of the side, which is in attack. When United start playing attacking in both halves? Well, they may still have issues (more on that later) but they’ll play to the strengths of their best players and be damn fun to watch.
2. Martial is in the zone
This is the first time in a year that Anthony Martial has started five consecutive games for Manchester United, and it’s honestly showing. The Frenchman is in absolute fantastic form with five goals in those five games. Only Juventus stopped him from scoring, too, so he has been remarkably consistent in terms of popping up with key goals.
José Mourinho wanted to discard Martial, but Ed Woodward made the decision to keep him. Whatever else you think of Woodward as an executive, that was a brilliant decision as the Frenchman is now well and truly in the zone. His touch is crisp, his movement is electric and he is, quite simply, taking the chances that fall his way. This is a player who is coming into his best form and should he keep this up, people will once again be forced to remember that Anthony Martial is one of world football’s brightest talents.
3. Baffling Brooks
Bournemouth signed David Brooks from Sheffield United for £11.5m, but if you told people they signed him for £70m from Barcelona or Borussia Dortmund, no one would find that hard to believe. That sounds hyberbolic, but have you watched Brooks play?
This Saturday the 21-year-old Welshman made light work of Manchester United’s midfield and defence, with David De Gea’s return to competence the only reason the youngster didn’t get on the scoresheet.
It was a truly astonishing display as this youngster assumed control of Bournemouth’s attack, with everything flowing through him. There were little touches around corners, little flicks, passes designed to find runners, expose space and get clean looks at goal. Even as Bournemouth spent the majority of the second half under siege, Brooks still managed to shine in attack.
4. United need a right-back
Like, seriously.
Since the decline of Gary Neville, Manchester United have tried to find a new right-back to fill the void. They had single-season success with Wes Brown and John O’Shea before bringing Rafael da Silva into the role; but the Brazilian’s tenure was cut short by the jaded lack of imagination of David Moyes. Enter: Antonio Valencia. The winger was rugged and, for the most part, “solid.”
But now age and injury has withered Valencia, and his alternatives are Ashley Young (also worn by age and only good for those big games where you need a man-marker) and the young, unproven Diogo Dalot. Today Young played against Bournemouth and his mere presence completely skewed the United back-line out of any sense of solidity.
With Young all over the place positionally, Chris Smalling got dragged out of place. This left the whole back-line askew and United were lucky that Bournemouth only managed to score once from the numerous times they exposed Young. United need to enter the January market to strengthen this position.
5. Manchester United’s misshapen midfield
Manchester United’s defensive openness is largely not a product of their defence, although their full-back and centre-back situation isn’t good but everyone focusing on them is ignoring the massive problem the side has: the midfield.
José Mourinho pointed it out after the match, that bringing Ander Herrera on to give “control” was the key to their turnaround, and it was, because Fred has seen such a small amount of football that he’s nowhere near adapting to English football. The Brazilian was all at sea on the south coast, and so introducing the Spaniard unleash Paul Pogba as an attacking force, and whenever United can do that, they do well.
The other midfield issue is the anchor: Nemanja Matic. Besides being tall, the Serbian adds almost nothing to the United side. He doesn’t pass quickly nor with any great penetration (Paul Scholes could take an to pick a pass, but he could also hit a penny from a mile away), he doesn’t shoot with any great consistency and while he can tackle, his inability to defend space and cut off counter-attacks is what makes United’s defence look so terrible; they are under constant pressure because Matic can’t protect them.
What’s really troubling, though? José Mourinho seems unaware or unconcerned about Nemanja Matic’s weaknesses. This means almost any other change he makes to his side will only have an incremental effect because, as a whole, United’s midfield will still be a misshapen mess.
The post Bournemouth 1-2 Man Utd: Five things learned as Rashford nets stoppage-time winner appeared first on Squawka News.
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