RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime

Posted Saturday, August 20, 2022 by Thesun.co.uk

A FEW funny pundits are calling this an early relegation six-pointer.

Others are wondering if Erik Ten Hag might end up being Erik Ten Weeks.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
Harry Maguire and Christian Eriksen during the 4-0 humiliation at Brentford

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
Erik ten Hag takes on Jurgen Klopp at Old Trafford on Monday

But surely there is no way United can try and play the same way again against Liverpool - as they did in the 4-0 thrashing at Brentford?

If anyone were to have told you that after two league games Manchester United and Liverpool would be sitting on just two points combined then you would have thought that they were crazy.

Both teams, after all, had enjoyed a relatively successful pre-season and there was a sense of optimism around both.

That optimism has faded notably although it is fair to say that Liverpool are in a far stronger position at the moment than Man United.

Liverpool have started with draws away to Fulham and at home to Crystal Palace but they have shown enough to suggest that they should soon click back into form.

The mood around United is less positive by far.

Defeats to Brighton and Brentford may have been excused in isolation - both have after all proven themselves to be smart and capable opponents - but the manner of the defeats in both matches have shown real cause for concern.

Add a topping of random, scattergun transfer approaches and you really get the sense that United are all over the place both on and off the pitch.

Under their new coach Ten Hag, United are without doubt undergoing a period of transition with the Dutch coach looking to implement a very specific tactical style at Old Trafford.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
Christian Eriksen was give a tough time at Brentford

So far this style has had clear issues with both Brighton and Brentford pressing high aggressively and hitting United when they have tried to play out from the back.

United go into this match on Monday night against one of the most ruthless and efficient pressing sides in Europe.

If Ten Hag chooses to continue installing his tactical principles in the squad for this game then we will see a fascinating tactical match unfold.

We look at this in more detail - plus two other key tactical areas that we feel can help United feel a bit better about themselves come the final whistle.

Will United continue to play out from the back?

Playing out from the back is not something that you can easily escape from in football today.

Teams at all levels are taking more risks in looking to play through the thirds of the pitch as opposed to just looking to play long to escape the opposition press or get the ball safely away from their own goal.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
The build up to the second Brentford goal. De Gea is in possession and Brentford apply the high press. With Ivan Toney bending his press to cut off the pass to Maguire the only option for De Gea is to go forward to Eriksen. Instead of passing the the safe side of Eriksen, however, the pass is played straight and into trouble.

This, in part at least, explains the rise of goalkeepers who are expected to be able to play with their feet and not just their hands - and this is where one of United’s most glaring weaknesses comes in - their Spanish international goalkeeper David de Gea.

While De Gea remains an outstanding shot-stopper with top-tier reflexes (most of the time) he is not at all comfortable with the ball at his feet.

We have seen this clearly in the two games so far this season as United persist with their desire to play out from the back.

While De Gea is capable of short connecting passes to his centre-backs he is not quick enough to see the passing options to go out to his fullbacks or even into the midfield.

The second goal against Brentford last weekend was a case in point. De Gea could have played a clipped pass out wide but instead, he tried to force the pass through the centre and into the feet of Christian Eriksen.

If that pass was angled slightly to the left side then Eriksen could have escaped the pressure but the pass was straight and Eriksen lost the ball, getting yet another assist for the Bees.

Playing out from the back and through De Gea will play straight into the hands of Liverpool in this game.

With Darwin Nunez suspended it is likely that we will see Roberto Firmino return from injury to lead the line for Liverpool.

While Firmino is less dynamic than the Uruguayan forward he is arguably more intelligent in terms of his pressing and work against the ball.

Fabinho bossed the midfield against Palace

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
This time we see De Gea playing out from the back against Brighton. He again chooses the straight pass to a midfielder, to Fred this time, and as Fred looks to escape pressure he gives the ball away

There is no doubt that Liverpool will look to apply consistent pressure to the United build-up.

We are likely to see the front three for Liverpool position themselves in a relatively narrow shape with Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah joining Firmino and the Liverpool midfield will look to go man-to-man behind the press.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this match will be how United manage to play through Liverpool’s press.

Will Ten Hag stick to his desire to play this way or will United be more direct in their approach to the game?

United can exploit Liverpool on the counterattack

In both of their matches so far this season, Liverpool have been the more dominant side but in both matches they have been vulnerable to quick transitions from the opposition.

An important part of the Liverpool game model under Jurgen Klopp is their use of the fullbacks as they attack.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
In the match against Crystal Palace it is fair to say that Liverpool dominated possession. Given that they dominated the game their fullbacks were consistently high and in the opposition half. This means that when Palace were able to play forward quickly enough there were spaces that they could exploit in the Liverpool defensive line

On the left side, we typically see Andy Robertson providing consistent width as he looks to attack and get the ball into the opposition area.

On the right side the picture is slightly different as Trent Alexander-Arnold prefers to operate more inside and in the channels as an important part of the Liverpool attack.

The fact that Liverpool push their fullbacks high in almost every attack means that there will be space that can be exploited by United in transition.

So far this Premier League season we have seen United line up with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in the wide attacking positions.

Both players are dynamic attacking threats when they are on form. They are not, however, very good when it comes to pressing or filling gaps defensively.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
Here, in the match against Fulham we see Liverpool again caught high in transition. The two central defenders for Liverpool are isolated centrally and there is space to attack them down the outside

United would likely be better advised to play a slightly more vertical and direct game in order to release the likes of Sancho and Rashford wide behind the Liverpool fullbacks as often as possible.

You know, just like the days where they were accused of being negative and only playing counterattacking (yet effective) football.

If United are able to play more direct passes in transition then they will be able to turn Liverpool around and effectively control more of the match.

If they attack in the wide spaces consistently then we may see the Liverpool fullbacks, or even their deepest midfield player, start to sit deeper and this would release some of the pressure on the United defence.

United need to find a way to stop Liverpool in possession

Erik ten Hag has also been clear that he wants his United team to develop into a team that not only plays out from the back but that applies pressure to the opposition.

Let’s not forget though that the previous United boss, Ralf Ragnick, also wanted them to become pressing monsters.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
Here we see the danger that Alexander-Arnold poses in possession. As Liverpool are building out from the back the right-back rotates into the channel as the central midfielder drops out and creates space.

He quickly realised that the players at his disposal were not capable of (or interested in) playing that way and dropped his intentions to press high.

So far we have seen United caught in the middle of trying to press high and dropping back into a more compact block.

While the likes of Bruno Fernandes, playing as the ‘10’, will press aggressively he tends to do so when isolated and not properly supported by his teammates.

If United do not effectively find a way to contain the Liverpool attack then it will be a long evening for the United defence.

When Liverpool are in possession with their central defenders or with their deepest midfielder, typically Fabinho, they will step forward and look for opportunities to break a line with a pass.

This allows Liverpool to rotate around ahead of the ball in order to find pockets of space that they can occupy and take advantage of.

RED ALERT Man Utd face Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must solve several tactical problems if he is to reboot his faltering regime
Another example here of the danger that Liverpool can pose when the opposition do not effectively press and contain them in the first third. As the ball is coming out of the defensive third the opposition are not pressing. With one line-breaking pass Liverpool will be in a position to attack the opposition defensive line

If United do not figure out a way to press more successfully and consistently or if they do not decide to drop off as a team and constrict the space that Liverpool can play into then we are likely to see Liverpool consistently find ways to play through into these pockets.

If United do press Liverpool in possession then they will have to do so as a whole unit with support beside and behind the press.

Otherwise, they will be picked off and played through easily.

What does all this mean?

The lazy but somewhat obvious hot-take is to pick a random number above three and decide by how many goals Liverpool will win by.

You would hope/expect/imagine that Ten Hag will have some kind of gameplan that his players are capable of sticking to that would prevent another humiliation - is anything more than that being a little ambitious?

Even with what we’ve spoken about above, every single signal points to Liverpool winning this and getting their season properly underway.

But the Premier League does have a habit of surprising us - though not usually where Liverpool or Man City are concerned.

For Ten Hag, Casemiro and the others cannot arrive soon enough.