Manchester City – Manchester United: Ten Hag Almost Performs The Same Trick (1-1, 7-6 After Penalties)
Erik ten Hag deployed a very similar blueprint to the one that clinched the FA Cup from their inter-city rivals. Manchester United may have been minutes away from another derby victory, but the same dynamics are still present that made the rest of last season a dismal watch.
Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker.
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Start as you mean to go on. English football returned as it had left it, both Manchester clubs at Wembley competing for silverware. United may have pulled off a dramatic shock in the FA Cup final, but they are still playing the role of jester to the City monarch, on his throne after four seasons.
Pep Guardiola had regenerated his Champions League-winning squad last year, but their business this summer has been moved quiet. Savinho shot up the City group pipeline to become another attacking option, after a very impressive season at Girona. Whilst a winger was added, Julián Álvarez edges closer to a move to Atlético de Madrid, which currently leaves Erling Haaland as the only striker option – until Pep finds a new way to go on a crazy unbeaten streak.
The fiasco around Erik ten Hag summarizes the pantomime that United has become. The Dutchman is still in charge and added two young talents to bolster up positions which had little depth. Leny Yoro signed from Lille, only for foot surgery to rule him out the center-back for the first three months of the season. Joshua Zirkzee was also brought in from Bologna, a connective striker who improves United’s short game in the attack; but whether Ten Hag can break United out of a heavy transition style remains the question for another campaign.
Community shield games offer their fair share of experimentation and this was no exception. City’s heavy-hitters from the EURO final were all rested, so no Rodri, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden or John Stones. A core of the City academy where brought in, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb are well established, but Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee also started in the midfield.
United’s line-up shows signs of where their squad depth is lacking. Lisandro Martínez started at left-back, whilst Jonny Evans appeared at center-back, Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro were ahead of the defensive line. Rasmus Højlund was ruled out, so no striker in the United lineup.
Similar in look, different in execution
Much like the FA Cup final in May, it’s no surprise that City’s buildup took control. United had arranged themselves in the same manner as they had done in that game but with different personnel: Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes were the two tens, with Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford covering the wider spots in a narrow 4-2-2-2/4-2-4 medium to low block. United did move into higher spots, but City had methods to get the ball to the halfway line as quickly as possible: Rúben Dias moved more to the right of a back three, which saw Ederson slot in next to Joško Gvardiol in circulation. With the wide United forward focused on the City fullback, as well as Bobb and Jérémy Doku pinning the defensive line deep, it created room for both Lewis to push up on the right and McAtee to drop into a wide-left spot for longer distribution.
5th minute: Positional arrangement from City, moving out of the deep build. Dias was allowed to step up and space was available down both channels for the center-back to move the ball into as United defenders were not stepping out and the narrow wingers were instructed to support the center first, before stepping outward onto the channel.
From the halfway line, City had several positional arrangements. Mateo Kovačić was often the single pivot, with O’Reilly bouncing between lines to receive and both Lewis/Gvardiol adjusting their positions to disrupt United’s man-marking in the middle. As a result, City’s most dangerous passes came from two scenarios: O’Reilly dropping to drag Kobbie Mainoo further up the defensive chain, which left Casemiro isolated or O’Reilly taking a more advanced spot next to McAtee. In both of these scenarios, Lewis was able to move more centrally and receive on the half-turn, in space left behind Rashford.
Lewis was able to dribble into the box from these situations, with neither United center-back stepping up because of Haaland nor Martínez engaging because of Bobb on the outside. After twenty minutes – City started to show more potency within their attacking play. A carry from Lewis produced a deflected cutback that was just too awkward for Haaland to fashion a shot from.
20th minute: O’Reilly working between the lines saw City change to a 3-1-5-1 buildup, which made Lewis the free man, moving inside to make a three-versus-two in the center of the field.
Pep may have fielded a familiar left side with Gvardiol and Doku, but it was the work from Lewis and Bobb that produced the cleaner connections and chemistry. After McAtee jumped through United’s attempts to counterpress, Kovačić switched the ball to Bobb who had room to slide past Martínez and Evans to take a shot, through Lewis taking up a much more narrow spot.
The best chance that City produced came from a high press that exposed United’s bad buildup. A chance of positions between Evans and Martínez saw the Northern Irish center-back try and move behind Haaland’s cover shadow and the Argentine knocked the ball straight to Bobb, inside of Haaland. Bobb quickly turned the ball to McAtee, whose curved shot smacked the post.
Despite the early control that City had established, their execution in the attack was not as effective. O’Reilly was not engaged with passing combinations unless he was dropping out of space whilst McAtee’s role was more to support Doku down the wider channel – mostly through his positioning further ahead/behind in the deeper phase, and not produce the killer halfspace runs that Pep enjoys most. The City kids impressed in circulation, but the lack of execution by the rest of the team created a blunt attacking performance.
United still struggle in the buildup
In possession, United struck the same notes, trying to create a left side that is as flexible as possible but a method that leaves them u-shaped and constantly playing inward. Martínez started as the inverted fullback but as Evans dribbled the ball towards the right, Martínez or Mainoo had to move into the position, but in an unorganized manner. As a result, in the deeper phase, United constantly organized with two split around André Onana and a single pivot vaguely supporting the circulation.
23rd minute: Buildup to McAtee chance. United’s buildup is forced back and trying to reset with Evans moving back from an inverted position and Martínez the deepest player with very little support. A pass from Onana put him under immense pressure and as Haaland pressed, Evans moved straight into his cover shadow. Martínez’s pass was intercepted.
When Martínez remained in a left-back spot, United’s buildup was improved because Mainoo could bounce passes from him and added width enabled them to transition the ball from one side to the other with a lot more success. But the poor dynamics down the left meant that attacks were hit exclusively down the right side and the game fell into a more balanced state towards the half-hour mark. Diogo Dalot moved into an inverted position in the opposition half and this made the platform for Amad Diallo to attack Gvardiol one-versus-one. It was Diallo’s dribble that created the first shot for United, but a sharp exchange between him and Casemiro put the attacker in the space between Gvardiol and Dias. Close to goal, he tried to square the ball to Mount but the pass was too far forward for his teammate to connect.
United may lack structural ideas, but by getting Mainoo and Fernandes in close spaces to one another they can still produce near the box. Combinations between the two left Casemiro free to put Rashford through an acute angle. His shot lacked the bend to sneak in at the far post.
A balanced game state remained from this point onwards, with neither team having the attacking spark to truly take the reins. With seven shots and none on target between the two in the first period, Ten Hag encouraged his team to set up higher against City goal kicks going into the second, but the lack of shot activity remained despite a more transitional game starting to appear. Fernandes scored an incredible offside goal, but United’s buildup was still relying on long balls to progress through the thirds effectively.
Long balls take control
Ten Hag’s substitutions deployed a more effective transitional attacking unit. Diallo was replaced by Alejandro Garnacho, Scott McTominay came on for Mount and there were minutes for both Facundo Pellistri (at right-back nonetheless) and Toby Collyer. Pep also deployed Savinho, who took on Pellistri down that channel and had Matheus Nunes running on the inside. Despite the Brazillian’s dribbling ability, it was United that came closest to breaking the deadlock.
Gvardiol’s long throw-in down the left channel saw United win back possession, but Gvardiol reset trying to cover Dias as he stepped up and not shut the space off for Garnacho down the channel. On the counter, he squared the ball back toward the left and Rashford’s left-footed shot smacked the foot of the post to spin wide.
74th minute: Buildup to Rashford’s chance. City counterpressed but Fernandes was still free to receive as Kovačić had to deal with a two-versus-one. Gvardiol stepped inward to cover his center-back partner, which created distance between him and Garnacho.
City had not learned their lesson in flagging United transitions down on the counterpress. When Nunes lost the ball from a Collyer and Pellistri combination, Savinho had to try and shut down the counter from a wide position and Pellistri dribbled inside. As Gvardiol had rotated inside, he stepped up to intercept Pellistri’s pass but the ball bounced to Fernandes with the passing lane open for Garnacho, free down the right side. Garnacho dribbled inside and his left footed shot squeezed past Ederson.
With ten minutes left, United had fully moved into a compact and counter mode, which had stunted City’s attacking work. McTominay dropped to support the right side, which gave Savinho and Nunes little room to slalom around. But City’s best route was still through the Lewis and Bobb combination, which got them back into the game late on. Savinho had situationally rotated onto that side, which saw him hug the touchline to connect with Lewis and Bobb’s curved run between the defenders. His first touch took him round Martínez and the cross was headed home by substitute Bernardo Silva.
Penalties would have to separate the two Manchester clubs and Onana denying Silva gave United the advantage from early on. Jadon Sancho stepped up to gain Wembley redemption, but his shot was saved by Ederson and Savinho made it 3-3. Into sudden death, Evans tried to convert down the center, only for his shot to clear the crossbar. Manuel Akanji would punish his fellow center-back’s mistake, winning the Community Shield to make it 7-6 in the shoot-out.
Takeaways
Of course, we cannot draw conclusions but we can already assess the tactical themes in place in Community Shield games: like how Pep was going to utilize Haaland or whether Arsenal had the muscle to close the gap on City. We can see that City can rely on their academy to translate the game that Guardiola would like, particularly between Lewis and Bobb who showed excellent understanding of one another.
United appeared in the same chaotic state in their passing structure. Despite finding access around Gvardiol, perhaps the elites will target this area more consistently this season, it still came through the same transitional path that is well rooted. For sure, to beat City you will have to deliver an excellent counterattack, but it wouldn’t be such a problem if Ten Hag hadn’t laid down the blueprint to build through the lines. Their buildup unit still requires a lot of work.
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