Pre Game Perspective - Club Politics

I feel our gameplan for this match cannot be viewed just with the lens of the game itself. It has to be viewed as a thread connecting the earlier games against Brighton and Brentford. Because there are inconsistencies with the way Ten Hag sets out the team and those decisions seems to be influenced by other factors at the club. This section is purely opinion as I doubt I will ever be given the truth behind the club, but is necessary for me to explain those inconsistent decisions and how it impacted the game against Liverpool. Of course, if you prefer the tactical explanation and not the opinion behind it, skip this section.

Ten Hag deployed the team for the first two games with an eeriely similar setup to one Ole. Almost the same players. It was against the backdrop of the club failing to bring in the transfers required and refusing to go above the limited budget. Perhaps Ten Hag really tried to play a certain way but the players went back to their comfort zones. Perhaps Ten Hag was instructed to play certain players based on their club status. Whatever it was, Ten Hag played the same British core. With familiar results and failings.

So perhaps with his hands tied, Ten Hag decided to show the club what they deserved. Two straight losses with the club's beloved British players on the pitch. Whatever the method, it was effective in prompting action.

What happened was a firestorm of protest by the fans and the media. Yes Ten Hag was criticised. But more importantly, the Glazers were targetted. And the pressure caved club management. Where Manchester United skimped and forced the manager to choose between targets, suddenly the club had money to spend. Casemiro got done in record time. Arnautovic and Rabiot appeared out of nowhere. Antony is rumoured to come with an insane 100M price tag. A 180 degree change from the summer.

More importantly, it seemed to affect the squad status of certain players. Certain club regulars can now be dropped. When the club is forced to choose between the Glazers or the British core, the Glazers always win. They wanted a result and lifted the handcuffs of squad selection off.

So maybe for the first time, Ten Hag can start how he wants to play.
The Game Plan

The back four of Dalot-Varane-Martinez-Malacia started the game. This back four won us the game. There was no British player in that defensive unit with Maguire, Shaw and AWB on the bench.

If you look at the possession stats, 30% to United and 70% to Liverpool, you might think this was another Ole style counter performance. Well, partially. Ten Hag specifically setup the team to play out of possession. Against one of the best pressing teams in the world, the team was instructed not to keep possession in our area and invite pressure. Try to guess the instructions to DDG based on the number of clearances he made instead of passing. This reminded me of Mourinho's Europa final against Ajax, also a pressing team. The team did not play out from the back, booted it forward and Fellani became the target man. People might see Ole in this style but this is where the similarity to Ole ends.

Ole always played with the famous back 6 of McFred sitting in front of the back 4. We would defend deep which shielded Maguire's lack of pace and used his heading ability better. Deep as in the average position of the CBs would be in our own penalty box. McFred operated on the edge of the penalty box. We defended so deep we always felt we were never safe.

Ten Hag deployed Varane-Martinez in a higher line for a more progressive counter attacking setup. Progressive meaning we do not wait for the ball to come to us in the box but stop chances from happening further up the pitch. Our backline squeezed upwards and for a good amount of the match, we confined Liverpool to play in midfield rather than in our own penalty box. Keeping the opposition that far from your goal means that even with possession, your opposition cannot create anything meaningful. Without Maguire, Varane-Martinez had enough pace to cover. And more importantly, it is Varane's organizational abilities and anticipation that made the higher line work.

Our midfield was serviceable. McTominay didn't do much wrong and Eriksen ran himself into the ground. We did edge the midfield battle but I think if Liverpool had their midfield options available, we would have faced way more pressure. That is a big factor. Do not be fooled into thinking that Manchester United can go toe to toe against Liverpool's midfield if everyone is fit right now.

Our forward options? Movement. Lots of pace. Elanga-Rashford-Sancho. You see the emphasis here. This is not the game suited to Ronaldo. He is still one of our best players and we will need him in other games, but not this one. Elanga really should have scored. Sancho did. Rashford did. The composed backline meant our forwardline got chances because of the passing range of Varane & Martinez. We took those chances.

Then the subs killed the game.
Varane

If I had to pick one player, it was Varane. Varane is the best defender at Manchester United by a country mile. You can quote me on it. He is not the combative type that you notice like Vidic or Keane. He is the type that you don't notice when he is there, but things go to hell when he is not. Everyone has bad games, but Varane was quietly immense this game.

See that post match interview where Gary Neville asks Ten Hag why he picked Varane and what does Varane have to offer in front of Maguire. Ten Hag accidentally let slip a brutal truth then covered it up. Ten Hag answered communication. Then he quickly covered up by saying Maguire had that too.

The difference is Varane communicates and organizes the backline. So everyone knew where to move and the defence operated as a unit. Martinez had pre-season plus 2 PL games with Maguire and did not look good. Martinez never played with Varane before and looked class. You can see Varane silently organising with gestures throughout the match. And even his individual contribution was fantastic on anticipating balls and intercepting them. Maguire doesn't seem to organise much but will be the first to throw his hands up when a goal goes in.

Even the goal we conceded was a bit of a freak goal. Good performance.
Is This Our Turning Point?

Yes and no.

Yes because these players shown that they can follow tactical instructions for a chance.

No because this game is a one off and not the way we want to play. We don't want to give our opposition 70% possession. We want to have 70% possession. And I feel we don't yet have the players to realize that possession play that our manager wants to deploy. We still need a couple of clever wingers and I am hoping FDJ does come eventually. How does FDJ & Casemiro as our double pivot instead of McFred? Bruno is off form so we play Eriksen there. Once Bruno gets his form back, he can compete with Eriksen.

We still need to give Ten Hag the players he needs to start that possession football style. The upcoming game against Southampton is one where we hope to see the possession style instead of the counter attacking formation. We can play the counter style against the Top 6, but against other teams we should always go for 3 points.
Erik Ten Hag

He is my choice for Man of the Match. For player, Varane. Ten Hag is a tactically adept manager. He demonstrated that if left to him without interference, he can deploy a strategy against stronger opposition and make it work. Expect Ten Hag to revert to a possession style against Southampton and the main question is, can the players play a possession style? If the British players struggle, maybe it is time to let them go instead of trying to further Ole's British experiment.