Video shows Ole Gunnar’s tactical brilliance in the game vs Liverpool in their encounter at the Old Trafford in the Premier League.
Many had assumed that Liverpool would continue their demolition run against Manchester United. Not one soul had given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men a chance. However, but for one moment of lapse, United could have walked away from the match victorious.
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Jurgen Klopp’s side were forced to play catch for almost the entirety of the match and he could only watch from the stands as their winning streak in the Premier League came to a halt. The European Champions are still winless at the Theatre of dreams.
YouTuber Nouman, has now come out with a video that shows that United’s performance against the rampaging Liverpool side was not accidental but a brilliant display of tactic to thwart Liverpool’s strengths.
Video shows Ole Gunnar’s tactical brilliance in the game vs Liverpool
The video begins with a comparison to Arsenal’s tactics against Liverpool earlier in the season. Unai Emery’s side adopted a 4-4-2 diamond to cover Roberto Firmino from dropping deep. Unfortunately, Arsenal failed to do other things right. For instance, they failed to cover Liverpool’s fullbacks.
When Liverpool attack, their front three play narrow, allowing their fullbacks to join them in attack. However, this also leaves them with just two players at the back to defend. Arsenal did well to exploit Liverpool’s defensive deficiency. However, without any wingers in their team, they failed to check the threat from Liverpool’s fullbacks.
United also attempted to close down Liverpool’s strength but they did not bother with Firmino. Instead, they played with 5 in the back. This allowed their back 3 to go one on one with Liverpool’s front three while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Ashley Young were free to take on charges from Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Like Arsenal, United did not bother playing wide in the front. Instead they used their 3 midfielders to cover Liverpool’s own three men midfield with two men deployed in the attack. One to create space by dragging one or both of Liverpool’s Centre backs while the other tried to get in the right areas.
You can watch the video here:
This tactic would result in Manchester United taking the lead in the 36th minute. They led the match until the 85th minute. However, United’s failure to keep up with Liverpool’s change of tactics and defensive lapse meant that the lead was vanquished 5 minutes before full time.
Jurgen Klopp changed his tactics from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4. That change allowed Liverpool to charge United’s defense with 6 men against their 5. With United’s midfield still pre-occupied at covering the midfield and their wingbacks dropping deeper, Liverpool went on the attack with gay abandon.
In summary, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may just have provided the Blueprint to take on Liverpool. However, his lack of bench strength and inability to adopt to Liverpool’s change of tactics meant that United could not get the job done.
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