4-4-2 Attacking formation. Simple yet effective. The basic blocks of United's tittle winning season. After a season or two tinkering with the squad's formation, Sir Alex (Manager of Manchester United) have decided to stick to the tried and tested tactic. The result??? Beaten Multi-million chelsea to the tittle and won both domestic games against Liverpool. What are the success factors that fuelled United to this achievement? What secret tactics or deadly combinations did United did to pull off such a spectacular season? No Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Roy Keane...Just how did they do it?
DEADLY PARTNERSHIPS
There are several partnerships in this formation that can caused havoc to any teams in the world. Many great tacticians mentioned that most matches are decided in the middle of the park (pitch). They could not be any closer.
MIDFIELD: CARRICK & SCHOLES
The absence of Roy Keane really took its toll on United, not only are United expose defensively, they are also left without his leadership qualities. Although Gary Neville stepped up to become captain, the defensive "hole in the middle" was never bridged. Roy Keane was a tough tackler and he can passed the ball really well. Whever he got the ball, there was a calming influence that spreads thorughout the team. keano simply got the ability to control the games. Players like Alan Smith and O'Shea tried but was never successful in filling up the defensive hole.
Tired of trying to find a "New" Roy Keane, Sir Alex decided to bring in Michael Carrick to be deployed as a deep midfielder. Carrick's job is to play the holding role and feed the ball to attacking players. Although Carrick's abilty to pass the ball is easy on the eye, his lack of aggressiveness and ball winning skills quickly expose United's shortcomings.
The problem is overcome by the pairing of Paul Scholes with Carrick. Scholes is never short of aggresiveness. In fact, it is his tackles that usually gets him into trouble (yellow cards). Poor tackler of the ball, Scholes is still considered one of the finest midfield player in his prime. The reason lies in his control and distribution of the ball. An odd partnership emerged between them. Both midfielders would lie deep in midfield, pressuring the opponents to mis-hit or mis-pass the ball. The ball will then be fed into speedy wingers like Ronaldo or Giggs to create a counter attack. The trick is to use team work to dispossess rival teams and conduct rapid raids on the wings against them. Sometimes the pair took turns to attack with one sitting back while the other attack. The odd partnership became so successful that United quickly dominated opponents and topped the league.
WINGS: RONALDO & NEVILLE / GIGGS & EVRA
Speaking about lightning raids on the flanks, how can we leave out the 22-year-old Manchester United winger. Winner of Football Writers' Association award, Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year, Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year, Manchester United fans' and players' player of the year award.
Ronaldo had been instrumental to United's success all season. His partnership with G.Neville had been exceptional so far. In fact, this season, Ronaldo is forming good solid partnerships with almost everyone when attacking!!! Ronaldo's form had been amazing this season, he had carried United and single-handedly won tricky away ties. Another solid partnership at the wings is Giggs and Evra. The veteran winger Giggs had lost some of his pace in recent years but he made up the lack of pace with experience. With Giggs cutting in and moving towards the centre for a better shot at goal, Evra fills in and run downs the left flank to provide crosses from the left wing. On certain occasons, Giggs even acted as a decoy to provide passes to Evra to attack. In some situations, one-twos can be made between them to throw opposition off balance and catch them off-guard. Rapid wing plays have been the trademark for United's play for a long time now. It is often entertaining, exciting and breath taking at times. It is the foundation of attacking football and it can difinitely deliever spectacular results. (i.e 7-1 win against AS Roma).
DEFENCE: VIDIC & FERDINAND
Conceding just 27 goals this season second only to Chelsea, the defence partnership between Vidic and Ferdinand had been outstanding all season. The way they play just complements each other. Rio Ferdinand likes moving forward and turning defence into attack while Vidic is a no nonsense centre back whose bravery cannot be underestimated. Ferdinand lack of desire to scrap for balls is well noted. His preference is stroking the ball at the back and playing it cool sometimes leads to blunders and mistakes. However his control of the ball and distribution to the midfield is very good indeed. Vidic on the other hand covers Ferdinand's absence in defence by tackling and heading for every ball leavin the fancy stuff to Ferdinand.
The pair had been hitting the target during set pieces as well. Vidic's bravery often pays off when he sticks in his head and scores from corners or freekicks. Ferdinand on the other hand can blast them towards goal when the ball lands on his feet. This set piece manouvere is extremely important especially when stubborn teams plays 11 man behind the ball and tries to do a stop-start game. This can be frustrating and one of the best ways to score against such teams is from set plays.
ATTACK: ROONEY & LARSSON/SAHA/SOLSKJAER/SMITH
The forwards for Man Utd had been chopped and changed several times resulting in several different partnerships. This is not due to a rotation policy but a result of career threatening injuries. Saha, Solskjaer and Smith were all victims to injuries. Knowing the plight of the striker crises, the great scot Sir Alex wasted no time to loan Henrik Larsson. The move proved to be clever and shrewd. Larsson brought in wealth of experience and a great sense of professionalism . He is a shining example for the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo who are young and impetuous at times. His arrival curbs the shortage of forwards and most importantly he scores goals as well. Although his arrival to the club is only on a temporary basis, he definitely made his presence felt throughout the team.
The other strikers like Saha and solskjaer proved to be potent too. When fit, these strikers can scored against any club in the world. Not forgetting Alan Smith whose determination just rubbed off the whole team. Smith came back from injury for a year and he looked like he never left the game. Fantastic courage and resilience from him. Many people had feared the worse when Ruud left United for Real Madrid. Who is going to bang in 30 goals per season? Well, no one. The goals were contributed from the entire team. The midfield and defence both contributed positively for the goals and like they said the rest is history. A whopping 83 goals with a 56 goal difference. Wow that is simply unbelievable!!!
HIGH PRESSURE ATTACK
What happens when you don't score through counter attacks and set pieces? United simply attacks wave after wave after wave. The high pressure attacking play by United can be seen from the diagram above. The centre backs pushed up the offside line high creating a high pressure tactic. The high pressure tactic creates less space for their rivals to spread the ball or play their "normal" game as they are constantly under attack. With Vidic as the only one dropping slightly in case of a long ball over the top. Ferdinand is positioned to link defence into attack by passing the ball to the wingbacks or via Carrick (midfielder). Scholes along with Giggs will try a "pop" from outside the box when neccessary. Rooney's pace will be put into good use by shifting him to the left. Rooney will then effectively run down the left wing for a cross or cutting in to use his favourite right foot for a powerful shot thus surprising the opposition. If Rooney chooses to cut in, Giggs will fill in the role left previously by Rooney to act as support, in case Rooney is unable to get into the box. As for Ronaldo, he has the ability and license to roam at either flanks or cut in to provide a lethal finish or win penalties inside the box. This high pressure attacking play is simply bombarding the opposition till they submit. It requires pace and precise passing. The ball control of each player has to be a high standard or else they can lose the ball and succumb to a fast counter attack.
All in all, here is my tactical assessment of Manchester United. I really can't wait for the F.A Cup Final tomorrow. Till then, bye!!!
