By: Kevin Kemboi
How did Graham Potter’s Brighton dismantle Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United?
United started the game off nicely courtesy of their nice build up shape which helped the gain numerical superiorities in the first phase of play hence controlled the game early on. They had time and space on the ball and were picking Brighton’s man-marking mid-block apart due to the on-ball qualities of Maguire and Martinez. United had 80% of the ball after 10 minutes.
Then, 10 minutes later, the possession percentages were 50-50 within that time frame, so what happened? Â Brighton’s midfield become more brave to step up to get closer to Fred.
United started to make errors in the build-up but Brighton also got braver. Brighton were aggressive in the press but passive in the front line early on. They were more concerned about blocking what was behind them as opposed to pressing.
But that didn’t last long. Brighton’s midfield got brave because United started making technical errors in the build-up. All of a sudden every time United built play they were being man-marked in every area of the pitch. Brighton’s aggression away at Old Trafford was admirable.
Brighton then went 1-0 up. De Gea went long, Brighton won a midfield duel and scored in transition. Potter was also incredibly smart in his approach because Brighton didn’t play out from the back at all. They kept pumping it long to keep United pinned back
Every time Sanchez got the ball, the block pushed up and he kicked it long. Then, off the back of duels, Brighton mounted a transitional attack or forced United technical errors. Potter didn’t believe United’s build-up had sufficient quality do deal with pressure, & he was right.
Potter was especially smart to do that because in the situations where Brighton’s defenders had possession in defence, United were perfectly set to press them in their narrow 4-3-3, but that wasn’t a factor in the game because Sanchez kept kicking the ball over United’s heads.
It was risky from Potter because it’s bold to assume his players would A) be brave enough to consistently press high away at Old Trafford and B) consistently win duels whether that be aerially or on the ground to prevent United from exploiting them in transition, but it worked.
Early on, United could have went 1-0 up through a glaring Bruno Fernandes miss and the game would have likely been an entirely different story, but he didn’t, and Brighton grew in confidence as United made errors in the build-up and off the back of duels in midfield.
However, despite the excellent plan from Potter, is it surprising that United didn’t have the technical quality in the build-up to play through a compact high press or off the back of duel situations in midfield against a man-marking system? No, it’s not. We knew this would occur
That’s why ten Hag has signed Martinez and Malacia and has reverted Harry Maguire to right centre back & wants de Jong so badly. People will ask why he hasn’t replaced David De Gea and Fred, but this isn’t career mode. United can only sign so many players at once. It’s a rebuild – LONG-TERM
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