This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Ever since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the reins from Jose Mourinho last December, Manchester United appear to have really embraced the counter-attacking life.
As per FourFourTwo, in the Red Devils’ key victories over the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain last season, the Manchester side registered under 40% of the possession. Then, against Chelsea to start off this campaign, the team blew away Frank Lampard’s men with a blistering display of breaking at speed, winning 4-0 whilst only having 46% of the ball.
Under the Norwegian, they have undoubtedly had some marquee wins. But slowly but surely, their emphasis on having just this one approach to beat teams is being found out – and at a major cost too. Having looked like they had turned the corner from their slump this campaign – United had held Liverpool before racking up three successive away wins over the past week or so – they fell to a dismal 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.
Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
It was the kind of performance that has been so typical of their season so far – not creating enough chances, and far too reliant on transition football to even remotely trouble the opposition defence. In total, Solskjaer’s men had just four shots on target – this despite them having an average of 58% possession. What is perhaps just as frustrating for the United manager, is that they only created one big chance. And that too from central midfielder Fred, rather than any of their attacking players.
The Red Devils simply didn’t have the creativity and ingenuity to unlock the Cherries defence, and it was a major surprise to see Solskjaer opt against bringing on the creative Juan Mata. Instead, the Norwegian introduced Jesse Lingard, another man whose raw pace is more suited to counter-attacking rather than picking passes.
Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…
If United are to truly achieve success this season, then they desperately need to find a Plan B as soon as possible. Their main game-plan has been worked out, and they’re costing themselves big points in the Premier League because of it.