The two big teams of Manchester faced off in the 20th week of the Premier League. Manchester City led until the 78th minute, however United were able to secure 3 points with 2 goals in just 4 minutes. City, which is in the championship race with Arsenal, suffered a heavy blow in the race for the top. The starting 11's of the two teams in the derby were as follows:
Manchester Cıty In Possessıon
In the match, Manchester City had most of the possession with 71%, but most of it was in their own half. The "blues" struggled to move the ball into the final third and had to try different variations in the build-up due to their opponents high pressing. From the beginning of the match, we saw Manchester United pressing their opponents with a 4-2-3-1 formation. In the midfield, De Bruyne-Fred, Casemiro-B. Silva and Eriksen-Rodri paired up, while Manchester City centre-backs outnumbered A. Martial 2v1. Erik ten Hag used a pressing pattern similar to the one in the previous match between the two giants, but Manchester United did not make some of the mistakes they did in the previous matchup.
Unıted's Fullbacks Back Up The Press
From the beginning of the match, we encountered some situations similar to the match in the first half of the season. Manchester United midfielders tightly marked the opposing midfielders throughout the match and tried to prevent them from getting the ball. While Manchester City centre-backs were in possession, the opposing winger who was close to the ball left the full-back to apply pressure on the centre-backs. In these moments, Manchester United fullbacks came out to press in order to not leave any open players on the field, and 1v1 pairings took place all over the pitch. When the full-back didn't press and Manchester City were able to get the ball to K. Walker and Cancelo, the away team were able to create promising chances.
B. Fernandes checks if Wan-Bissaka is applying pressure on Cancelo or not
Foden pins Wan-Bissaka and as a result Cancelo recieves the ball. Dribbling in the empty space in front of him, Cancelo carries the ball to the final third
A similar situation once again. B. Fernandes applies pressure on Ake and signals Wan-Bissaka to put pressure on Cancelo at the same time
Manchester United's 4-2-3-1 pressing formation in the middle third. De Bruyne-Fred, Casemiro-B. Silva and Eriksen-Rodri pairings stand out. As can be seen in the picture, E. Haaland frequently dropped deep in this match
Thırd Man Combınatıons
Manchester City, on the other hand, tried to build-up through their full-backs to take advantage of their opponent's pressing template. Pep Guardiola's team took advantage of Ederson's passing technique or tried 3. man combinations by widening the distance between their centre-backs and full-backs to get the ball to the full-backs
After Ake's back pass, Ederson delivers the ball to Cancelo. The large distance between Ake and Cancelo also makes it difficult for the opponent to press
B. Fernandes applies cover shadow on Cancelo. Manchester City players deliver the ball to Cancelo through 3. man combinations
Cancelo has a big space in front of him
A similar situation, but this time on the other wing. The 1st player is Akanji, the 2nd player is De Bruyne and the 3rd man is K. Walker who recieves the ball
Inverted Full-Back
Towards the end of the first half Guardiola made some changes in the positioning of the full-backs. Cancelo and Walker, who had been wide in the build-up until around the 35th minute, started to drift inside in some situations from then on. The reason behind Guardiola's change of tactics was that the Manchester United wingers were tasked with applying cover shadow on Cancelo and Walker. In other words, when Walker and Cancelo drift inwards, the opposition wingers would follow them and open up a direct passing channel for the Manchester City wingers. It worked as expected:
Walker acts as an inverted full-back and comes towards the center of the pitch. As a result of Rasford following him, a passing channel opens up between Akanji and Mahrez
The start of the second half and it's the same pattern. Rashford applies coves shadow on Walker but as a result of this, the ball goes to Mahrez and the build-up is complete
Apart from the full-backs' contribution to the build-up, two other players had critical roles. Rodri and B. Silva drop deep, between the centre-backs, throughout the match. In these moments, the Manu midfielders did not leave the midfield and left them unfollowed. They often received the ball in deeper areas and helped their team during the build-up.
OPPONENT MANIPULATION AND HALF-SPACE RUNS
When the away team brought the ball into the final third, they often got into scoring chances by manipulating the opponent. We have already mentioned that Haaland often dropped deep throughout the match. It may not have been a coincidence that he stood next to R. Varane, not L. Shaw, before coming into the midfield. Because it was more advantageous for Manchester City to force L. Shaw to defend runs behind the defence, instead of Varane. Apart from that, in the goal they scored, we saw one of K. De Bruyne's familiar runs between the centre-back and full-back. .
As mentioned above, Haaland makes Varane move into the midfield, which creates a big gap behind the defence
B. Silva moves into the space that has opened up, however the ball ends up in the goalkeeper's hands
Mahrez receives the ball in a wide area. Walker lures the opponent outside of the box by making a decoy-run. De Bruyne makes a run into the half-space
De Bruyne crosses the ball and Grealish's header puts the visitors ahead 0-1
MANCHESTER UNITED IN POSSESSION
Throughout the match, Manchester United left the ball to the opponent. They aimed to attack quickly when they gain the ball. They tried to neutralize the opponent's counter-press with quick passes and tried to get the ball quickly into the final third, and they succeeded. During the build-up, when they felt they could not break the opponent's press, they did not take risks and played long. This was probably the right choice against Manchester City's organized press.
In this situation, Manu quickly switch play. As a result, Mahrez is caught in front, which leaves left-back Malacia free
After the pass is made, Walker is quick to press and limit the opponent's time with his pressure. Malacia is forced to get the ball out of his feet quickly due to the pressure of the opponent
In the continuation of the situation, the City players force the opponent to play long with their aggressive pressing, and are able to regain possession
The importance of the rest-defence is also seen during the build-up to the goal that ultimately decided the result of the derby. Receiving the ball, Fred plays a long ball forward. The Manchester United players who receive the ball are able to move forward in a period of short time
Manchester City, who normally have a five-man rest-defence when attacking, are caught 4v4 in this situation. Garnacho receives the ball on the left flank, dribbles the ball forward quickly and sets up M. Rashford for the decisive goal
Conclusıon
Manchester City could have made better use of the situations where they broke the opponent's press. Especially after the first line of the opponent's press was broken and the ball reached the full-back, I think the tempo should have been increased a bit more and the ball should have been moved faster into the final third. Manchester United, on the other hand, are a team in the process of rebuilding and that's why they are still not at the perfect level in terms of pressing. They need to improve the reaction of the full-backs, especially when the wingers apply pressure on centre-backs, the timing of full-backs' back ups are very important in this regard and other teams are still one step ahead of them. On the other hand, they are showing good signs for the future. Since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, this is one of the most hopeful times for their fans. If Erik ten Hag is given enough time, he will certainly take the Red Devils to a better position.
