2022-23PL Matchday 2:Thorough analysis of the four goals conceded against Brentford!

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22-23 Premier League Matchday 2. United faced Brentford away at Brentford Community Stadium. Brentford opened the scoring in the 10th minute thanks to a goal from Josh Dasilva. Matthias Jensen in the 18th minute, Ben Mee from the corner in the 30th minute and Brian Mbeumo in the 35th minute. They also lost a goal and were four points behind in the first half alone. In the second half, United brought on Varane, McTominay and Malasia. Changing the balance, the sense of stability increases, and the time to attack increases, but it is difficult to score goals. Elanga came on in the 60th minute and van de Beek in the 87th minute, but in the end the goal did not break. It was a humiliating 4-0 defeat.

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This time, we analyzed the goal loss scene against Brentford in this heavy defeat. How did the four goals conceded in 35 minutes come about? Unravel what kind of mistakes you made!

Here’s today’s table of contents.

👿 Lineup

(1) First goal conceded

The first goal came in the 10th minute when De Gea missed Josh Dasilva’s shot. Naturally, the most noticeable is De Gea’s mistake in missing an innocent shot. De Gea often reacts inhumanely to shots from close range, but mistakes like this sometimes happen when shooting from relatively distance. Dasilva’s play leading up to his shot started with Dalot’s long throw to Ronaldo. Ronaldo is surrounded by two people and loses the ball, but the meaning of this long throw is also unclear why he dared to send it to Ronaldo, who is quite far away in the middle of the pitch. Dalot’s judgment has always been based on Ronaldo, and while he understands the relationship of trust, he neglects too much about playing for the team. It is true that in the second half we created chances, such as sending a generous cross to Ronaldo, but there are also scenes where we have not made the best choice.

In addition, the throw-in play was due to a mistake in United’s build-up. It started with Martinez giving the goal kick to De Gea, but Brentford’s top two were in a high-pressing position. However, De Gea opted for a pass to Eriksen, who was attached to Jensen. Eriksen sent the ball back to Maguire, but Jensen’s fierce pressing momentum was blocked and his pass to Dalot was blocked, breaking the touchline. There was also a problem with De Gea’s choice of passes at this time, but what bothered me was Maguire’s lack of movement. He hadn’t moved at all since the ball was handed to De Gea, and he hadn’t moved when the ball had crossed over to Eriksen. If Maguire had moved forward, Eriksen would have made a pass in front of Maguire and the captain could have just put in a wedge pass.

Not only in this scene, but also in the back-to-back connection scene, there are scenes where a build-up failure occurs because one of the United players who should have had a numerical advantage is taking a “don’t be careful” attitude. Maguire asked Dalot to come to support him more after this play, but before that, he will also need to reflect on his own lack of support awareness.

(2) Second goal conceded

The second goal came in the 18th minute when Matthias Jensen stole the ball from Eriksen and scored the goal. This scene happened in the same situation as the first goal. De Gea dares to pass a goal-kick to Eriksen. He was robbed by Jensen and shot. There is a problem with De Gea, who chose to give the ball to Eriksen, who was marked by Jensen, even though Maguire was quite free at the time, but this form also occurred in the play just before the goal kick, and it is clear that it was the form that was trained in training. However, it is only natural that players who cannot do so should flexibly change their play choices depending on how they come out, and players who cannot do so will be called “brain muscles”. This is not limited to De Gea, but is also common among United players.

By the way, in the 16th minute build-up just before that, Maguire is holding the ball and Dalot moves into the inner lane. This form is also a form of preparation, but this time Tony is blocking Maguire and Dalot’s passing course, so Maguire asks Dalot to go out into the outlane. But Dalot’s reaction was slow, and Maguire, who had no passing course, had to send it to Eriksen, who was marked by Jensen. As a result, Eriksen’s one-touch pass was caught and pinch-hit, and Maguire was stopped by a foul, but this scene was repeated many times in the first half of the match, when individual judgment and inflexibility resulted in Eriksen collapsing.

(3) Third goal conceded

The third goal came in the 30th minute when Ben Mee headed in from Brentford’s corner kick. Brentford’s corner kicks in this match were very distinctive, with about eight players gathering in one place and scattering. They was using a tactic to confuse Mark. When dispersed, Christian Norgaard goes around behind De Gea and is responsible for blocking De Gea’s movements. In the corner kick of the goal, De Gea’s move against the ball to the far is blocked by Norgaard, and the reaction to the turn is also very dull. United’s response is that five defenders are in the zone in front of goal, but none of them are monitoring the Norgaard movement. The closest person was Dalot, but he didn’t pretend to care.

As a result, Martinez loses in an aerial duel, but I personally don’t feel like blaming Martinez. Certainly, in both this match and the opening match against Brighton, the 175cm centre-back has been targeted in dogfights. Brentford coach Frank also admitted in his post-match interview that he aimed at Martinez, but his handling of the pure dogfight was unmistakable (zero aerial duel on the stats). The only thing that made a bad impression was the goal conceding and being replaced by Varane early in the second half. The goal conceding was quite a mess and Martinez’s position was not very competitive. However, the fact that they were lowered in the second half gave the impression that there was a problem with Martinez’s play (the coach denied it). Although it was also reported in some reports, it could be taken as a “punitive substitution” and I am worried about the impact on the motivation of the players.

(4) Fourth goal conceded

The fourth goal was scored by Mbeumo from the counter in the 35th minute, but United’s handling of the scene was also problematic. It was a time when United were pushing in and launching a wave attack, but the backline positions of Eriksen, Shaw, Martinez and Maguire at this time were not bad. Brentford had an overwhelming numerical advantage over United, with only one Tony left up front. But the moment Sancho loses the ball in the box, Tony starts running. At this point, Eriksen is the first to notice and instructs Maguire, who was behind him, to mark Tony. However, Maguire responded by getting ready for a dogfight on the spot, and lost Tony as he ran out in the back.

Martinez ran into the covers, but couldn’t make it in time, and Shaw ran against Mbeumo, who raced up the opposite flank furiously, and lost the game. In this scene, Maguire’s inability to manage the crisis and his sluggish reaction, as well as the Shaw’s poor condition, cause him to lose the match. Especially in the opening game against Brighton, the conditions of Shaw are too bad. There is no sharpness at all, and the stepping on it is not working. Also, I have the impression that we are not getting into the game mentally, such as our involvement in the build-up. We were replaced by Malacia in the second half of the show, but I say this because I’ve been watching Shaw for a long time, but I’m not in a condition to play as a starter. By the way, not only the show, but also Bruno and Fred seem to have problems with the condition.

👿 Conclusion

In a post-match interview, Ten Hag said: “This is not a matter of team tactics. The first two goals were about dealing with the ball and making decisions. Even if you have a good game plan, if you concede a goal due to individual mistakes, that plan will end up in the trash.” He said. Whatever tactics Ten Hag had in place, they would collapse after conceding four goals in 35 minutes. It seems that the day after the match was off, but after the heavy defeat against Brentford, he gave up the off. It is reported that a “scuffle” was made after a 13.8km run loss to Brentford in the mileage.

There was reportedly a “massive quarrel” between players at Carrington on the Thursday before the game, suggesting that there was still a discord in the locker room last season. Well, whatever the truth, it’s clear from our performance against Brentford that we don’t have a cohesion as a team. It’s not hard to imagine Ronaldo’s departure, Maguire’s trust as captain, and the unpromising reinforcements, but I think the problem lies in the players. I think a lot of players are “confused”. It’s out of the question that you haven’t achieved anything yet, but you don’t give your all on the pitch just because you’re at United and you’re well paid, you blame others for your mistakes and you don’t work hard. No matter how good a coach you bring in and how good tactics you have, a player who executes it will not be able to succeed with this kind of attitude. The reason why we get upset as soon as we get ahead of the curve is because we lack trust in each other.

As we have seen this time, all four goals conceded involve “mistakes”. However, football is a sport where mistakes are inevitable, and it is not only United that make mistakes in conceding goals. The problem is that we are not heading in the same direction as a team. Ten Hag will not compromise like his predecessor. Rather, they should be instructed more strictly. It will be up to the players to decide whether they can turn this four-goal defeat into a good experience or a prelude to a collapse like last season. I love United and all the players in the squad are very considerate and supportive. However, I sincerely hope that players who cannot work with the “right attitude” will leave.

The result of this match was a humiliating result for United to finish bottom of the table for the first time in 30 years since 21 August 1992.

The next leg of the PL Matchday 3 will be against Liverpool at Old Trafford. Kick-off 4:00 on Tuesday 23 August. Come on! United!!

Thank you for reading until the end!