Pressing All The Wrong Buttons: Why Manchester United Is In Disarray

Manchester United have been a lot of fun to watch this season… If you have zero affinity for the club.

The Red Devils came into season with hopes of challenging for the Premier League title, an honour they’ve not gotten their hands on since 2013, yet they're already 8 points off the top and are just a 1.2% chance of winning a 21st English crown according to the Stats Insider futures model. 

While its still relatively early in the season it's now three losses from their last four games with their performances continuing to demonstrate worrying patterns. 

And a main topic of conversation when talking about the current team’s woes is their pressing.

Manchester United usually set up in a 4-2-3-1 under beleaguered manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. His preferred midfield duo is Scott McTominay and Fred which means that World Cup winner Paul Pogba is often left on the bench, along with Donny Van de Beek, two players who’ll likely spend their time wondering about an alternate universe in which they didn't sign with United.  

McTominay and Fred, or as they’ve been dubbed by the fans, “McFred”, are often situated behind a front four. Against Liverpool, that was Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

The personnel here is crucial in understanding the press that Gunnar Solskjær is implementing- or at least trying to. 

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Last season, United set up in somewhat the same formation. At the time, one of Edinson Cavani or Rashford led the line upfront. Their role as centre-forward was to essentially trigger the pressing system. 

One of the opposition’s centre-backs would have the ball, and Manchester United’s striker, regardless of who it was, would press the ball carrier. The other forward players would follow suit by blocking passing lanes, and the whole team would shift forwards. When the ball was won back, United would then break. 

It was by no means perfect, but it was effective, and Ole’s United had become known as an effective counter-attacking team that especially thrived in the ‘big games’ — meaning games in where their opposition didn't sit back. 

However, this season, Cristiano Ronaldo plays upfront. 

Out of all of Manchester United’s forward players, only Greenwood has played more minutes than the Portuguese striker in the Premier League, and he’s only played up top in two of the nine matches he’s started in. 

So it’s safe to say that Ronaldo is United’s starting number nine. It’s also safe to say he’s by no means their best presser.

Ronaldo is averaging 4.03 pressing actions per 90 this season, which is defined as the number of times the player applies pressure to the opposition player who is receiving, carrying, or releasing the ball. 

Mohamed Salah may not be a pure number nine, but he is Liverpool’s biggest goal-scoring threat. He’s also averaging 14.67 presses per 90, more than four times as much as the 36-year old.

The numbers for other strikers in the league are within that spectrum as well. Harry Kane, who has been struggling to find his shooting boots this season is at an impressive 12.36. Leicester’s Jamie Vardy is at 12.38 while Gunner, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is at 17.65. Even poor Norwich’s Teemu Pukki is averaging 19.88 presses per 90. 

And not only does Ronaldo press significantly less than other strikers in the league, his success rate when pressing, which is defined as the percentage of time the squad has regained possession within five seconds of applying pressure, is relatively poor as well. He’s at 12.4% compared to other strikers mentioned, who are all at least over 20%, with Pukki being the lowest at 21% and Salah being the highest at 26.5%. 

Now, none of this is necessarily surprising. Ronaldo’s never really been a pressing forward during the duration of his career. 

Also, there is the fact that he’s 36 years old. 

Having a striker who does not press is not necessarily bad, however how you utilise said striker is crucial. 

When Ronaldo doesn’t press, or block passing lanes, it starts a domino effect that eventually translates into a defensive collapse. 

Either the opposition have all the freedom in the world to build up how they want from the back, meaning that they can quickly get the ball into midfield and start their transition from attack.

Or another United player, usually Bruno Fernandes, is forced to make up for Ronaldo’s lack of pressing. 

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Fernandes, who last season was usually tasked with marking the opposition’s defensive midfielder, is now forced to push forward and press the opposition defenders owing to the fact you can't simply allow the opposition to have the ball unless you can implement a successful low block, the likes of which United don't have.

Fernandes constantly covering for Ronaldo makes United’s formation look like a slightly lopsided 4-4-2, with a massive hole in front of “McFred”, which is incredibly easy for the opposition to exploit.

So, in short, no United's press is not effective. In fact, it’s completely broken. 

There seems to be no system in place nor any cohesion. Furthermore, there appears to be no knowledge on how to switch back on if the press becomes ineffective (which, as we just learned, is very often).

Mistakes happen, and opposition will sometimes get through a press. From there, United need to either play the offside trap or switch immediately to a man-to-man marking system. 

And while it is incredibly easy to point the finger at Ronaldo, there is a clear coaching issue. Either Solskjær and his coaching staff are unable to explain to their players what they want on the pitch, or they just seemingly do not have a plan. 

Now, the question becomes how they can rectify these problems? 

Well, the simple solution is to sit a bit deeper and maybe attempt a legitimate 4-4-2. If your team is rubbish at pressing, it’s perhaps better to not set them up to press.

During the Liverpool match, United did go to a back five in an attempt to preserve their 5-0 deficit after being down to ten men, and while it was hard to gauge whether that significantly helped (Liverpool were passing the ball back and forth like it was a training session at that point), having an extra defender at the back could also be an option moving forward. 

Whatever the solution is, Manchester United need to figure it out quickly... Or not. After all, and as suggested earlier, Ole’s tenure at the wheel has been quite fun to watch. 

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