Manchester United suffered another Premier League defeat in the 23/24 campaign – this time at the hands of Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side.
Erik ten Hag can have no complaints about the defeat, his Manchester United side were simply outclassed by the Magpies.
It wasn’t really a contest. The Red Devils’ first-team squad just didn’t turn up. A lot of work to do from the manager and his coaching staff before the trip to Chelsea at Old Trafford in midweek.
The tactics were all wrong, the battles were mismatched – and Manchester United were simply outplayed.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka vs Anthony Gordon
One battle fans were excited to see in this fixture was Anthony Gordon versus Aaron Wan Bissaka. The Newcastle winger has been ace all season and got the only goal of the game to give his side the win.
‘Anthony Gordon has been one of the best players in the PL this season. Carry on like this & he’s going the Euros!,’ Jamie Carragher posted to X after his goal.
In his battle with Manchester United’s full-back, he did get the better of him for the strike. Wan-Bissaka lost track of the winger at the back stick, which allowed Gordon to waltz into the six-yard box to easily tap home.
With Gordon’s electric speed, many were excited to see how the battle on the touchline played out – but what unfolded was much different to what was anticipated, and showed Gordon’s maturity beyond his years.
Anthony Gordon worked out how to play against Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Gordon worked out very quickly that he wasn’t going to beat Wan-Bissaka in a 1v1 situation. He had just two dribbles against him all game – both were unsuccessful.
Gordon realised his usual strength of bombing down the line wouldn’t work, so instead he adapted to make Wan-Bissaka’s life an absolute nightmare.
There’s no dispute that the full-back isn’t the most competent on the ball, so Gordon decided to get into him at every given opportunity – utilising his speed in that way instead.
This led to him winning five out of seven ground duels and also forced Wan-Bissaka into completing just 66% of his passes.
He played to Wan-Bissaka’s weaknesses, instead of his strengths. A very intelligent thing to do for a young man.
Stats sourced from Sofa Score.
Let’s hope other Premier League wingers don’t catch on to Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s weakness
Wan-Bissaka is undoubtedly at his best when players are running at him, so let’s hope Gordon hasn’t suggested to other Premier League teams how to outwit the 26-year-old.
A lot of it also falls on the way Eddie Howe’s team operate. The extreme high press meant that Wan-Bissaka also had no one to pass off to in order to get out of danger.
Tino Livramento was also a big factor on that left-hand side. His bombing tuns forward made it so Gordon had plenty of different avenues to explore each time the Magpies went forward.
Newcastle have a lot of talent in their ranks – Gordon may be up there as one of the best.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/mYZnqfO