Manchester United failed to put together a collective team press when facing Hull City in their Premier League opener.
Michael Carrick wants Manchester United to dominate possession, and they achieved that in the 2-0 defeat to Hull City.
But out of possession, United were incredibly weak, ceding chances out wide and from set pieces.
Incredibly, United’s press was one of the worst in the entire division, and Wayne Rooney thinks he knows why that was the case.
Wayne Rooney blames Man Utd duo for poor pressing
Speaking on The Overlap, Rooney gave his thoughts on United’s pressing problems against Hull and explained why Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven may actually be at fault.
“For that first 20 minutes, I said the two forwards for Manchester United are coming back and covering the Hull midfield players,” Rooney said.
“What that allows, and this is what Bruno said after the game, is that the Hull goalkeeper and centre-backs have time on the ball, which allows the wing-backs to get higher up the pitch. So if the ball goes long, they can compete for it.
“But then if an individual, either Bruno or Cunha, makes the decision that Hull can’t dictate things here, and goes to the ball, it means they forget their midfield player. What that does, if he goes to the ball, then the midfield behind you have to come in and take care of their midfield players, and then the centre-backs have to come in and squeeze higher up the pitch.
“But we were too passive.
“A lot of it, at least from when I used to play, comes from your centre-backs. They tell you to wait or go. It was me or Tevez who did it mostly, but that was just off the cuff.
“So when the centre-backs said ‘wait’, we’d be on a leash. United showed them [Hull] too much respect.”
Man United need an aggressive, high defensive line
If Carrick is going to wed himself to the idea of making United a possession-based style, then more work is needed on the out-of-possession shape.
Against Hull, United were far too happy to sit in a mid-block defensive shape and allow Hull’s centre-backs to have the ball.
Fernandes argued that United were not aggressive enough without the ball after the full-time whistle, and he is spot on.
READ MORE: Michael Carrick must revert to Man United’s eight-match unbeaten duo for Ipswich clash
In order for United to execute Carrick’s desired style, a high defensive line is needed so that United can congest the centre of the pitch and win possession back quickly.
Whether or not that can be achieved with the current crop of centre-back options is up for Carrick to decide.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/rvEFKHB