Man United has had 6 wins under Michael Carrick, along with 1 draw and 1 defeat. This is a very good record, but in the last 4 matches, the "Red Devils"' tendency to encounter difficulties is seen more clearly.
The decisiveness in attack has helped Man United beat Arsenal, Man City, but that has cooled down the heat in the matches against Newcastle, Crystal Palace and West Ham. Among these, the away trip to St. James' Park last week was the most difficult challenge when the home team, despite playing with 10 men, still won.
One of the things pointed out as the cause of Man United's defeat is the contraction in formation distance, which is too easy to read and does not have many diverse pieces in the two wing corridors. From there, they are easily rushed by a purely powerful opponent like Newcastle, sometimes becoming confused and easily losing in tackles.
The injuries of Patrick Dorgu and Lisandro Martinez have interrupted Man United's ability to deploy the ball on the left wing. Matheus Cunha and Leny Yoro were filled in, but their playing style was completely different. This led to the fact that in the match against Crystal Palace, Man United recorded the lowest left wing attack rate since the beginning of the season.
Without Patrick Dorgu, Manchester United has difficulty receiving the ball on the left wing like the Danish star who was in high form in January. Without Martinez, the "Red Devils" have fewer options to put the ball into dangerous areas on the left wing. This leads to the main attacking style being directed at the center or right wing.
In the match against Crystal Palace, when Luke Shaw was injured, Noussair Mazraoui replaced him. The Moroccan star did not play poorly but was right-footed. At that time, both Carrick's left-wingers were right-footed, so they encountered countless difficulties in crossing.
In Carrick's first 3 matches, he used a left-footed striker trio including Dorgu, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad, supported by Shaw and Martinez in deeper positions. At the end of the first half against Palace, Mbeumo was the only left-footed player left.
It was not until Palace was sent off 1 person that Cunha had more space to struggle, receive the ball deeper and be confident with his signature dribbling moves. In the match against Newcastle, Cunha tried again to play like a traditional winger.
The map of ball touches of the Brazilian striker throughout 90 minutes has many similarities with the second half of the match against Palace, with many first ball touches concentrated in deeper, wider areas.
Cunha was the most active striker in Carrick's attacking trio, ending the match with 68 touches compared to 36 by Mbeumo (Mbeumo was replaced by Joshua Zirkzee in the 77th minute) and 24 by Benjamin Sesko.
Cunha having more possession has helped redistribute Man United's attack direction, with the team performing almost the same number of attacks on the left and right wings.
Cunha's performance is a symptom of the disease Man United is suffering in the left wing, although it is not a direct cause. The Brazilian striker is trying to balance the width of the squad with the natural trend of frequently cutting in from the left wing.
He did a good job of having many first touches in wider areas than in previous matches but still had difficulty leading the ball down the wings to compete with Kieran Trippier.
Under Erik ten Hag, Man United tried to adhere to a concept that the Dutch coach called "minimum width". If a winger tries to squeeze in and create a direct threat, the opposite winger must keep a certain distance from them to expand the field space and stretch the opponent's formation.
In the best times of the team in the 2022-2023 season, players often coordinate tightly to put the ball down to one side of the field before performing intelligent diversions for a free player on the opposite side.
These principles proved less effective for Ten Hag after Marcus Rashford's form declined and Shaw suffered a series of injuries.
Man United has had difficulty creating breadth and space in recent matches. The return of Dorgu and Martinez is extremely necessary, as well as more training time until the next match with Aston Villa on Sunday.
