PBP: UCL - Manchester United FC vs Sevilla FC - March 13, 2018 [R]

Lets hope they aren't any good at free kicks...cause Fellaini is probably going to give them a shit ton.

 

That CM pairing can't cover enough ground. They're going to get exposed unless we have tons of possession.

 

Fully expect Lingard to serve as a 3rd midfielder defensively at least, plus, I imagine we'll see United have most of the ball, so hopefully Matic and Fellaini will not be in a position to be cut open.
That certainly has to be Jose's thinking. This can't be a game, as mentioned yesterday where they need to over think things. We've got to make sure we have a solid shape at the back to parry Sevilla's countering ability. But other than that, they need to worry about their game, attack Sevilla hard and score a few goals as quickly as possible, put them on the back foot and create as much separation as possible.

 

I think relative to McT the main thing Fellaini adds is strength on set pieces (attacking and defending) and more likely to pop up in their box for a goal. He's significantly worse defending in open play and moving the ball quickly in transition phases.

If you think about it that way it seems Jose is making a wager that we will dominate possession even with this midfield. Therefore defending in open play is less important, you just don't want to get picked off by something random (therefore defending set pieces has extra value) and Fellaini's ability to get into the box and grab goals has extra value. If we aren't able to control the flow of the game this midfield can be a problem.

 

Last game McT did a job on Banega, not sure if anyone will be specifcally tasked with that in this lineup. Certainly can't see Fellaini being a man-marker.

 

Requiring Banega to be specifically man marked is assuming that Sevilla would be in control of the game. And Jose has made it clear that it shouldn't be the case in this game and United will be looking to be on the front foot.
McTominay can come on at some point in the second half to help close out the game, trying to protect a nice lead.

 

i think pogba is officially no longer on play-whenever-available-except-for-occasional-rest-status like de gea, valencia, bailly?, matic, sanchez and lukaku.

 

Let's go!

 

Kjaer just learned hes in for a long day.

 

Lingard 10, Rashford right, Alexis left to start.

 

Great work from Lukaku, using his strength to his advantage. Pity he could not do better on his right foot there.

 

That was close from Sevilla.

 

Predictably, Sevilla are finding tons of space in the middle with Matic as the lone CDM. Fellaini is just roaming.

 

With how open we are in the back, Sanchez better stop with the giveaways.

 

Shambles so far. The defence and mid are too far back, and ther is a gaping hole in the middle for Sevilla.

 

We're playing like we're defending a lead, which is an "interesting" strategy, to say the least.

 

We very clearly don't have control of midfield.

 

This is really ugly.

 

What is this? a fckin training game. Disgrace so far.

 

Jose is doubling down on our long balls and using Fellaini as a second striker to knock the ball down. He's basically forfeiting us having any kind of midfield.

 

Giving the ball away way too cheaply all over the place, is one of the biggest problems so far. Picking up the pace would be nice as well. Everything is pretty slow and laboured so far.

 

We lose the ball on their end and Fellaini, Sanchez, and Lingard are all walking back. Do they think Matic can mark 3 players?