The Casemiro-Sized Problem in Man United's Midfield!
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Ten Hag is under pressure yet again after Manchester United lost to Liverpool last week. The common critique of the manager is that his tactical structure is poor, which is causing gapping holes in midfield.
While there is some legitimacy to that argument, I would offer up that it is a simplistic conclusion to make.
I had the opportunity to re-watch the game after emotions had cooled and I came to a whole other different conclusion.
Midfield is indeed a serious problem for Ten Hag. At the base of the midfield set-up he has a very talented player in Kobbie Mainoo. Some are quick to forget that this is only his second season in the first team at the tender age of 19yrs. His physicality is a major concern and that was demonstrated when he was bullied off the ball, which resulted in the third goal.
On the other hand, you have Casemiro. I have to admit that on a personal note I was sucked in by his relatively good performances over the pre-season games. He seemed more mobile and back to his brilliant debut season best. Oh, how I was wrong!
Last week Casemiro hit rock bottom. Two pathetic mistakes gifted Liverpool two clean breaks against our exposed defense leading to two goals.
This is where I feel that what some people are calling poor tactics is really more about wrong individuals. Casemiro is not the kind of player you want screening your defense. His legs are gone, he is too reckless with his passes and he has this annoying habit of making last ditch sliding tackles that fail more than are successful. He is a passenger at this point.
Can Ugarte Solve This Problem?
Yes!
Ugarte gives us legs, high pass completion and he will actually win more possession. Pass completion in particular is very key for Ten Hag. The last thing you want is your DM playing hero ball from deep, trying to force through balls and losing possession on a regular basis.
You want a DM who will circulate possession when under pressure and allow the team to get back into a descent shape in order to progress the ball forward. No wonder we were so good against City in the FA Cup when it was Amrabat in that DM position.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Man United's fortunes will not simply improve by sending Casemiro to the bench.
Zirkzee was particularly poor against Liverpool. It is obvious that he is feeling the pace of the Premier League. If he had put away his two absolutely clear cut chances, Rashford comes away with two assists and puts to shame the radicalized 'fans' that are after his neck. Hojlund coming back into the team will be fantastic.
Also, who knows? We might have made a spirited push for a draw and salvaged a point and it would have been a whole different story.
Ugarte will definitely win more ball but it sounds from what Ten Hag is saying that United fans shouldn't expect to see him immediately.
Tactics are still the problem. If you press high with your forward line but then have a defensive line that sits deep then the space in the middle of the park is too great to contain any half-decent team that breaks that initial press. You don't have to believe me, just listen to Slot's post-match conference. He says exactly the same and it's what sides have been doing to United for the last 12 months.
Regardless of who you put in the midfield, with those tactics it means they need to play out of their skin every match, win the vast majority of their duels/tackles and not slip up in possession. If they don't, well you've seen what happens...
I think you will come to learn very quickly that Ten Hag is not as open to the media like Postecoglu is. He probably comes straight into the team next weekend and plays 60-70 minutes.
On the other hand, I understand what you are saying about the tactics and the space between midfield and defense. However, the major reason for that space is because our midfield play is terrible.
Casemiro is a major culprit.
He keeps vacating his position to play high yet he doesn't have the legs to recover. So instead of building play from the back, you will often see United kick the ball into midfield and then someone will try a chipped ball behind to a striker or a winger where we will often lose possession.
We force the play too much which always leaves our defenders exposed.
The best thing is to terminate casemiro contract because his wages is too much and his not fit in the squad again
If we did do that, we would only have one experienced DM (Ugarte) available unfortunately. We need Casemiro until we can bring in a replacement for him, otherwise, one injury and we will have to play Collyer and Mainoo as our holding two.