The tides are turning fast and maybe for the first time in almost a year Jose Mourinho would appear a not so frustrated man. Off late the Portugese has cut a forlorn figure seeming very tired and off-pace. This is in stark contrast to the guy who was charging down the touchline of Old Trafford for knocking out the very team he is managing right now, out of the Champions League.
Having had a shaky start to his new job at the Theater Of Dreams, Mourinho seems to be slowly but surely pulling the right strings. After having withered storms of 3 back to back defeats in the same week and following that up with close to a little over two months without a league win at home Manchester United seem to have turned a corner now. They are no longer the team that has a defense gaping with holes and a midfield filled with mistakes.
One of the major concerns for The Special One was to get the best out of Paul Pogba having clearly witnessed that he can be a liability as a holding midfielder. This was further complicated because of Mourinho's resoluteness in playing with a 4-2-3-1. As we had seen in Recreating the Lost Aura, Pogba being part of the holding midfield increases the vulnerability of the back 4. Pogba was often paired with Fellaini during this difficult period and the price they paid was mobility during build-up. Things were tweaked a little to replace Fellaini with Herrera and there was better build-up but this had its own share of problems since Herrera was being left with too much to do in order to cover up for the expensive Frenchman.
Just as things seemed to get out of hand, in came Carrick. The veteran midfielder coupled with Mourinho's willingness to experiment and take tough decisions, made United suddenly seem like the fastest improving team in the top flight. The most crucial role Carrick plays in this United side is covering up of the defensive cracks. Especially, with the intense mid-block press which makes it look like they are playing a high line(!).
HALF SPACES: With and Without Possession
Being so used to seeing teams press high up the pitch, I was surprised initially to see the intensity with which Mourinho's men press from the back. The full backs particularly seem like dogs chasing cars behind the opposition wingers. They have been given the full freedom to track the wingers down to the opposition penalty box irrespective of the scoreline. When teams decide to build up slowly from the back, this is heightened to the extent where the Valencia is all the way up putting pressure on the opposition left-back. And the center-backs followed a similar pattern they tracked down forwards who dropped deep and made it difficult for them to turn with the ball. Their coverage did not terminate with the forward players alone, they seemed to excise the same process on anyone who came close to occupying their defensive half-spaces. The defensive half-spaces which are usually handled by the holding midfielders was now in charge of the Center-Halves. This forced them to vacate their positions in defense which needed covering up in case of overloads/intelligent runs by the opposition. And this is where Herrera and Carrick fit in. Carrick, unlike Pogba is not distracted by too much of an offensive workload and is always switched on in these crunch situations and Herrera seems the perfect foil for helping out Carrick in defense and Pogba in offense.
As it was very visible in the Tottenham game, Eriksen often tried to draw Darmian out of position which led to Kane drawing Rojo out wide and inviting Alli/Son inside; and again it was Carrick who was tagging along with these late runs. While building out from the back the midfielders form a 3 man line in front of the defenders, wherein Carrick is central and ready to occupy the the space between Center-backs and Herrera and Pogba occupy the two half-spaces. Unlike Pochettino and Guardiola who like to build-up with the Central Defenders, Mourinho builds up with his Central midfielders. This allows the full-backs to occupy positions a little further up the pitch waiting for releases to carry the ball forward.
The main advantages of this half-space positioning during build-up is that it creates space by forcing the opposition out of their lines. Example, when Herrera is in the right defensive half-space he has Valencia to his right in a little advanced position and Mkhitaryan plays above him on the same vertical line. When herrera is in possession, the opposition winger is likely to be caught in two minds whether to stay wide or narrow. With Valencia occupying the position of the traditional winger and Mkhitaryan playing as an inverted winger either choice made by the opposition marker would generate a free man. The most obvious thing to do in such a situation is to assign a central midfielder to track Mkhitaryan. In this case Mkhitaryan is used as decoy to draw the midfielder wide and create space for Ibrahimovic to play with. In case of a deadlock in movement, Zlatan or Martial/Lingard offer support by overloading the wing and providing an additional option.
BALANCING THE WINGS: In Attack and Defense
In the lead up to Mkhitaryan's goal against Spurs what was evident was that the Armenian winger was seen playing on the shoulder of Danny Rose. This is a common tactic against teams who's fullbacks are a vital component in attack. Although, this can reap rich benefits as we saw when the ex-Dortmund winger broke free on goal this might render the right back(Valencia) helpless in a 2v1 against the opposition winger and fullback. This is addressed by a lateral shift in central midfield over to the right in order to prevent the potential 2v1 while at the same time pressing the man in possession in midfield. While all this is happening, over on the left wing we have Martial who is playing behind Kyle Walker and Darmian dealing with business as usual tagging along with Eriksen. The pressure in midfield also gives a chance for a turnover which would enable Mkhitaryan to break free on the right wing and this is exactly what happened, when Carrick out Kane under pressure he fumbled the ball onto Herrera and the next thing you know Mkhitaryan was celebrating at the Stretford End.
This kind of balance on the wings left Spurs with constant threat on one wing and also protected United against being vulnerable to a free man who may originate on the far side in Walker or Eriksen.
So, Jose and United seem to be up and running finally. Although they might have left themselves with too much to do to be part of the title race in this campaign, they are definitely on a steady rise. And as with most Mourinho teams, it wouldn't be a big surprise to expect a really solid United with no real weaknesses and performing like a well oiled machine in the days to come.
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