Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as the manager of Manchester United continues to age well, as those who have followed him haven’t come close to the Norwegian.
This season has had highs and lows, but for Ruben Amorim it was a definite low point when his Manchester United side were beaten by Everton at Old Trafford.
It was a bad night which saw Amorim make errors for United, however, above all else was the pragmatism of his system, which left a sour taste and boos at the final whistle.
United fans were demanding Amorim go more attacking, and while his actions suggested that he agreed, he didn’t have a plan on how to change things, with the system being lost against a low block.
Manchester United players and head coach Ruben Amorim applaud fans.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer predicted Manchester United struggles vs Everton
United struggling to break down low blocks isn’t new, as Amorim has had this issue for 12 months, but against Everton was the most glaring example this season.
38 crosses were forced into the box where a notoriously weak in the air Joshua Zirkzee was waiting to get a handful of headers goal bound, albeit with no conviction.
Well, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw this exact performance coming as he spoke on Stick to Football over the international break, explaining why the system struggles when in possession.
“The 3-4-3, or 3-box-3 — whatever you want to call it — it’s horrible to play against when it’s done well. If you try to press it high, it’s really difficult.
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“The first team I remember doing it properly in our era was Basel against Liverpool in the Champions League a few years back. And you could just see it — Liverpool were struggling to press them.
“You almost have to go man-to-man, follow every run, track everything, and even then it’s tough. When it works, it’s brilliant, but you do need teams to press you for it to really click.
“You see that with United now — they tend to win more games when they’ve got 45–50% possession, rather than 60–65%.”
Ruben Amorim possession problems
Manchester United average 1.73 points per game in matches with less than 50% possession, and just 0.79 points with more than 50% possession.
Manchester United wins vs losses based on possession.
Solskjaer’s verdict has been backed up by the statistics which show Amorim’s United struggle to win with possession. However, Solskjaer also did better without the ball at United, but the crucial difference was his side could also break down low blocks.
This made for a painful watch against Everton, with the 10-men of Everton coping with ease as United slowly passed it along the back five before crossing into an empty box.
Ruben Amorim’s system will always struggle to cope with low blocks
While it is frustrating, the struggle to play against low blocks shouldn’t be a surprise for United fans as the system is the issue and has been for a long time.
When chasing a goal against Everton, United still had three centre-backs and Diogo Dalot on the pitch.
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The back three were all behind the most advanced Everton player and so United were actually outnumbered in the attacking areas of the pitch.
Amorim could have put Shea Lacey on for a centre-back to add an attacking option and push for the win, instead, the conservatism had Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro on the ball in areas of the pitch an attacker could have been instead.
We aren’t in a crisis yet but if Amorim is to succeed he needs to fix this and change the system depending on the opponent.