P.S. : This post is dated 3rd July 2012. For newer data or any other plans or clarifications on any teams, please contact me at tauheed.official@gmail.com

Hello everyone...My name is Mohammed Tauheed Ur Rahman. I am 22 years old from Mysore, India and have a great passion towards football and desire to be a top football manager one day. 

So, I’ve been studying the tactics of many teams in Europe and have been working towards getting my tactical awareness better by reading few books about football and its tactics and also by making my own observations. Based on the knowledge I’ve gained through it, I’ve started creating tactics and on how to beat clubs by concentrating on their strengths and weaknesses.

I’ve created specific tactics on how to beat teams with great passing abilities like Barcelona and Arsenal, and teams concentrating on counter-attacks like Manchester City and Real Madrid, as well teams who use the width of the field to the maximum to win matches like Liverpool and Manchester City, and also Italian teams who play the defensive variety of the game like Juventus and the Milan sides.

My previous page on blogger.com can be visited here. It deals with How to beat FC Barcelona.

So before I start off with the tactics, I would like to specify a minor detail in the design of my tactic.
Now many guys, with whom I have interacted with, say that matches can be won if the teams follow a given style of play like the tiki-taka passing system followed by teams like Barcelona and the Spanish National team. I partially disagree with them.

Why??? The reason is that the tiki-taka brand of football needs high level of practice, precision and a high level of skill. This development takes a minimum of 6 months for any team to train to develop and implement it in there game-play. 

So my design takes into account the minimum qualities that any team in the world possesses, like defensive sturdiness, counter-attacking, wing-play and such basic ideas in football.

So here I would like to present my tactical insights on how to play against and defeat Manchester United.

The Team.

            Manchester United is a team which has been built by Sir Alex over the last 25 odd years and have been one of the most consistently top performing team not only in the English Premier League but also in the European Championships as well. They have been producing legends like Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and also been having a top class talent for scouting youth talents like Cristiano Ronaldo, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Paul Scholes.

            To defeat your enemy, you have to know them better. Hence we first take a look at the team.

The Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson.

Sir Alex is, and has been, the most brilliant thing and the most intimidating figure of the club. He changed the club by turning relegation contenders into one of the most powerful forces in Europe. Many pundits, scholars and football fans have regarded the current Manchester United squad to have been one of the worst ever. I agree to this fact and it is shown by the way they were ousted in the Champions League and the Europa League by teams of comparatively lower fame like FC Basel and eventual finalists Atletico Bilbao. But still this team is on top of the table in the Premier League. He has to be given credit for this brilliant work of his.

I also feel that the team is undergoing a transitional phase with young talents like new signing Shinji Kagawa, as well as players in the starting lie-ups now like Hernandez, Da Silva Brothers, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia. Sir Alex does his job with pure detailing and has a great eye for talent.

What’s keeping them top of the table is Sir Alex’s great name and his mindgames. Only a few handful of managers around the globe can beat him in his mindgames.

The Defense:

The backbone of the Manchester defense for the last 6 seasons have been – Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

Vidic’s long-term injuries this past season has dealt a huge blow to United’s cup-winning aspirations this past season. This just underlines the importance of these guys. No other backup defender has really looked promising for them in his place. This defense pairing is one of the best in the world. Next season we could be seeing them back again and hopefully their partnership would grow strength to strength.

Due to their absence, United have conceded more shots on goal this season (468) in the League than City (353), Arsenal (365), Liverpool (376), Chelsea (428) and Tottenham (436). But there capacity to clear the ball and getting the ball out of dangerous situations has been very good. The only team to have conceded lesser goals than United 33 goals conceded) in the League is Manchester City (29 goals conceded).

This just shows that the next generation of there defenders in Johnny Evans, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Rafael Da Silva, and Fabio Da Silva just need a bit of fine tuning to be better defenders.

Patrice Evra, Johnny Evans, Phil Jones, Rafael Da Silva, and Fabio Da Silva move in towards the opposite goal from the wings and play as attacking wingbacks.

After a shaky start to the season, David De Gea at 21 years has made some really fine saves and also allowed some stupid ones in. By the seems to be improving by each game and looks a good goalkeeper and a sound replacement for Edwin Van Der Sar in the future.

The Midfield:

Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are two legends of Manchester United where if we don’t mention their names, the midfield would be incomplete. These two have been the pillars of the midfield and rescued the team on more than one occasions. They have been outstanding as the two pillars of the United midfield for the past 2 decades. Their precision in long-range shooting is something which is undoubtedly one of the best in the world.

Supported ably by Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher behind them they form the core of the midfield. Nani, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, Park Ji-Sung, and Tom Cleverley form one of the most spectacular midfield squads on the planet which has a blend of experience, skill, technique, youth and vision in it. With the latest addition in the form of Shinji Kagawa, Manchester United will only grow stronger as he brings his vision, creativity and playmaking skills.

Nani, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, Shinji Kagawa and Park Ji-Sung provide the crucial runs in the opposition’s half with their pace, agility and crosses. Tom Cleverley is considered by many as the successor to Paul Scholes due to his excellent playmaking skills.

One more startling revelation is that Antonio Valencia has the best minutes per assist ratio in the BPL this season (163). Nani and Ryan Giggs are 2nd and 3rd. This just shows there attacking prowess and natural ability in the wings.

The Forwards:

Wayne Rooney has already made his place among the legends who have played for Manchester United. He has scored 26 goals this season and has been a prominent figure in the FIFA World XI for the past few years. His penchant for scoring goals and also his ability to play behind the striker as an attacking midfielder makes him one of the best players in the world who are currently playing.

Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck are all good strikers. They have played very well this past season. So much so that a clinical striker in the form of his life like Dimitar Berbatov is reportedly on his way out due to their excellent play.

Manchester United have the best goals over shots ratio among all the teams thanks to there excellent finishing. There goal conversion rate is the highest at 15.03% leading the other top teams in England by a long way (City - 13.96%, Arsenal - 12.65%, Chelsea – 10.55%, Tottenham – 10.39% and Liverpool – the least in the EPL with 7.68%).

Final Word on Manchester United

Manchester United generally line-up in 4-4-2 diamond formation as shown above. As said previously, they use every inch of the ground to create any kind of goal-scoring opportunities.

Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic and Jones will be holding the defense. Jonny Evans and Rafael may act as the reserves for them. Any two among Shinji, Fletcher, Cleverley, Carrick and Scholes will be acting as the central midfielders. A pairing would be decided among Nani, Young, Valencia, Park Ji-Sung, Anderson and Giggs would be handling the wings. Rooney may play either as an attacking mid or a striker and he will be paired with either Berbatov(if he stays), Hernandez, Welbeck, Macheda or (least of all) Micheal Owen.

HOW TO BEAT THEM???

Well beating Manchester United is no child’s play. You need to work hard, train excessively and perform to your highest potential. The main weapon that they employ in their game, or their strength as many say, is their ability to attack from the wings and the crosses that they put in. To counter it, I feel that the most apt formation would not be a single one. We need a fluidic formation which changes as the game shapes on. I feel this fluidic formation is actually a combination of three different formations.

1.  Formation or strategy to start the game with.

2.  Formation or strategy while our team is in an attacking position, and

3.  Formation or strategy while our team is in a position where we need to defend.

Formation or strategy to start the game with.

Note: The black arrows indicate the directions in which the player must move according to the game-flow.

The fact that Manchester United like attacking their oppositions from the wings and requires us to use this formation, the 4-1-2-1-2 at the start of the game.

The Defense:

There must be 4 defenders (showed as RB,CB,CB,LB  in the graphic) in this formation and since Manchester United attack through the wings pulling in around 15 crosses a game at an average, the defenders need to be aerially sound as well as rock-steady in defense.

The central defenders (both the players marked as CB) must stand strong and prevent any kind of defensive lapses occurring from the central area. The wingbacks(LB and RB) may move forward from the wings in order to provide any required assistance upfield in the attack.

Any errors could be costly as Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, and Danny Welbeck among other would be ready to pounce on any given opportunity to score.

The Midfield:

The midfield is the most complex and most important part of any team for me. In this formation, we need three types of midfielders.

1. A holding midfielder, DM, who can support the defense when there is a dangerous situation.
2. Two central midfielders, LM and RM, one on each side of the holding midfielder to take the ball forward and press the situation on the opposition. 
3. An attacking midfielder, AM, who actually compliments the strikers.

The holding midfielder not only supports the defense as the man connecting them to the attacking third but also acts as a second layer, virtually, of defense which keeps the team from any kind of dangerous situations. He must not only act as a fifth defender but may also act as an additional playmaker when the team goes into an attacking mode.

The central midfielders need to be the ones who pull the strings of the gameplay and build up the attack. During an attacking scenario, they may either move in down the wings, with support of the wingbacks, and build up a quick cross opportunity or create a patient build-up of an attack through the centre.

If Manchester United attack, they need to move back and either fill in the void at the centre of the defense and plug in the gaps or provide support on the wings to the wingbacks by applying pressure of Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia or Nani whenever they makeup an attack from the wings.

The attacking midfielder needs to act as a ‘False 9’. He has to play either as the third forward or as a facilitator to the midfielders by pulling them in when attacking the opposite goal based on the nature of the play of the game.

The Forward-line:

We will need two strikers up front (LF and RF). Manchester United are defensively very sound whenever Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are at the heart of their defense. Any opportunity arising has to be pounced upon and goals must be scored.

The strikers need to be constantly moving around the attacking third. In defensive situations, one of the strikers must come back and provide support to the attacking midfielder in order to initiate a counter attack while the other striker needs to move in and act as a centre forward.

While attacking, they need to be at the top of their awareness and create space for themselves to score a goal or create space to their attacking partners infront of the goal and hence maximize the chances of scoring goals.

Formation, strategy or gameplay while our team is in an attacking position

Note: The colored arrows indicate the passing moves which the player can play in a given situation.

While in an attacking position, I feel that a 4-1-2-1-2 maybe be used here as well. But not in a rigid form but in a flexible form.  By flexible I mean to say that the players can move into a 4-3-3 with the attacking forward acting as a false nine, or a 4-1-3-2 with the central midfielders moving in and acting as additional playmakers throwing in crosses as well as providing assists to the front strikers.

The black arrows indicate the moves which the holding midfielder can play. He can-

1. Pass it to the central midfielders if he feels the need to retain possession or if he thinks that they can create a better goal-scoring scenario.
2. Also pass it to the attacking midfielder ahead of him so that an assist can be made. This move has to be done very swiftly as the defense are less likely o provide any kind of breathing space to the three players upfront.

He can also push in long balls to the strikers so that a fast counter attack takes place.

The red and orange arrows indicate the moves which the central midfielders can pull of. They can-

1. Either pass it back to the defensive midfielder so that they hold on to the possession.
2. Or pass it to the attacking mid so that a quick attacking move can be done.
3. Or they can exchange passes between themselves so that whoever has a better passing opportunity can do so to create danger for Manchester United.

And they can also try putting in some through-balls in to the strikers.

The yellow arrows indicate the moves which the attacking midfielder can employ. He can pass it forward to the strikers or have a go at the goal himself. Other than these moves, he can also pass it to any of the central mids and bring them in the attack.

The pink arrows show the moves which the strikers can do – shoot at the goal or pass it to each other as the need arises.

Other than these moves, the players will surely be able to pull out some other moves, like inviting the wingbacks to attack through the wings of pull in long balls to the strikers. We also need to be wary of any counter attacking football from them as their frontline has a remarkable speed and pace which can easily put us into a really bad situation.

Formation or strategy while our team is in a position where we need to defend.

When facing a top-class team like Manchester United, we need to be top class in our defense. We need to be aerially good, as they like to pull-in crosses through Valencia, Nani and Ashley Young. We also need to be at the top of our game defensively. We need solid marking and an urgency to initialize a quick and brisk counter attack.

When we are defending, we must be able to contain them where they stand and start of a counter attack as soon as we get the ball. Now since the wide-play, or the use of wings, is a main strength of Manchester United the players must switch into a 4-3-2-1 whenever in a precarious situation.

In the 4-3-2-1, one of the forward must come back and take up the role of a shadow striker. This is much similar to the way Carlos Tevez plays. He moves behind the striker during any given counter-attacking opportunity. 

The above graphic represents a tactic on how their attack can be fixed and a counter established.

The black arrows indicate the moves which the wingbacks can play. They can -

1. Pass it to the central midfielders, who are now in a role of a helping defensive midfielders, to instigate an attack from the wings. 
2. Also pass it to the attacking midfielder ahead of them so that a counter attack can be forced. This move has to be done very swiftly as the defense are less likely to provide any kind of breathing space.
3. They can also push in long balls to the strikers so that a typical defense-to-forward counter attack can take place through the wings.

The red arrows indicate the moves which the central defenders have to make. They can -

1. Either pass it to the defensive midfielder so that the ball can be moved out of the danger area.
2. Or pass it to the attacking midfielders so that a quick attacking move can be done.
3. They can also try to play in the wingbacks and make them attack through the wings.
4. Pass it to the central midfielders, who are now in a role of a helping defensive midfielder, to instigate an attack from the wings or through the centre.
5. Or simply clear the ball out of the area.

The yellow arrows indicate what the defensive midfielder has to do in case he has the ball. He can –

1. Play it forward to the attacking midfielders with the motive of a quick counter attack.
2. Or pass it to his either sides to the central midfielders to create either a buildup or, to force the attack through the wings.
3. He can also just clear the ball out or find the striker upfront.

The blue arrows indicate the moves of the attacking midfielders.

1. Play a through ball in to the striker upfront.
2. Or play a give-and-go with the other attacking midfielder.
3. Or pass it back to the central midfielder to retain possession and create a steady buildup.

_ _ _ _ _

I hope you like my tactics.I will be publishing tactics on how to be other teams soon enough. 

You can mail me at tauheed4ever@gmail.com.

Thank you very much for reading this. Any inputs, corrections would be welcome.