Player Positional Tracker: Burnley v Man United (30/08/14)

Burnley 0 vs 0 Man United

Man United’s poor start to the season continued as they could only achieve a disappointing goalless draw at Burnley.

Here is the Player Positional Tracker for the match. The PPT is based on Opta’s “On the ball” detailed events.

I’ve split the game “film” into the two halves;  I think this leaves analysis easier and so I’ll probably use this format from now onwards.  As always, click on the image and it will open in a larger window.

1st Half

• It was noticeable how little possession Rooney had in the first half
• Possession and territory tipped in Burnley’s favour in the last 10 – 15 minutes of the first half
• Di Maria remained in his left sided midfield position for virtually all of the first half
• As I also pointed out in Burnley’s defeat to Chelsea, Burnley like to attack down their right side with Trippier, Arfield and Marney prominent in this respect

2nd Half

• Di Maria moved into a more advanced role on the left wing, and became much more involved in the play from this position in the early minutes of the second half
• Valencia became hugely significant in the last 20 minutes of the game, whereas Man United would have preferred someone more creative that Valencia to be heavily involved as the final whistle drew near
• Van Persie had very little involvement in the second half.  With the game at 0-0, United would have liked to seen the Dutch forward feature more heavily
• As expected, given the scoreline, Burnley retreated deeper during the last 20 minutes
• For the whole of the second half, Burnley’s right full back, Mee, remained much deeper than his opposite full back, Trippier.  I’d suggest that was, at least, partly due to the amount of attacking possession that Valencia had down United’s right.

Article by Colin Trainor