StatsBomb Podcast: August 2017 #2

A thought about United’s lacklustre gameplan last season. Could it be that the team was so poor on the counter because of personnel? I mean – as good as Zlatan was, he was never going to do be great on the counter. The others around him weren’t doing great either. If my memory serves me right, then Rashford missed quite a few one on ones, Martial struggled to get games and Mkhitaryan.. well, it didn’t work out that well for him either. This was also very evident in games where United was 1-0 up and tried to kill the game. It always felt somewhat nervous at the back, because the team dropped deeper and while the defense stood strong this also meant that the attack was not so strong.

The thing that has got me (and other United fans) excited is the fact that those two games have featured counterattacking goals at the end of both matches. And it’s not only been those goals but some other attacks as well that haven’t resulted in goals. This means that United seem to be more likely to kill off games where they score and also perform better against the top sides playing Mourinho-ball. This coupled with a deeper and stronger squad seems like a recipe for a good season(just Rooney leaving and 3 players coming in).

I’m not suggesting that United should be viewed as favorites for the title – City seem at least as strong, but it does look like the team is likely to be in contention until spring.